A Duchesne County man, wanted on a $1 million arrest warrant for the deaths of a Duchesne County man and woman, turned himself in to authorities Sunday.
But instead of surrendering to Duchesne County officers, John R. Pinder, 40, walked into the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office in Heber City. He was accompanied by his attorneys.Pinder is expected to be held in the Wasatch County Jail for the time being, said Duchesne County Sheriff Ralph Stansfield, but he was to be taken to Duchesne later Monday to appear in court. He is charged with two counts of capital murder and tampering with evidence, a second-degree felony.
Pinder said he fears for his life in Duchesne County and would surrender here.
Several hours prior to the time the arrest warrant was filed Thursday morning, Pinder went to KSL-TV studios in Salt Lake City and gave reporters a rambling discourse on his innocence. He said he had been framed for the killings of Rex K. Tanner, 48, and June Flood, 59, both of Strawberry River. The two were former employees of Pinder.
In the interview, Pinder alluded to a huge drug trafficking scheme in eastern Utah, saying there is a lot more to the story than the two murders, and that's why he fears for his fife.
Filimeno Valenchia-Ruiz, 34, a Mexican national and employee of Pinder, is also charged with two counts of capital murder. He also faces evidence tampering and theft charges. He was arrested Oct. 30.
The scattered remains of Tanner and Flood were found Oct. 31 on a remote hillside 20 miles southwest of Duchesne in Lake Canyon. They had been reported missing two days earlier.
The couple were apparently shot and then taken to the site on the JJNP Ranch where their bodies were blown up and then covered with dirt by heavy equipment. Pinder owns the ranch with his father, Robert Pinder, a Park City businessman.
Prosecutors say that on Oct. 25, Pinder went to the home Flood rented on the Strawberry River. He drove Flood and Tanner to Lake Canyon, where he shot the couple, the charges state.
After the killings, prosecutors say Pinder and Valenchia-Ruiz drove to Pinder's main ranch where they loaded a "dynamite and fertilizer type explosive mixture into John Pinder's truck." Court documents maintain the two men then drove back to the Lake Canyon site where the "explosive items were placed onto the bodies of Rex Tanner and June Flood."
Pinder, Valenchia-Ruiz and a third man, who has not been charged in the crime, then cleaned up the site of the explosion, using heavy equipment to bury the scattered remains, court documents state. Efforts to remove remaining body parts from the crime scene went on for a few days after the blast, and some human parts were put in a bag and burned, according to the charges.
The ashes were thrown into the Strawberry River.
During the clean-up, Pinder is alleged to have said, "They never should have lied to me. They stole from me and now they're vaporized."
Two days after the double homicide, Valenchia-Ruiz went to Flood's home and used rubbing alcohol to wipe down the door knob and walls "as if trying to remove fingerprints," the charges state.
The search at the Lake Canyon site, where the bodies were destroyed, concluded late last week. So far authorities have only positively identified Tanner's remains, although they are convinced the other remains belong to Flood. So far, the search has turned up body parts belonging only to two individuals, Stansfield said, responding to rumors that others others may have been killed and buried at the site.
A specific motive for the crime apparently still eludes investigators.
Law enforcement officials from Kootenai County, Idaho are assisting Duchesne County in their investigation by tracking down evidence that was allegedly taken to Idaho for disposal by Pinder and a girlfriend.
Lead investigators in the case, Duchesne County Sheriff's Cpl. Dave Boren and Sgt. Wally Hendricks, are still in Idaho where efforts continue to locate the murder weapon and other evidence.
Pinder and Valencia-Ruiz were together in August when the two were charged by Vernal police with driving under the influence. Pinder was also charged with numerous weapons violations. The two aroused a great deal of attention when they drove into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store with Pinder's African lion in the back of the pickup truck. Pinder has a license to have the lion at his ranch.