A Millcreek man killed an acquaintance over a set of tools while another man watched and helped dispose of the body near the Oquirrh Mountains, police and prosecutors say.
Officials charged Jimmy Dean Meinhard, 49, and Larry Thomas Taylor, 51, also of Millcreek, with murder, a first-degree felony, Thursday morning in Tooele's 3rd District Court.Both were also charged with tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. The charges were filed in connection with the Feb. 25 stabbing death of Ronald Reed Peterson, 38, who was living in Tooele at the time but also listed a residence in Kearns.
"It appears that part of the motive includes Peterson taking a set of tools from one of them," Tooele County Sheriff Frank Scharmann said. He did not elaborate.
Horseback riders found Peterson's bloody body half-buried in the snow about 22 miles south of Tooele almost fours days after his death, Scharmann said.
Prosecutors say Meinhard and Taylor, both residing at 4549 S. Highland Dr., drove to Tooele to meet Peterson. Meinhard got into Peterson's vehicle, and the two drove to an isolated area near the base of the mountains. Taylor followed in his own car, according to the charges.
Meinhard then stabbed Peterson in the chest with a knife, the complaint states. Meinhard drove Peterson's car, with the body inside, to another isolated location in the county, and the two men dragged the body from the vehicle "and left the decedent's body among the sage brush," according to the charges.
Meinhard took Peterson's car and the two traveled another seven miles east just over the Utah County border to dispose of the vehicle, the charges state. The two then traveled back to their Millcreek residence.
Three days later, the two returned to the abandoned car "so Meinhard could clean the vehicle of fingerprints and other evidence of the parties' prior presence," the complaint states.
Tooele County Deputy Attorney Alan Jeppesen said Peterson was stabbed eight times: six times while he was in the car and two times after his body was dumped in the desert.
A break in the five-week investigation came after physical evidence was matched to Meinhard, Scharmann said. The two were arrested without incident Wednesday with the help of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Taylor was transported to the Davis County Jail while Meinhard remains in the Tooele County Jail. Both men will make court appearances in Tooele on Monday.