Man accused of calling victim 'reptilian' arrested in fatal Park City stabbing

A 33-year-old man was arrested for investigation of murder in connecting with a fatal stabbing in Park City on Friday.

A 33-year-old man was arrested for investigation of murder in connecting with a fatal stabbing in Park City on Friday. (arfo, Shutterstock)


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KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • A 33-year-old man fatally stabbed another, calling him a "reptilian," in Park City.
  • Austin Kenneth Garceau was arrested for investigation of murder; the victim, Damon Martez Enman, died.
  • Witnesses described the attack; motive remains unclear.

PARK CITY — A 33-year-old man called another man a "reptilian" before fatally stabbing him in Park City over the weekend.

Austin Kenneth Garceau was booked into the Summit County Jail for investigation of murder.

Police were called just before 8:30 a.m. on Friday to the 500 block of Deer Valley Drive. Damon Martez Enman, 34, of West Jordan, had called 911 to report he had been stabbed by Garceau, according to a police booking affidavit.

At some point during the call, Enman stopped talking to emergency dispatchers, the affidavit states. When officers arrived, they found Enman "suffering from an apparent deep stab wound to his chest."

Police also found Garceau in the residence with a cut on his arm. Enman was able to tell an officer, "He said, 'I'm going to kill you,'" while pointing at Garceau, officers stated in the affidavit.

Another witness told police that "Austin had a knife, said that Damon was a 'reptilian,' and then stabbed Damon. Damon (told the witness), 'Stop him, like he's going to kill me. I'm dying,'" according to the affidavit.

The witness tried to get the knife out of Garceau's hands, "but Austin was bigger than him and he was scared. (The witness) jumped on Austin's back and told him to drop it and gave him a bear hug. (The witness) kept telling him to 'drop it' repeatedly. Austin dropped the knife and said, 'What did I do?'" the affidavit states.

A second witness told police that prior to the stabbing, Garceau had jumped on Enman and an ensuing fight had to be broken up.

Enman was taken to a Salt Lake City hospital, where he died about two hours later.

The affidavit does not state a possible motive for the alleged attack.

Several people over the weekend paid tribute to Enman on social media, including a woman who identified herself as Enman's mother.

"Damon was a beautiful soul, the most joyful and loving person you could meet. He truly and with his whole heart loved everyone," she posted. "I'll never understand why or how this could happen, but I know he had a strong Christian faith and I have zero doubt that he is laughing with Jesus and hugging his gramps today."

"I keep hearing his endless laughter, remembering how he was always ready with a hug or a snuggle (even as an adult). I can think of countless moments we shared laughing together," another woman posted. "Damon never lost that beautiful childlike laughter, joy, and his deep rooted love for others. He lived a life of love, kindness, and generosity his entire life."

A third person posted, "It was an absolute privilege to be your friend and I count myself lucky to have had my life improved by your love and kindness. I'll do my best to smile more often and spread more love to those around me just like you did in your life. You were a light to us all."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Pat Reavy, KSLPat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
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