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Heber City » A 22-year-old Taylorsville man accused of ordering the execution-style slaying of Ashley Sparks on Dec. 26, 2008, at Jordanelle State Park was bound over on homicide charges Wednesday by 4th District Judge Derek P. Pullan.
Joshua Binkerd will be arraigned on an aggravated murder charge Nov. 18. The maximum sentence is life in prison.
Pullan made the ruling following the preliminary hearing based largely on a 90-minute videotaped interview with Christopher Alvey, 20, the admitted triggerman in the shooting death of the 22-year-old Salt Lake-area woman.
That interview was part of a plea agreement. Alvey is serving a 20 years to life sentence at
On the videotape played in court, Alvey told Salt Lake City police Detective Justin Hudson that Binkerd was the leader of his gang, a subunit of the West Side Crips, and that Binkerd had given a "green light" on Sparks for an "S.O.S. -- shoot on sight."
But Heber City-based defense attorney Edward Jones argued that Binkerd -- who is now serving a prison sentence of up to five years for fraud and theft by deception -- did not order the killing at all. His client's instruction to Alvey was to "ditch" the woman, who was infatuated with Binkerd and had been stalking him.
Jones contended that Alvey, who admitted to routinely smoking a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine
"He said, 'Make sure she doesn't come back,' " Jones said, quoting Binkerd. "If Chris Alvey misunderstood because of his use of drugs, that does not implicate my client."
According to court testimony, Binkerd, Alvey and others in their group believed Sparks had become a snitch for police after her arrest for check-cashing fraud.
On Dec. 26, Jason Cowdell and Cody Brooks telephoned Binkerd, saying they had Sparks and were bringing her to Binkerd's apartment.
According to Hudson's investigation, Binkerd told them not to bring her to his place because he had recently moved so that she would not know where he lived.
But Alvey called them back and made arrangements to take her "up the summit and ditch her," according to Hudson's testimony.
Jones argued that Alvey lied to investigators to get a better plea bargain for himself.
"Alvey lied about important details that led up to Ashley Sparks' death," Jones said. "Alvey killed her because she 'disrespected' him."
