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CHURCH WELLS, Kane County — An Arizona man has been arrested in connection with the death of a man in southern Utah in a case that authorities are now calling a homicide.
Jason Thomas Bates, 38, of Page, Arizona, was charged Tuesday in 6th District Court with murder and two counts of discharging a firearm causing serious injury, both first-degree felonies; aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
Bates is accused of shooting and killing Matthew Wayne Young, 49, on Young's property in Church Wells on April 13. Bates is accused of shooting Young in the back, causing serious injury. "A few seconds later, while (Young) was face down on the ground, (Bates) shot (him) at close range in the back of the head," charging documents state.
A possible motive for the shooting was not revealed Wednesday. An arrest warrant was signed on Saturday, according to court records.
The Kane County Sheriff's Office announced late Tuesday that detectives from their department along with U.S. marshals in Arizona arrested Bates on Monday in Flagstaff.
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Sheriff's office calls death of southern Utah man 'complex case'
The Kane County Sheriff's Office is calling the investigation of a rural Utah man's death a "complex case.""The arrest of Jason Bates was the result of excellent investigative work by Kane County sheriff's detectives. The information they provided the deputy U.S. Marshals assigned to our Flagstaff office was key in determining Bates' location and his capture without incident," David P. Gonzales, head of the U.S. Marshals Service in Arizona, said in a prepared statement.
Previously, the sheriff's office had said deputies were investigating Young's death but declined to say whether it was a homicide investigation. The department had called the case "complex" and stated that it required "many hours of investigation and evidence collection."
Bates was being held Wednesday in the Coconino County Jail in Arizona awaiting extradition proceedings.
