OREM — A man left a message on Maritza Aguilar's cell phone the day she died and asked her to sell him drugs, police say.
At a recent press conference, police said they believe that man was Seth Rollins Broomhead, 20, of Riverton.
Broomhead could face the death penalty if prosecutors can convince a jury that he was the man who met with Aguilar, 22, and Pablo Montoya, 20, behind an Orem greenhouse that evening last June and shot them in the head as he sat behind them in the back seat of Aguilar's maroon Honda Accord.
Broomhead is charged in 4th District Court with two counts of aggravated murder, a capital offense in Utah punishable by death. The minimum sentence connected with the charges is 20 years to life in prison.
This is the first capital case for Orem since Gary Gilmore was convicted of murdering two men in 1976. "I think the community is relieved," said Michael Larsen, Orem director of public safety. "I think the community is happy to have this over."
Broomhead's family is devastated, said Laura Procunier, who works at the Broomhead Funeral Home in Riverton. She said his parents, Ronald and LaRae, had no comment.
"This is just too big," Procunier said. "It's overwhelming right now."
Larsen said detectives knew early in the investigation that Broomhead had called Aguilar. In fact, her cell phone records showed 10 calls from Broomhead's phone. "In the initial stages of the investigation, Orem detectives talked to Mr. Broomhead because they learned he was one of the last people to talk to the victims," Larsen said. "The evidence wasn't there to tie him to the homicides."
But Broomhead soon became a target of the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit because he belonged to the Newborn Mafiosos, a new gang in the Salt Lake Valley. The gang engages in armed robberies of local convenience stores, said Juan Becerra, an FBI agent who works with the gang unit.
Becerra arrested Broomhead on July 12 in connection with a May robbery of a 7-Eleven store in Sandy.
Broomhead has been in federal custody in the Davis County Jail since his arrest. Meanwhile, Becerra said his investigation of the Sandy robbery eventually uncovered connections to the Orem murders.
Bryson said a third charge against Broomhead — theft by receiving, a second-degree felony — is related to the gun allegedly used as the murder weapon.
Larsen said law enforcement officials believe the motive for the murders was wholly drug-related. Eighteen baggies of cocaine were found hidden in a secret compartment in Aguilar's car. The drugs had a street value of more than $20,000.
Orem Police Lt. Doug Edwards said the couple, who lived together in Provo, died at about 6:30 p.m. on June 13. Their bodies were found by a greenhouse employee the following day.
The federal robbery case includes an element of illegal interstate activity and could expand to include five or six robberies, said Leshia Lee-Dixon, an assistant U.S. attorney. If convicted, Broomhead would face a seven-year minimum mandatory sentence and $500,000 in fines.
Larsen said the murder investigation is ongoing and didn't rule out the possibility of accomplices.
Bryson said the capital murder case will take precedence and that Broomhead will be transferred to the Utah County Jail. A court date has not been set.
E-MAIL: twalch@desnews.com