This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Two men charged in connection with the fatal August stabbing of a man outside a Holladay area LDS Church have pleaded guilty as charged.
Austin Scott Taylor, 21, and Ryan Gordon Curtz, 18, pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court last week to one count each of second-degree felony obstructing justice and class A misdemeanor assault.
Taylor and Curtz both admitted to using their fists to assault the victim, 25-year-old Michael Workman, and also to disposing of bloody clothing.
The two men will be sentenced Dec. 17 by Judge Ann Boyden to probation and time served, according to court documents. Both have agreed to testify truthfully at any future court proceedings.
Workman's alleged killer, Talon Levi Hamann, 18, is charged with first-degree felony murder, second-degree felony obstructing justice and third-degree felony witness tampering. His preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 8.
According to charges, Workman was leaving a friend's house on the 1600 East block of Delaware Lane (4945 South) at about 3 a.m. on Aug. 23 when he was confronted by the three men in the parking lot of a nearby church.
Police have said that the men did not know Workman, but they knew the woman with whom he had argued at a get-together earlier that night.
Curtz and Workman started fighting, and Taylor joined in, helping to get Workman onto the ground. Meanwhile, Hamann stabbed him with a knife in the legs and torso, according to charging documents. Investigators have said the trio left Workman to die, driving away with 18-year-old Shalynn Caro, who also had driven the men to the scene. Police have said Caro was not the woman involved in the argument with Workman.
Workman's body was discovered about 7:30 a.m.
Caro who has not been charged drove to a Salt Lake County residence where Hamann and Taylor removed their blood-stained clothing, according to charging documents. Hamann took the clothes and knife and said he was "taking care of this," the charges state.
Hamann also called a female who was at the get-together and told her a story to tell the police that did not place Hamann at the site of the homicide, and he told her not to "snitch,"according to the charges.