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Jury selection began Wednesday for a man allegedly hired by a Utah County drug dealer to beat up a purported "snitch," but who ended up killing the intended beating victim.
Danny LeRoy Logue, 49, is charged in 4th District Court with first-degree felony aggravated murder, second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon, along with three other drug-related felony charges in the 2011 death of 32-year-old Andy Purcell.
If convicted of the murder charge, Logue faces a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
According to court records, Logue and another man, Darrell Wayne Morris, were hired by a drug dealer, Yuri Sanchez Lara, to beat up Purcell — who Lara thought had "snitched" on him to police about a cache of methamphetamine kept in Lara's storage unit. Morris was given a half-ounce of methamphetamine before the shooting, and another half-ounce after Lara learned Purcell was in the hospital, according to charges.
Purcell died May 17, 2011, a day after he was found on the porch of his mother's Provo home with a gunshot wound in his forehead.
But police have said that Purcell was not the person who snitched on Lara, rather it was a woman who was caught with methamphetamine.
Logue, whose 15-day trial is expected to go into mid-February, is accused of shooting the man. Morris claimed in plea agreement documents that he took a baseball bat with him that night, and was surprised when Logue took out a gun and fired several rounds at Purcell.
Morris, 41, pleaded guilty last July to second-degree felony counts of manslaughter and obstruction of justice, along with felony possession of a weapon by a restricted person. He was sentenced to spend up to 15 years in prison for the crimes, according to court records.
Two days before the May 16, 2011, shooting, Lara asked Morris to beat up Purcell in exchange for the drugs, according to Morris'
"I took a baseball bat and, unbeknownst to me, Danny Logue took a gun," Morris' plea agreement reads. "… Andy Purcell was outside the home on the front porch. Andy Purcell began yelling at us that he knew why we were there and threatened to call the police."
Morris and Logue were about 25 feet away when Logue allegedly fired three or four shots, according to Morris.
Lara, 35, also took a plea deal in his case, pleading guilty to manslaughter and four counts of first-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute. He is serving up to life in prison.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Curtis Larson said after Lara's 2012 sentencing that the plea deal was appropriate because Lara never specifically told the two men to kill Purcell.
"He contracted with the men to go injure him, beat him up," Larson said. "Not to kill him."
jmiller@sltrib.com Twitter: @jm_miller