The man accused of killing a Highland High graduate and seriously wounding his female friend admitted he shot the girl "because he didn't want any witnesses," according to court records filed Monday.
Jorge M. Benvenuto, 19, also was seen playing Russian Roulette with his newly acquired Colt .44 magnum handgun several times before the Aug. 28 shooting.Benvenuto, who has no known criminal record, told his friend Tom Watson after the slaying that he had just killed two people in Emigration Canyon, according to the records filed in 3rd District Court. (They were actually killed in Parleys Canyon.)
"(Benvenuto) stated he shot the first one and had to shoot the other one because he didn't want there to be any witnesses. He stated he had thrown the gun away. He stated he would not be taken alive," wrote Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Ben Forbes in a search warrant affidavit.
Watson also told police Benvenuto "had been wondering" what it would be like to shoot someone, the affidavit states.
Benvenuto was arrested without incident in Lehi a day after the shooting. Prosecutors say he approached Zach Snarr and Yvette Rodier, both 18, as they prepared to take photographs of the rising moon in Parleys Canyon.
He emptied the .44 magnum handgun on the two for no apparent reason, police say. The first bullets struck and killed Snarr. One slug ricocheted and grazed Rodier's head; another pierced her side and exited through her left thigh.
The girl, who was the senior class president at Highland last school year, said she played dead while Benvenuto rifled the pockets of Snarr. The gunman left the scene in Snarr's black Ford Bronco, leaving behind his truck.
Police who searched the Bronco later found Benvenuto's truck keys inside the vehicle. They also recovered a plastic Colt gun case from the 1968 Chevrolet pickup and two paper targets embossed with the words, "Doug's Shoot 'N Sports," a Taylorsville gun shop.
Benvenuto faces capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery charges. He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a roll call hearing. He is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.