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WEST VALLEY CITY — In a killing motivated by a drug dealing rivalry, two men and a woman robbed and murdered another man inside a West Valley home and kidnapped his niece while threatening her into lying to police, according to charges filed Friday.
Eddie Salazar, 40, of West Valley City; Bernadette Ramirez, 47, of Salt Lake City; and Arturo Frias-Gonzales, 24, of West Valley City, were each charged with murder, a first-degree felony.
The three allegedly shot and beat Stephen Trujillo, age unknown, in a home at 4150 S. Bluejay (4985 West) on July 25, before fleeing the scene. Trujillo's niece, who was in the home at the time and reportedly saw the trio with weapons standing next to her badly bleeding uncle, escaped their gunfire and fled out of the window of the home with her infant, according to charging documents.
However, Ramirez and Frias-Gonzales caught up with the woman outside the home and forced her into an SUV, the charges state. The two allegedly ordered her to tell police she witnessed "a home invasion robbery by a gang of masked men" and that they were in Wendover at the time of the killing. That was the account that police say the woman originally gave to them.
Ramirez and Frias-Gonzales allegedly returned to the home later the same day and gave the same basic account to West Valley police, who had responded to the home on a report of shots fired and found Trujillo dead.
Ramirez's home was searched as part of a drug case earlier this week, according to the charges. Police say the woman actually called a detective from the dead man's cellphone, which she allegedly stole during the July attack. Police said they also found a necklace belonging to Trujillo at her home.
"Numerous" watches belonging to Trujillo were also found at Frias-Gonzales' home, charging documents state.
Eddie Salazar, 40, of West Valley City; Bernadette Ramirez, 47, of Salt Lake City; and Arturo Frias-Gonzales, 24, of West Valley City, were each charged with murder, a first-degree felony.
Trujillo was found dead in an upstairs bedroom by West Valley police with a wallet and necklace reportedly stolen from him. He died from a gunshot wound to his leg and blunt force trauma to his head believed to be from a tire iron, according to an autopsy.
Trujillo's niece reported she saw Ramirez and Frias-Gonzales with handguns and Salazar with a tire iron just moments after the killing.
Ramirez told police Wednesday that she got into an argument with Trujillo for stealing her drug customers. But instead of killing him, she said she blacked out and couldn't remember what happened, according to the charges.
In addition to the murder charges, Ramirez was charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. Salazar was also charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies and aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony. Frias-Gonzales was charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies.
