Update: Police make arrest in case of suspicious transient death

Detectives arrested Emmanuel DePaz Wednesday for first-degree felony aggravated homicide and booked him into custody at Utah County Jail, police said. Photo Courtesy: Provo Police

PROVO, Utah, Nov. 24, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Provo police have made an arrest following a suspicious death near 1600 S. State St. on Monday.

The victim was identified Tuesday morning as Ammon Brown, 24, the Provo Police Department said in a Facebook news release. Brown’s body is at the State Medical Examiner’s Office for examination.

According to the news release, at 4:05 p.m. police received a report that a passerby had found a body in a transient camp near the railroad tracks.

Detectives arrested Emmanuel DePaz Wednesday for first-degree felony aggravated homicide and booked him into custody at Utah County Jail, police said. Investigators followed several lines of evidence to find and link DePaz to the crime.

The probable cause booking statement notes that DePaz was seen at the crime scene with the victim and another person of interest on Monday afternoon.

Depaz appeared on video surveillance cameras of nearby businesses arriving to and leaving from the area near the crime scene. Investigators distributed his image to UTA Transit police who found him at a train station in downtown Salt Lake City on Wednesday afternoon. 

Police quickly detained DePaz and his companion, the same man seen at the transient camp in Provo on Monday. Detectives obtained a warrant and searched DePaz’s backpack and clothing. They found a hatchet and a knife. The hatchet matched one taken from the crime scene as described by witnesses interviewed near the crime scene on Monday.

This investigation was aided by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and UTA Police, Provo Police said. 

Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information becomes available.

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