Sandy police executed several search warrants Wednesday in downtown Salt Lake City in connection with the death of a wealthy businessman and part-time Utah County college hockey coach outside a Village Inn.
A business, a house and vehicles, all in the downtown area, were searched. Sandy Police Lt. Kevin Thacker said they were all related to the same person.
"We have a person of interest in the case," he said.
Kenneth G. Dolezsar, 50, was shot in the parking lot of Village Inn, 150 W. 10600 South, on Nov. 15. The Springville resident was a prominent businessman, according to police, as well as the assistant hockey coach for the Utah Valley State College team. He also had made several significant financial contributions to the program.
Investigators have been searching for suspects and a motive ever since.
On Wednesday, Sandy detectives went to several locations, including a parking structure at Exchange Place, near 300 S. Main.
In a statement released Thursday, police confirmed the warrant was part of the ongoing homicide investigation but would only say that the warrant was served at a "business, a home, two vehicles and a person."
The "person of interest" runs a business at 15 Exchange Place, according to workers at neighboring businesses. Thursday, other workers in the area said police arrived early in the morning Wednesday and stayed until midafternoon. Dozens of officers, including undercover cops whose vehicles took up most of the street, swarmed the office, according to witnesses. The man was kept in handcuffs the entire time but was not arrested, according to one person who worked nearby.
Those who know the man being investigated said he operates a high-interest, short-term lending finance business. The man's Hummer, Porsche and motorcycle, which were parked in the Exchange Place parking structure, were searched.
"They took the seat off the motorcycle and fingerprinted it," according to one witness who did not want to be identified.
Investigators wearing masks and gloves went through his office looking for forensic evidence. They also "took all the computers" from his office and "every piece of paper imaginable over there," according to another witness.
Workers at neighboring businesses all concurred the man at the center of the search is a "really nice guy" who had been at his Exchange Place office for three years. His office is shared with other businesses not affiliated with the man. They refused comment to the News Thursday, saying they were not involved and did not know what was happening. The man was not in his office Thursday. Other people in the building said he was visiting with an attorney most of the day.
Investigators have released few details about their search warrants.
"Items were taken from those locations and will be analyzed for possible evidentiary value in the case," according to the statement from police.
Sandy police said they would not comment any further on the search warrant until test results are returned. Police did not say whether physical evidence or DNA had been collected and was being analyzed.
Witnesses say the other place that was searched was the man's apartment at the Broadway Tower Apartments, 230 E. 300 South.
Thacker said even though the items searched pertained to just one person, that does not mean investigators aren't looking at other avenues in the murder.
"We just feel like we need to look closer at this person," he said. "We don't know where it's going to take us. We certainly haven't closed any other doors. We're looking at a lot of other options and possibilities. "
Thacker did not reveal any more information Thursday about what led police to this person.
"It's really a complicated case, but we're optimistic we're going to resolve it. It's going to take time," he said.
Dolezsar was reportedly meeting someone for breakfast at the Village Inn the morning he was killed. The gunman fled in Dolezsar's SUV after the shooting. The vehicle was found a short time later abandoned at a nearby cemetery.
The gunman was described by witnesses as being a white man with tan skin, in his early to mid-40s, between 6 feet and 6 feet 3 inches, and weighing about 230 pounds. He had thick black hair pulled into a ponytail. But Thacker confirmed Thursday detectives were investigating the possibility the gunman may have been wearing a wig.
According to witnesses to the search, the man whom police served the search warrant on Wednesday is 6 feet 4 inches tall and "extremely muscular." They noted he has been bald as long as they've known him.
Dolezsar was married to Leslie DeeAnn Mower, the former co-owner of Neways Inc. in Utah County, who is currently serving time in a federal prison in California for her conviction on one count of conspiracy to defraud and six counts of tax evasion in 2005.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com