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INDIANOLA, Sanpete County — Prosecutors filed an aggravated murder charge Monday against a Mt. Pleasant man for allegedly making a man dig his own grave before killing him.
Raul Francisco Vidrio, 19, is charged in 4th District Court with killing 22-year-old Wesley Dee Nay, whose remains were found by hunters Oct. 19 in a remote wooded area on the border of Utah and Sanpete counties.
Nay was reported missing Sept. 18, though he was last seen alive Aug. 29, when he was with Vidrio, according to investigators.
Vidrio is also charged in the case with second-degree felony obstruction of justice and third-degree felony abuse or desecration of a dead human body. He was arrested last week and booked into the Utah County Jail, where he remained Monday on $500,000 cash-only bail.
A search of Vidrio's cellphone revealed a haunting photo, his charges allege.
"A deleted image was recovered from Mr. Vidrio's phone that appears to be Mr. Nay digging his own grave," the charges state. "The image depicts Mr. Nay in the same clothing he was last seen in … digging a hole in a grassy meadow that strongly resembles the location where his remains were found."
Charred bones, including a human skull, were found in the remote area, along with burned pieces of wood. The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office identified Nay through dental records and concluded he had suffered blunt force injuries, as well as stab wounds. His body was in a shallow grave.
Charges say Vidrio admitted to picking up Nay "on or about" Aug. 29. Vidrio told police that he and Nay "drove around town through the night, used (meth and marijuana) and eventually ended up at another residence in Mt. Pleasant," according to a search warrant affidavit filed by the Sanpete County Sheriff's Office.
The man who lives at that home told police that Nay and another man came to the house and got into an argument with each other, the warrant states. He said Vidrio borrowed a chainsaw from him at one point "to be used to cut wood to burn evidence and flesh," the document reads.
Vidrio was arrested in Sandy in a separate case Sept. 1 for being in possession of a truck that was stolen Aug. 20, charges allege.
The man who owns the truck told police he found a pick, a shovel and two gas cans that were not his in the bed of the vehicle, the warrant states. Charges say a backpack belonging to Vidrio was located inside the cab of the truck. Inside the backpack was a "large, fixed-blade knife," the charges state.
Charges say blood was found on the knife and its sheath. DNA testing indicated samples of the blood belonged to Nay, court documents state.
"Mr. Vidrio admitted to detectives that his fingerprints would be on the shovels found in the truck bed, and referred to one of the shovels as being 'my shovel,'" charges state.
Related
Police: Man dug his own shallow grave before being killed
Police say Wesley Dee Nay literally dug his own grave before he was killed and his remains placed in a shallow grave and burned.One person told police he went with Vidrio to Indianola Canyon to cut wood the week before Nay was last seen, according to court documents.
"When presented with a satellite image of the area, and asked approximately where they had cut the wood, the witness pointed out the location; it was within yards of where Mr Nay's remains were recovered," charges state. "The same witness stated that Mr. Vidrio told him to leave the wood they had cut, and that it was going to be used to destroy evidence, specifically to 'burn flesh.'"
Detectives asked Vidrio about cutting wood with that witness, to which he "simply responded that he was told to go cut wood and to leave it there," according to the charges.
Another witness told police that he overheard Vidrio and two other people on the evening of Aug. 31 "talking about 'opening the door to hell, the Saint of the Dead, and some dark (stuff),'" Vidrio's charges say.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said additional arrests are likely in the case. As of Monday, no arrests "directly related" to Nay's murder/killing had been made, he said, though some individuals who police spoke with were arrested for drug possession, drug distribution or DUI offenses discovered during the course of the investigation.
On Nov. 15, one day before his arrest in connection with Nay's death, Vidrio was sentenced to a "reinstated" 18-month probation term for receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, connected to the case of the truck he was found driving in Sandy.
Vidrio's sentence technically included 21 days in jail, but he was granted credit for already spending that amount of time behind bars. Misdemeanor drug and drug paraphernalia charges filed in the case were dismissed in September, when he pleaded guilty in the case.
Charges say Vidrio is "a known drug dealer" and gang member in Mt. Pleasant. Court documents say he "sells and uses" meth.
Vidrio's initial court appearance was held Monday, according to court records. His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1.
