Man murdered Springville friend while he was ‘tagging,’ charges say

SALT LAKE CITY — A Payson man was charged Friday with murder in the September shooting death of a man in Utah County.

In addition to murder, a first-degree felony, Victor Hugo Contreras-Nathanson, 26, is also charged in 4th District Court with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; and two counts of drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.

On Sept. 21, Contreras-Nathanson and Lazaro Nieves-Morales, 29, spent much of the day at Nieves-Morales’ Springville residence consuming alcohol and cocaine, according to charging documents.

About 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, the two drove to a train overpass in Springville, allegedly to “tag” or vandalize a concrete pillar, the charges state. While Nieves-Morales was in the process of tagging the pillar, he was shot at least four times, according to police.

Prosecutors say that Contreras-Nathanson “knowingly or intentionally caused victim’s death by either pulling the trigger himself or by soliciting, requesting, commanding, encouraging, or intentionally aiding another person to pull the trigger. One of the bullets struck victim’s heart, killing him almost instantly,” the charges state.

As Contreras-Nathanson was leaving the scene, he ran over a white spray paint can, causing it to explode, according to the charges. Not only did paint get on his car, police say, but he left a partial tread mark in white paint at the scene.

“Although the white paint on defendant’s vehicle had been largely removed by the time police tracked it down, there was still white paint on the tread of the front, passenger-side tire,” the charges state.

When questioned by police, Contreras-Nathanson initially claimed he blacked out and didn’t remember what happened, but later “acknowledged it doesn’t look good and that it was possible he was the one who shot (Nieves-Morales),” according to charging documents.

Bail was set at $250,000.

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