Brody Blu Kruckenberg and Charles Anthony Nelson, both 16, have been charged as adults with one count each of first-degree felony murder for the slaying of Gregorio Salazar Campos, 33. Campos’ body was discovered April 7 in the Colorado River. Kruckenberg and Nelson are also charged with one count each of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
Corina Dawn Yardley, 44, who was the victim’s girlfriend and who is Kruckenberg’s mother, is charged with two counts of obstruction of justice.
Seventh District Judge Lyle Anderson on Tuesday, May 7, scheduled preliminary hearings for all three defendants on Sept. 25.
The preliminary hearing for the teens will begin at 9 a.m. Yardley will have a separate hearing the same day, after the hearing for Nelson and Kruckenberg is completed. At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must present evidence demonstrating probable cause that the defendants committed the crime. The judge then determines whether the evidence is sufficient to bind the defendants over for trial.
Investigators have said Campos was shot three times in the head on March 25 as he slept in Yardley’s bed at her mobile home on River Sands Road, according to a probable cause statement released last month by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.
Nelson was allegedly persuaded to fire the gun by his friend, Kruckenberg, according to the probable cause statement.
An informant told sheriff’s investigators that Nelson claimed that on the day of slaying, Kruckenberg had contacted him saying Campos was asleep and asking Nelson to come over, according to the probable cause statement.
The informant claimed Nelson told him that Kruckenberg said, “Let’s kill him,” but that Kruckenberg could not do the killing and asked Nelson to do it, according to the documents.
“[Nelson] said it was not his deal, but was talked into doing it,” the probable cause document states.
Nelson then allegedly told the informant that he pointed the gun through a crack in the doorway of Yardley’s bedroom and shot Campos three times, according to the probable cause statement.
Investigators allege that Yardley cleaned blood from the wall and the carpet in the bedroom and helped the boys dispose of Campos’ body by allowing them use her truck. She also allegedly removed the mattresses and bedding from the bedroom scene and bought a new mattress shortly after that, according to information in another probable cause statement.
Law enforcement and Grand County Attorney Andrew Fitzgerald have declined to discuss a motive for the homicide, but a motion filed in 7th District Court to seal the search warrant served on the home where Campos was killed states that investigators have received information that “suggests illegal drug trafficking with connections to violent groups.” That court document was released to KSL News, which provided a copy to The Times-Independent, on Tuesday, May 7, in response to a public records request to Utah State Courts.
In an interview this week with KSL, Campos’ family said he was not involved in illegal drug trafficking.
Nelson and Kruckenberg each are being held in Grand County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash-only bail. Yardley is being held in lieu of $50,000 cash-only bail.