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The Smith & Wesson .38 Special resided peaceably for three decades in the home of Rock Springs, Wyo., resident David Darlington.

He and his 19-year-old son, Kolby, used the gun for target practice. When not in use, it was kept locked in a gun safe until it disappeared last summer.

It would wind up in hands of Sulejman Talovic, who used the weapon to kill one of his four victims at Trolley Square.

Tracing the gun through a lost-gun report Darlington filed with Rock Springs police, investigators in Utah were able to obtain federal indictments against three people involved in gun's odyssey to Talovic.

In addition to those charges, federal prosecutors on Thursday announced an indictment against a West Valley City gun dealer who allegedly sold Talovic the shotgun he used to commit most of the carnage.

"If these individuals had followed federal firearms laws, Sulejman Talovic would not have had these firearms to use in the tragedy that unfolded at Trolley Square," said U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman.

None of the four suspects knew of Talovic's plans for Trolley Square, Tolman said, but they still bear some responsibility:

* Mackenzie Glade Hunter, 19, was charged with selling a handgun to a person he believed was a juvenile and who intended to use the gun in a crime, such as a bank robbery, Tolman said. Hunter also is charged with being a drug user in possession of a gun.

* Brenden Taylor Brown, 20, was charged with selling the handgun to a person he believed was a juvenile and with lying to investigators.

* Matthew Hautala, 20, was charged with lying to investigators.

* Westley Wayne Hill, 38, was charged with selling a gun to someone too young to possess it and one count of not properly recording the sale.

The shotgun was a 12-gauge Maverick Arms Model 88 with a pistol-grip that he bought Nov. 13 from Hill at Sportsman's Fast Cash Pawn, 3930 S. Redwood Road, prosecutors said.

It is against the law to sell handguns and guns with pistol grips to people under 21. Hill also failed to complete the part of a federal sales form that asks for identification from resident aliens, according to the indictment. Talovic was a refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Smith & Wesson .38 Special Model 36 took a more winding path than the shotgun, beginning with Kolby Darlington who "transferred" it to Hunter last June, possibly in connection with a drug deal, according to an indictment.

David Darlington told The Tribune "Kolby was having huge problems at that time with drugs" and was associating with "undesirable friends," including Hunter.

But he said it is unclear how the .38 Special - which he has owned since about 1976 - had disappeared. Kolby denies taking the weapon, he said.

"How it went into Hunter's hands is somewhat unknown," Darlington said.

Prosecutors say Talovic asked Hunter, whom he knew through his construction job, how he could obtain a handgun, prosecutors said. Hunter allegedly contacted Brown and arranged a sale of the gun to Talovic, then 17. The transaction occurred sometime between June 16 and July 28 at a McDonald's in Salt Lake City, according to court records and Carlos Esqueda, an assistant U.S. attorney.

Darlington said the Trolley Square rampage is "all very upsetting" to Kolby, who has not been charged with a crime and is cooperating with police.

Lori Dyer, in charge of the Utah office of the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the .38 Special swapped hands more times than what has been described in the indictments.

The investigation - which she describe as "basically good, old-fashioned police work and leg work" - is ongoing.

Talovic, 18, walked into Trolley Square mall the evening of Feb. 12 and opened fire, killing five people and seriously injuring four others before dying in a gunfight with police. Police said he had a bandolier around his waist and a backpack containing 90 unspent rounds of ammunition.

Killed were Kristen Hinckley, 15; Jeffrey Walker, 53, Vanessa Quinn, 29, Brad Frantz, 24, and Teresa Ellis, 29. Kristen Hinckley's mother, Carolyn Tufts, 44, and Jeffrey Walker's son, 16-year-old A.J., as well as Shawn Munns, 34, and Stacy Hanson, 50, were wounded.

Authorities disclosed for the first time Thursday that the .38 Special was used in the killings. Tolman said it was fired at one of the first victims but declined to specify who.

Talovic's father, Suljo Talovic, said Thursday that he, his son and Hunter worked together last spring or summer on the renovation of the Stratford Hotel downtown. Hunter cleaned up after the construction crew, he said through an interpreter.

He recalled that Hunter missed many days of work. Someone would say, "Oh, he's in court. He's in court."

Suljo Talovic said he did not know his son and Hunter interacted outside of work. "I've never seen them together ever," Suljo Talovic said.

The gunman's parents have said they never knew he had weapons or how he acquired them.

After arraignments Thursday in U.S. District Court, Hunter was released and Brown was ordered held until a detention hearing today. Hill also appeared in court and was released. All three pleaded not guilty.

A four-day jury trial for Hunter, Brown and Hautala has been set for July 16. A separate trial for Hill also has been set that day.

Hill has been restricted from selling firearms, but Tolman said no action has been taken against the pawn shop. Employees at the pawn shop declined comment.

Hautala, 20, who is from Rock Springs, is serving in the Army in South Carolina. Prosecutors are working to bring him to Utah.

If convicted of providing a handgun to Talovic, Hunter faces up to 10 years in prison for the felony charge. Brown, who is charged with a misdemeanor count of the same crime, could spend up to a year behind bars.

Being a drug user in possession of a firearm carries a possible 10 year prison sentence, and making false statements is punishable by up to five. Hill could be sentenced to up to five years for selling the shotgun to Talovic and one year for improperly filling out the firearms forms.

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* DEREK JENSEN contributed to this story.