Courthouse security was tight Friday as Utah County prosecutors charged seven suspects in 4th District Court with the killing last week of an Orem man.
John Freitag, 38, died Aug. 25 after being shot in the stomach while standing inside the front door of his northeast Orem home. Police say seven men went to Freitag's home at about 1 a.m. and an argument erupted over narcotics. One shot was fired through Freitag's storm door, killing him.Neighbors reported a confrontation between the group and Freitag earlier in the day.
Prosecutors charged Beau Heaps, 17, Orem, and Leikina Lavulavu, 19, American Fork, with murder, a first-degree felony. Both are being held in the Utah County Jail on $100,000 bail. Investigators believe Lavulavu fired the fatal shot. The group was allegedly at the home because of a dispute between Heaps and Freitag.
Anthony Tai, 26, Provo; Tonga Mounga, 19, Orem; Bo Malupo, 19, Provo; David Niumeitolu, 19, Provo; and Topouniua Unga, 19, Provo, are charged with homicide by assault, a second-degree felony. The offense is normally a third-degree felony, but prosecutors enhanced the charges because the killing took place within 1,000 feet of a school and involved a group of people.
Bail for Tai was set at $100,000. Malupo and Mounga are being held on $75,000 bail. Unga and Niumeitolu are being detained on $50,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 before Judge Ray M. Harding. However, prosecutors say they'll begin plea negotiations with every suspect except Heaps and Lavulavu. Hearings are scheduled for Sept. 13 to determine which suspects will proceed with a preliminary hearing.
If the cases are bound over for trial, prosecutors say they'll try the suspects separately.
About a dozen extra sheriff's deputies patrolled the court Friday after supporters of some of the accused became unruly at a court appearance last week. A police transport van returning the suspects back to the Utah County Jail was allegedly mobbed as it drove away from the court building last Friday.
Those entering the courthouse Friday were subject to individual searches. Extra security officers and a K-9 unit patrolled the parking lot before and after the court appearances. During the proceedings, Harding warned the suspects' families and friends that he will not tolerate any further disturbances.
"If that conduct is repeated the court will hold these proceedings in closed session," the judge said.
Many who filled the courtroom Friday were there to support Mounga and Niumeitolu. Family and friends of the two say they're good men who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Niumeitolu was a standout student at Meridian School, a private school in east Provo. He is attending the University of Utah on an academic scholarship.
Two years ago, Mounga was an all-state football player at Orem High School. He received scholarship offers to Ricks College and Brigham Young University. He recently received a call to serve a mission in Minnesota for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Police say some of suspects who went to Freitag's home the night of the killing probably did not know the suspect.