DUCHESNE -- The Jan. 10 murder trial of a wealthy Duchesne County rancher will be moved to neighboring Wasatch County.
Fearing an unbiased jury could not be found in rural Duchesne County, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the change of venue prior to presenting the motion to 8th District Court Judge John R. Anderson. The trial will be held in 4th District Court in Heber City.Based on questionnaires returned by the majority of the 300 residents whose names are included in the current jury pool, they wouldn't have been called as jurors because of the extensive media coverage in the Oct. 25, 1998, deaths of Rex K. Tanner, 48, and June Flood, 59. The Pinder family, who has extensive oil and gas and land holdings in the county, is also well-known.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich told Anderson that he may request a delay in the trial date in view of new evidence uncovered last week by Duchesne County deputies after they received new leads in the one-year-old double homicide case against John R. Pinder, 41, and his ranch hand Filomeno Valenchia-Ruiz, a 35-year old Mexican national.
Investigators discovered more body remains, which they hope to link to the murders.
Ruiz pleaded guilty last week to reduced charges of two counts of murder, a first-degree felony. Numerous other felony charges were dismissed by prosecutors in return for his willingness to testify at Pinder's murder trial. Ruiz was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 5 years to life in the Utah State Prison.