The last time Milton Tanner saw his brother, Rex, alive was Sunday, Oct. 25, the day Rex was moving out of a trailer home owned by John R. Pinder.
Four days later Milton called the Duchesne County Sheriff's office to report that his brother was missing.On Saturday, Oct. 31, the scattered remains of Rex Tanner's body were discovered on a hillside on a ranch owned by Pinder. The remains of a woman's body were found, as well. Investigators believe the woman was June Flood, 59. Rex, 48, was in the process of moving in with Flood at the home she rented near the Strawberry River when the two disappeared.
Investigators now believe the two were shot and then their bodies taken to a remote hillside 20 miles southwest of Duchesne, where they were blown up.
Pinder, 40, and his 34-year-old ranch hand, Filomeno Valenchia Ruiz, are both charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the two deaths. Convictions could result in the death penalty.
Ruiz is in jail, but Pinder, who has a $1 million cash-only warrant issued against him, remained at large Saturday evening. He had been expected to turn himself in but had not done so as of 7 p.m., authorities said.
The investigation into the killings has reached into Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where Pinder reportedly was seen after the deaths occurred.
"Rex said he was afraid of John. They are reporting that June was Rex's girlfriend, but that's not true. Rex was moving in to protect her from John," Milton Tanner said.
Flood moved to Duchesne County about three years ago with another man. It's believed she's from San Diego, Calif., but so far authorities have not been able to find any known relatives, said Duchesne County Sheriff Ralph Stansfield.
According to Milton Tanner, Flood worked as a secretary for the Pinders at one of their oil companies, but a few months ago she allegedly was roughed up by Pinder and Ruiz in a dispute over missing items that belonged to Pinder.
Rex moved June into his mother's home in Myton for six weeks a few months after the alleged attack, to protect her, said Milton Tanner.
"She was absolutely scared to death of Pinder and his friend (Ruiz)," said Lena Tanner, Rex Tanner's mother. "I didn't even know the woman, but Rex was very, very concerned about her. . . . They both stressed very often that they were very scared of them."
Rex Tanner worked as a ranch hand for Pinder on and off for about four years but had been steadily employed on the ranch for most of the past year and a half, according to Milton Tanner.
Rex Tanner was laid off from work in mid-September when he was trampled by a cow after being thrown from his horse. But it was two months prior to that, when Pinder and Rex Tanner had a disagreement, that their relationship began to change, said Milton Tanner.
"It was during the first crop of hay, in late June or July, they had a falling out. I don't know what for. John run him off, but Bob (John Pinder's father, who co-owns the west Duchesne County ranch with his son), hired him back and told John to leave all the (ranch) hands alone."
Rex Tanner's mother said her son didn't talk specifically about what was going on at the ranch. He had never told her that he found the bodies of two dead prostitutes - a rumor that has circulated locally - she said.
According to Milton Tanner, his brother was told he would be going back to work on the ranch once he healed from the injuries he suffered in the accident. Rex Tanner sustained a crushed spleen, cracked ankle and facial injuries.
"Bob offered him (Rex Tanner) five acres, two cows, daily wages and a house to live in," said Milton Tanner.
The only reason he was determined to return to work was because he loved his job and had said that he would be working for Bob Pinder and not his son, Lena Tanner said.
However, Rex Tanner learned the offer had apparently been withdrawn when a nurse's call to State Worker's Compensation reported his employer would be laying him off after the fall roundup.
"That's when he knew something was wrong and he decided to move," Milton Tanner said.
Although Rex Tanner and John Pinder were "friends," Milton Tanner described the relationship as a co-worker/boss sort of friendship. He said Rex Tanner "always feared John."
Other than unfounded suspicions, Milton Tanner said he's at a loss to think of a motive for the brutal, grisly killings.
Rex Tanner lived a hard and fast life, Milton Tanner said. He had two failed marriages and his name was familiar on police blotters in Duchesne County, where he had been arrested for drug offenses.
But he had stayed out of trouble the past two years, his mother said.
The lead investigators in the case, Duchesne County Sheriff's Cpl. Dave Boren and Sgt. Wally Hendricks, went to Idaho Thursday to talk to Kootenai County detectives who are assisting in the investigation. The mother and daughter of a girlfriend of Pinder came forward with information allegedly linking him to the crime.