Unified police are asking for help from the public to locate a man charged with shooting and killing a woman in Magna last summer.
Police are looking for 46-year-old Gino James Cecala, of Murray, who is charged with murder for the July shooting death of 25-year-old Paige Espinoza.
Just before 5:15 a.m. on July 16, callers reported a shooting at a home at 8360 W. Mix Ave. (3410 South), where officers found Espinoza’s body in a southeast bedroom. Espinoza did not live at the house, but had been visiting her boyfriend, who was a resident, according to charges filed in 3rd District Court.
(Photo courtesy of Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office) Gino James Cecala
Espinoza had gunshot wounds to her head and leg, charges state, and officers found 15 9mm bullet casings outside the bedroom window. A medical examiner determined Espinoza died from a single gunshot wound to her head, but also had been shot in the leg.
Espinoza’s boyfriend told officers he had been in the bedroom with her when someone started shooting at them, charges state.
The boyfriend told officers he’d recently had “problems” with Cecala and the two had been in a physical altercation about a week before the shooting. After the fight, Cecala had threatened to kill him and Espinoza on multiple occasions, the boyfriend told police.
A neighbor who heard the gunshots saw a white passenger car leave the area, the neighbor told police. A tip led officers to contact Todd Elwin Hull, 46, who admitted to driving Cecala to the residence in a white sedan that belonged to Cecala’s mother.
Hull told police that Cecala had exited the car and walked up to the house. Hull heard several shots and then Cecala returned to the car. Hull drove Cecala to an empty lot on the west side of Salt Lake County, where Cecala buried the gun, according to charges.
Hull was charged Aug. 1 with two counts of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, in 3rd District Court. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 cash-only bail.
(Courtesy Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office) Todd Elwin Hull
When officers went to the lot to recover the gun, it was not there, charges say. However, an area of ground appeared to have been “recently disturbed,” and a neighbor told officers that the night before, he’d seen a man and two women at the lot.
The man had a small shovel with a serrated edge with him as he approached the lot, the neighbor said, and he returned a short time later. Officers contacted a woman who told police that she and her sister had taken Cecala to the lot to retrieve the gun.
Cecala was charged with first-degree felony counts of murder and felony discharge of a firearm. He also was charged with second-degree counts of obstructing justice and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, as well as 13 counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm.
A $1 million cash-only arrest warrant has been issued for Cecala. His aliases include Gino Espinosa, James Cecala, Mauricio Busto, Fino Espinosa and James Espinosa, court documents say.
The Unified Police Department and the United States Marshals Service are looking for Cecala, according to a Monday news release from UPD.
Anyone with information on Cecala’s whereabouts is asked to call 385-468-9817. Police are willing to grant anonymity to tipsters, the release said.
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