Justice - The Salt Lake Tribune

Victim’s three daughters get a day of magic

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:49:03 MDT

Victim’s three daughters get a day of magic

by Marissa Lang The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 08:49PM MDT

Kearns » The little girls seated at Tinkerbell’s green-slippered feet hung on the pixie’s every word. They stared up at her in awe: This blond fairy flown straight out of a Disney movie with wings and magic dust and a giggle that rang like wind chimes in the breeze. She asked the birthday girl a question. “Have you ever lost something?” she said. “Has anyone here lost something?” Hands shot into the air. But not Aliveah Montoya’s. As the children clamored to tell the fairy princess what they’d ...

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Wyoming man dead after officer-involved shooting in Evanston

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:46:05 MDT

Wyoming man dead after officer-involved shooting in Evanston

by Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 08:46PM MDT

An Evanston, Wyo., man died after a brief crime spree around town ended when authorities shot him. Police said Naim “Keith” Labaki, 43, fired a shot outside a home in the 800 block of Uinta Street about 2 p.m. Saturday and then fled in a white Ford Explorer. Police said a short time later, Labaki showed up at Sports World on Front Street in Evanston, demanding an additional weapon. When employees refused, he went to his vehicle, pulled out his gun and fired a single shot into the store, police...

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Five injured, three ejected in Interstate 80 rollover

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:12:43 MDT

Five injured, three ejected in Interstate 80 rollover

by Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 05:12PM MDT

Five people were injured Sunday morning after the vehicle they were in rolled multiple times along Interstate 80 in Tooele County. All of the injured are from the same family, the Utah Highway Patrol said in a news release Sunday. A 38-year-old woman was the only person in the car wearing a seat belt, UHP said. Investigators said a Ford Explorer was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 north of Grantsville at about 6:30 a.m. when it drifted to the left side of the roadway. The 19-year-old fema...

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Montana man killed in motorcycle crash near Vernal

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:20:02 MDT

Montana man killed in motorcycle crash near Vernal

by Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 10:20AM MDT

A Montana man was killed north of Vernal Saturday after he lost control of his motorcycle. Utah Highway Patrol troopers said David P. Hellrigel, 49, of Bozeman, Mont., was riding southbound about 15 miles north of Vernal on State Road 191 in the area known as the “The Switchbacks” when he failed to negotiate a curve. Troopers said Hellrigel’s motorcycle slammed into a guardrail, ejecting him. Hellrigel, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene. The motorcycle continued about ...

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Six injured in two head-on collisions in Saratoga Springs

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:06:01 MDT

Six injured in two head-on collisions in Saratoga Springs

by Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 10:06AM MDT

Six people were injured Saturday night in two head-on collisions in Utah County. Saratoga Springs police said the crashes occurred about 9:30 p.m. near 1200 W. State Road 73, which is about 2 miles west of the Saratoga Springs Crossroads intersection. Police said the driver of a westbound pickup truck crossed over the center line and struck an eastbound minivan. The impact caused the van to roll, and the driver was ejected, officers said. The pickup then struck an SUV. The impact injured a chi...

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Susan Powell’s father says bones found are likely animal remains

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:00:57 MDT

Susan Powell’s father says bones found are likely animal remains

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 01:00AM MDT

Chuck Cox says that investigators found bones in rural Oregon while searching for the remains of his missing daughter, Susan Powell, but that they aren’t likely to turn out to be hers, or even human. The West Valley City Police Department concluded its search of a Scotts Mills, Ore., property on Thursday, the latest effort to find the remains of Powell. She was last seen on Dec. 6, 2009, at her home, which she shared with her husband, Josh Powell, the only person of interest ever named in the c...

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Utah soldier confirmed dead in explosion in Afghanistan

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:57:42 MDT

Utah soldier confirmed dead in explosion in Afghanistan

by Jennifer Dobner The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 12:57AM MDT

To the kids near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Army medic Pfc. Cody Towse was known as the “Candy Doctor” — a name he earned by showering the children with countless handfuls of fruity or chocolate treats. “He loved the kids,” his father, Jim Towse, said on Saturday. “His birthday was May 8, and I asked what he wanted. He told me more candy and a jar of Miracle Whip.” Cody Towse, 21, died Tuesday when an improvised explosive device detonated. Military officials, who initially deemed him missing in ac...

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Read The Tribune’s story on the 1943 Victory theater fire

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:28:02 MDT

Read The Tribune’s story on the 1943 Victory theater fire

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 11:28PM MDT

Editors note: The Salt Lake City Fire Department is leading a memorial Sunday for the 70th anniversary of the blaze that killed three firefighters at the Victory theater. Here is the Tribune’s report on that fire, published on May 20, 1943. The article did not have a byline. The banner headline read: $100,000 Fire Takes 3 Lives. The subhead read: Flames Destroy S.L. Theater; Nine Men Hurt •••• Trapped under failing debris during the height of one of Salt Lake City’s most devastating downtown...

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Police: At least 3 injured in Utah County car crashes

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:44:02 MDT

Police: At least 3 injured in Utah County car crashes

by Jennifer Dobner The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 10:44PM MDT

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday was investigating a multiple-car accident near Saratoga Springs that sent at least three people to area hospitals. Three medical helicopters were sent to the scene on State Road 73 near its intersection with Redwood Road, Utah County dispatchers said. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the accident and dispatchers said at least one car had rolled. The medical conditions of those injured in the accident were also unknown. Additional information a...

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Montana motorcycle rider dies in eastern Utah crash

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:27:03 MDT

Montana motorcycle rider dies in eastern Utah crash

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 08:27PM MDT

A 49-year-old motorcyclist died Saturday after he struck a guardrail about 15 miles north of Vernal. David P. Hellrigel, of Bozeman, Mont., was riding south on U.S. Highway 191 through an area known as “The Switchbacks,” according to the Utah Highway Patrol. About noon, Hellrigel failed to negotiate a turn and was thrown from the motorcycle against the guardrail, UHP said. Hellrigel was wearing a helmet but died before responders arrived.

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Suspected drug dealer accused of being high during fatal auto-ped

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:24:24 MDT

Suspected drug dealer accused of being high during fatal auto-ped

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 07:24PM MDT

Prosecutors have charged a suspected drug dealer with driving under the influence of methamphetamine when he allegedly hit and killed a man with his van. Ashton Lee Godfrey, 20, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with automobile homicide, as well as DUI causing death, in case the court determines there isn’t enough evidence for the former. Both are second-degree felonies that carry a sentence of one to 15 years in prison. Godfrey was also charged with three counts of possession of a contr...

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Accidental flash fire destroyed half a Salt Lake City home

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:24:24 MDT

Accidental flash fire destroyed half a Salt Lake City home

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 07:24PM MDT

Salt Lake City fire investigators determined that an accidental flash fire destroyed the second floor of a house Friday afternoon. It was an electrical fire that was so hot it caused most everything to spontaneously catch fire in the upper apartments of a converted house near the University of Utah, said Salt Lake City Fire Deputy Chief Dan Walker. Two residents who were home escaped unharmed. A total of four people live at the house, but only the ones who live on the ground floor will be able t...

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Evanston, Wyoming, police involved in shooting

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:24:24 MDT

Evanston, Wyoming, police involved in shooting

by Nate Carlisle The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 07:24PM MDT

Police in Evanston, Wyo., were involved in a shooting there earlier Saturday, a spokesman said. Evanston police Lt. Bill Jeffers declined to say if anyone was hurt or killed and offered few other details. He said the shooting happened in downtown Evanston. A press conference is scheduled for noon Sunday. Jeffers said the shooting involved officers from the city police force and the Uinta County, Wyo., sheriff’s office. The Uinta County Herald reported the shooting happened after a high-speed ch...

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Salt Lake City cops seek 3 men in wild, broad-daylight gunfight

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:59:54 MDT

Salt Lake City cops seek 3 men in wild, broad-daylight gunfight

by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 12:59PM MDT

Police on Friday were looking for three men in the wake of a west Salt Lake City shootout in which more than a dozen bullets flew through the air. Salt Lake City police Detective Veronica Montoya said no one was shot during the Thursday afternoon firefight in the median of 500 West and 300 South, though one bullet struck the side of a motor home parked nearby. The men remained at large Friday afternoon as detectives continued to investigate the brazen gun battle and the identities of its partici...

Salt Lake police dedicate plaque to officer killed on bike in 2000

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:37:19 MDT

Salt Lake police dedicate plaque to officer killed on bike in 2000

by Jim Dalrymple Ii The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 10:37AM MDT

Christian Smith wasn’t alive on July 17, 2000, the day that Salt Lake City police Officer Michael Dunman was killed while on patrol as a bicycle cop. But the 10-year-old was instrumental in making sure the city remembers Dunman’s service. On Friday afternoon, Dunman’s family and former colleagues gathered near 1500 S. State St., the site of the fatal crash, to dedicate a bronze plaque in his memory. Dunman’s widow, Sandi Dunman-Bromley, pulled a sheet of paper from the brick wall of Piper Down P...

Provo police looking for business robber

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:41:03 MDT

Provo police looking for business robber

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 10:41PM MDT

Provo police are looking for the man who allegedly robbed an insurance company. About 5 p.m. Friday, a man walked into Advanced Insurance at 363 N. University Ave. and pointed what a 27-year-old female employee described as a 9-mm handgun at her, according to a police news release. The suspect then demanded money from her. She tried to stand up, but he pushed her to the ground and fled with an undisclosed amount of money, the release adds. Police describe the suspect as a Latino male in his 30s,...

Indictment: Suspected terrorist visited Utah to hold demonstrations

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:09:33 MDT

Indictment: Suspected terrorist visited Utah to hold demonstrations

by John Miller The Associated Press

Published May 17, 2013 09:09PM MDT

Boise, Idaho • He was a Russian-speaking truck driver who came to Idaho in 2009 to join hundreds of other Uzbekistan refugees for whom the state has become a sanctuary from violence in their home country. But federal officials say in an indictment that Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, also was teaching people to build bombs that would target public transportation. For 10 days in January, court documents state, Kurbanov was in Utah to teach and demonstrate how to make an “explosive, destructive device an...

Did Susan Powell’s brother-in-law hide her body?

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:16:32 MDT

Did Susan Powell’s brother-in-law hide her body?

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 07:16PM MDT

As West Valley City police call off the latest search for Susan Powell, new details have surfaced about the possible involvement of her late brother-in-law in her disappearance. Susan Powell was last seen Dec. 6, 2009, at her West Valley City home, which she shared with her husband, Josh Powell, who police have said was the only person of interest in the investigation. But fairly soon after she vanished, police started seeing clues that her husband’s brother, Michael C. Powell, may have been in...

Salt Lake City bank robber on the loose

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:56:41 MDT

Salt Lake City bank robber on the loose

by Kimball Bennion The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 06:56PM MDT

Police are on the lookout for an armed man who robbed a Salt Lake City bank of an undisclosed amount of cash on Friday. The Salt Lake City Police Department said a masked man walked into a Chase Bank branch on 1295 S. Redwood Road about 12:40 p.m., and demanded money from a teller. The man then left eastbound on foot after the robbery. No one was injured, police said. The robber was described as a black man with a slender, athletic build. He’s about 6 feet tall and was wearing a dark, hooded jac...

Detective: Victim claimed Utah shooting prompted by missing drugs

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:55:10 MDT

Detective: Victim claimed Utah shooting prompted by missing drugs

by Jessica Miller The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 06:55PM MDT

Nine days after he was shot in the neck, Simon Vasquez decided to end his life. The shooting had left him a quadriplegic, and he relied on medical treatment to stabilize his blood pressure and oxygen levels, assistant medical examiner Julie Schrader testified in 3rd District Court Friday. “He was alive and conscious and was able to talk,” Schrader testified. “But medically, he was very unstable.” Before his medical treatment was withdrawn on Aug. 13, Vasquez asked to speak to the officer invest...