A judge has reduced bail for four men charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of a fellow brine shrimp worker last week near the Great Salt Lake.
During a hearing Tuesday, 1st Circuit Judge Robert Daines trimmed bail from $200,000 to $60,000 each - a compromise between the $50,000 requested by the defense and the $100,000 sought by prosecutors.Charged are William Robert Cummins, 28, of Philadelphia; Donald Wayne Brown, 33, of Conroe, Texas; Billy Donald Cayer, 46, of Salt Lake City; and Raymond Phillip Cabututan, 25, of Salt Lake City.
The men are charged in the death of Miguel Rameriz, 38.
Prosecutors contend Rameriz was beaten to death with wrenches and a nun-chuck, a martial arts weapon consisting of sticks connected by a length of chain. Authorities say Rameriz's attackers allegedly turned on him after he intervened in another fight.
The killing took place where the brine shrimp employees were working at Fingerpoint in the Hogup Mountain Range along the remote western shores of the Great Salt Lake.