Two men charged with kidnapping and killing Kearns woman because she ‘knew too much’

Two men have been charged with killing 25-year-old Conzuelo “Nicole” Solorio-Romero because they apparently believed she had helped put an associate of theirs in prison.

Orlando Esiesa Tobar, 29, and Jorge Rafael Medina Reyes, 21, were charged Tuesday with kidnapping and murdering Solorio-Romero.

Solorio-Romero was “forcibly taken” from her home in the area of 5000 West and 5400 South on Feb. 6, according to police. Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said at a news conference last week that the kidnapping happened in “broad daylight.”

Charging documents filed Tuesday say that Solorio-Romero sent a friend a video message on the day of the kidnapping saying two men with guns were making her leave her home. Witnesses in the area reported seeing a woman being forced into a car, and there is surveillance footage of a man later identified as Tobar making Solorio-Romero get into a car, according to the documents.

Solorio-Romero was taken from her home to 1136 W. Elba Ave. and forced into an apartment, according to the documents. Witnesses in the apartment said Tobar was holding a knife to her neck when they arrived.

Tobar told Reyes to stand behind Solorio-Romero while he stood in front of her and held her, according to the charging documents. He began questioning the woman about information she told police that resulted in one of his “close associates” being arrested and taken into federal custody. Witnesses said Solorio-Romero denied having talked to police, but the charging documents say the person Tobar was talking about is indeed in federal custody.

As Solorio-Romero was being interrogated, Tobar said she “knew too much, and she was not going to leave that apartment.”

Tobar moved his head to the side and Reyes shot the woman in the back of her head, according to the documents. Tobar laid her on the ground, and the witnesses left the apartment. Once outside, they heard another gunshot.

Solorio-Romero’s body was wrapped in plastic and placed in a landscape truck, according to the charging documents. A third person helped dispose of her body, which has not yet been found. Tobar then forced a witness to clean up the scene of the slaying.