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TAYLORSVILLE — A man who once served time at the Utah State Prison for killing another man has now been charged with several felony sex crimes and could potentially be headed back to prison for an even longer sentence if he is convicted.
David Zackary McNeill, 51, who is listed in court documents as homeless, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of forcible sodomy and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, both first-degree felonies; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
The alleged victim is a 25-year-old man "with an intellectual disability," who has an IQ below 70 and functions on the level of a young child, according to charging documents. The man is unable to read and does not know numbers, the charges say.
In early August, the man walked away from his group home to go to a local grocery store where he met McNeill. The man asked McNeill if he had any methamphetamine, according to the charges, and McNeill told the man yes but that he'd have to go with him to his place to get it.
McNeill took the man to a storage unit that he was living in, near 1300 West and 3300 South, smoked meth with him, and then sexually assaulted him, the charges state.
After, McNeill took the man to a convenience store where he was later found by a manager of the group home. The group home manager discovered that McNeill wrote his phone number on a napkin and gave it to his victim, according to the charges. That napkin was turned over to police as part of their investigation.
On Monday, Taylorsville police found McNeill in his storage shed and arrested him.
Prosecutors have requested that McNeill be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail pending trial, noting that he has an "extensive" criminal history that includes killing a man.
In 2000, McNeill was doing drugs with others in a Sugar House hotel room, when he choked a man, according to the charges, and threw him off the balcony. Chesney Hansen, 26, was found unconscious 22 feet below the balcony and later died at a local hospital.
But it wasn't until 2010 that the case was solved. McNeill, who was originally charged with murder, a first-degree felony, accepted a plea deal in court in 2012, pleading guilty to a reduced charge of homicide by assault, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to a term of up to five years in the Utah State Prison.
"Associates of (McNeill) that were interviewed during this investigation described (him) as being very violent, especially when relating to drugs, money and sex and has a tendency to have relationships with younger looking boys," the charges state.
