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OGDEN — Second District Judge Cristina Ortega said two words came to mind while reading the pre-sentence report for Ryan Joseph Dash: "executed" and "ambush."
"This offense is clearly an example of extreme cruelty and depravity," she said of the murder he committed just three weeks after Dash was released from the Utah State Prison in early 2020.
Dash, 35, was sent back to prison Wednesday for a term of 25 years to life for shooting and killing Dalton Wood, 29, of Harrisville. He pleaded guilty to aggravated murder as part of a plea deal. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of possession of a dangerous weapon and obstructing justice.
Ortega also sentenced Dash in a separate case to serve a concurrent sentence of one to 15 years on a charge of theft, amended from a first-degree felony to a second-degree felony as part of a plea deal.
Dash declined to speak when given the opportunity Wednesday. A letter from a family member of the victim was read in court that said, "I see no remorse from you. I hope you get a life sentence because you've already sentenced my family to life."
On Feb. 8, 2020, North Ogden police were called to a report of a man laying in the street at 432 E. 1700 North. Wood had been shot twice, once in the chest and in his lower extremities.
During an interview with detectives, Dash said he had earlier assaulted Wood's brother, and because of that, Wood threatened him.
"They arranged to meet at a location in North Ogden. Dash stated that (Wood) was alone, and that (Wood) had his hands in his pocket. He admitted that (Wood) did not brandish a weapon. Dash stated that he then 'killed the (expletive),'" according to charging documents.
Four days before the killing, a group of men stole a safe from a woman staying at a West Haven care center. Dash was present when the safe was cut open and three guns were found inside. Two of the guns used in the killing came from that safe, according to charging documents.
Dash has been in and out of prison since 2008 on various charges and returned for parole violations several times. His other convictions include theft, possession of a forgery device and drug possession.
In 2014, Dash was charged with aggravated assault of a fellow inmate at the Utah State Prison. In that case, Dash's cellmate suffered 11 "slices and punctures that required stitches or staples, four in the head, six on his back and one on his chest," according to charging documents.
Dash's facial tattoos include the words "white power," a swastika and "14 88" — numeric symbols used by white supremacists.
Brian Christopher Jenson, 31, of Brigham City, was also convicted of manslaughter in connection with Wood's death and in the gun theft.
Jenson was present when Wood was killed but claimed he was only armed with brass knuckles. He denied firing any weapons himself, which court documents say "contradicts other information received in the course of this investigation."
He was sentenced to two terms of one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and obstructing justice and a term of one to five years on a firearms charge. Ortega ordered those sentences to run concurrently with a federal case in which Jenson was sentenced to seven years in prison for distributing methamphetamine. She also sentenced him to a consecutive term of one to 15 years in prison for theft
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Kaitlyn Bancroft
