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Search warrants in the investigation of a Magna man's fatal shooting suggest that shortly before his death, Stevan Ryan Chambers was held in a garage against his will by people questioning him about whether he had drugged and assaulted a woman.
In addition, the two warrants — which were unsealed Thursday in 3rd District Court — also reveal that a man identified by the questioners as being present in the garage had for two months dated Shelli Marie Brown, who was found shot to death two days after Chambers' slaying and a half-mile from where his body was found.
No arrests have been made in either death, but the former boyfriend was arrested last month on warrants in unrelated cases and is being held in a Salt Lake County jail.
Chambers was found dead in a roadway near 2880 South and 9100 West in Magna on Aug. 17. Brown's body was discovered on Aug. 19 at Magna Copper Park, 2400 S. 8950 West. Both were 26.
Unified Police investigators have described the two as acquaintances who ran in the same circles and said they believe the homicides are related. Shell casings from a .380-caliber gun were found near both bodies and have been sent to the state crime laboratory for testing. Results are pending.
The search warrants seek records of incoming and outgoing calls on the cell phone of the former boyfriend's father and on the landline of his grandparents. UPD Detective Kevin Barrett wrote in his requests for the warrants that he wants to examine calls that might have been made by the man and that might verify or dispute his alibi in the homicides.
According to the search warrants, a woman said in an interview with a detective that she woke up early on Aug. 15 with needle marks in her right arm, her shirt pulled up and Chambers hovering over her. She said Chambers ran away when she asked what he was doing.
The woman said she told a number of people that she believed Chambers had given her intravenous drugs "in order to take sexual advantage of her," the warrants say.
The warrants say eight other witnesses said Chambers was held in the garage on Aug. 15 and again on Aug. 16 for questioning about the alleged assault. All of the witnesses claimed the former boyfriend was present on Aug. 16 and some believe he also was there on Aug. 15.
Then early Aug. 17, a half dozen people standing outside the Magna library at 2675 S. 8950 West to take advantage of the WI-FI network told police they saw Chambers being chased down the street by the woman who made the accusation and the former boyfriend. Two of the people intervened and stopped the chase and last saw Chambers alone with the former boyfriend on the street at 8885 W. 2700 South sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., the warrants say.
Two people who live near the crime scene walked out of their home to the street early on Aug. 17 after hearing gunshots and emergency sirens and said they, too, saw the former boyfriend there. Both said they had seen him just a few hours before and said it was strange that he had cut off his long hair since then, according to the warrants.
In another interview, a witness said he heard gunshots coming from Magna's Copper Park early on Aug. 19, drove there to investigate and saw "a male running wearing a white tank top holding his rear waist band to keep an object from falling out." The witness said the male was white and had tattoos on both arms.
The former boyfriend — who, the search warrants note, is a white man with tattoos on both arms — was arrested on warrants on Aug. 25 and interviewed that day by detectives. The 23-year-old man at first said he had never met or heard of Chambers, the warrants say, but then "admitted to observing Stevan without shoes and provided him with a cigarette."
The man also admitted to dating Brown for two months, the warrants say, and when he was arrested, "he was in possession of latex gloves similar to the ones located near Shelli's crime scene."
According to the warrants, the man said he had gone on a date Aug. 15 and was in Magna on the night of Aug. 16 at his grandmother's house sleeping until 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. on Aug. 17. He did not provide an alibi for his whereabouts on Aug. 18 or 19, the search warrants say.
Chambers' family members has said he was distressed in the days before he died and would appear happy but suddenly start to cry. Just hours before he died, his mother said, he told her he was scared and believed he was being followed but wouldn't share any details.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC