- Charles Yoo pleaded guilty to killing housemates William Bull and Christopher Owens.
- Yoo admitted in a plea statement to shooting them and hiding their bodies in the desert.
- He faces 25 years to life in prison; sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 10.
BLANDING — A Blanding man admitted in court this week to shooting and killing two of his housemates before hiding their bodies in the desert.
Charles Yoo, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in 7th District Court to two counts of aggravated murder.
In a plea statement filed in court on Monday, Yoo said he "did shoot and kill William Drew Bull and Christopher Owens, and subsequently placed their respective bodies in military tote-style containers and attempted to conceal the crime by disposing of the totes with the bodies therein by hiding them in the desert."
No possible motive has been disclosed in court documents.
Christopher "Topher" Owens, 28, and William "Drew" Bull, 29, were considered missing by the San Juan Sheriff's Office on March 1, 2024, four days after they were last seen. They were reported missing by a mutual friend who had grown concerned when Yoo, who had a large collection of guns, told the friend one of his firearms was missing.
The friend also told police about a screenshot on Feb. 27 of a text allegedly sent by Bull that indicated some distress, a police booking affidavit states. The friend deemed the text message suspicious, though, as it had a name misspelled and mentioned Owens "possibly not being alive," the affidavit states.
On Feb. 27, police responded to the residence in Blanding at 371 E. 850 South. Both Bull and Owens lived at that address in a home owned by Yoo, according to police.
Yoo told investigators Owens and Bull would have had access to the missing firearm since it was left sitting out, according to the affidavit.
He claimed to police he saw the men leave the house about mid-morning on Feb. 26 in a black Dodge, but he was unable to provide any further description of the vehicle despite his main occupation being a mechanic and having substantial knowledge about cars and trucks, police noted in the affidavit. Detectives viewed surveillance video from the area and did not see any black Dodge coming or going at that time, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states that Yoo, Bull and Bull's girlfriend "all shared their Google locations constantly due to their good friendship." But on March 1, Yoo said he was going out of town and turned off his location data, the affidavit states.
"Detectives obtained information through investigative means that provided several locations Charles had traveled. Charles was interviewed by detectives regarding the trip and failed to provide the correct information as to where detectives already knew he had traveled," according to the affidavit.
Cellphone data collected by investigators also showed that the text sent on Feb. 27 by Bull was allegedly sent from Yoo's home, even though he claimed he hadn't seen the men since they allegedly left the day before, the affidavit states.
The situation quickly turned into a homicide investigation due to a lack of proof of life of the two men, the San Juan County Sheriff's Office said.
Yoo was initially arrested for investigation of obstruction of justice, then was charged days later with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. In May, his charges were amended to include two counts of abuse or desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony.
Detectives executed a search warrant on Yoo's house on March 8, 2024. Blood spots were located on the wall and on the ceiling in the house, according to the amended charges.
"With the assistance of cadaver dogs, officers found burnt remnants of possible clothing and carpet buried behind Charles' house," the charges state.
The bodies of the two men were found about two weeks later, according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office. According to the charges, cellphone data shows Yoo's phone was in the approximate area in Arizona where the bodies were found.
"After additional investigation, the cause of death for both Drew and Christopher (was) gunshot wounds. The bullets and fragments taken from the bodies matched one of Charles' guns," the charges said.
In exchange for pleading guilty to the aggravated murder charges, Yoo asked the state to dismiss the other three charges. He faces 25 years to life in prison for both charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 10.
