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A 29-year-old Salt Lake City man was charged Thursday with the Easter Sunday beating death of an acquaintance.
Robert Carlos Munoz is charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, as well as one count of third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
Munoz fatally beat 28-year-old Michael Ramirez with a "large tazer/flashlight tool" on April 5 because the victim disrespected him and refused to lend him money, according to charging documents.
Ramirez was killed at the home where the defendant lives with his mother, near 1300 West and 900 South.
According to charging documents, Munoz's mother told police that at about 7:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, her son told her he had fought with Ramirez and that she should go to the garage to see what had happened. Munoz then changed clothes and left.
His mother went to the garage, where she found Ramirez.
A female acquaintance of Munoz told police that he came to her apartment at about 9 a.m. on Easter and stated that he beat the victim with the "tazer/flashlight tool" because the victim disrespected him and would not lend him money, even though the victim had money in his pocket, charges state.
The victim's father told police that Ramirez left home in the early hours of Easter morning with $1,400 cash in his pocket.
When police searched Munoz's bedroom, they found a bloody shirt, shoes with blood on them and a wallet containing the victim's identification card, but no money, charges state.
An autopsy revealed that Ramirez died from blunt trauma to the head. In addition to head and facial injuries, the victim had blunt force trauma injuries to his abdomen, right leg and right arm, according to charges.
Munoz was arrested Monday and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. Bail has been set at $250,000, cash-only.
No court dates were immediately set.
The charge of possession of a firearm by a restricted person is based on a 2007 case in which Munoz pleaded guilty to third-degree felony forgery.