PROVO — A Mt. Pleasant man who forced a man to dig his own grave before killing him will spend 15 years to life behind bars for what a 4th District judge called a "particularly heinous" crime.
Raul Francisco Vidrio, 22, was sentenced last week for the murder of Wesley Dee Nay, whose remains were found by hunters in a remote wooded area on the border of Utah and Sanpete counties in October 2016.
Judge James R. Taylor also sentenced Vidrio to consecutive prison terms for obstruction of justice and desecration of a body.
"This is an unusually heinous killing that was a calculated, planned homicide involving making the defendant dig the pit in which he was murdered, burned with wood he apparently gathered and placed and then had what remains there were concealed by being buried," according to the judge.
Taylor said the scene came to light because of an "egotistically cruel" video Vidrio shot of the events.
Investigators found a video on Vidrio's cellphone showing Nay digging a hole in a grassy meadow near Indianola where his body was found.
"A deleted image was recovered from Mr. Vidrio's phone that appears to be Mr. Nay digging his own grave," court documents state. "The image depicts Mr. Nay in the same clothing he was last seen in … digging a hole in a grassy meadow that strongly resembles the location where his remains were found."
Hunters discovered charred bones, including a human skull, along with burned pieces of wood in the remote area. The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office identified Nay through dental records and concluded he had suffered blunt force injuries, as well as stab wounds. His body was in a shallow grave.
Vidrio admitted to picking up Nay on Aug. 29, 2016. Vidrio told police that he and Nay "drove around town through the night, used (meth and marijuana) and eventually ended up at another residence in Mt. Pleasant," according to court documents.
A man who lives at that home told police that Nay and another man came to the house and got into an argument with each other. He said Vidrio borrowed a chainsaw from him at one point "to be used to cut wood to burn evidence and flesh," court records say.
Police arrested Vidrio in Sandy in a separate case Sept. 1, 2016, for being in possession of a stolen truck.