SPANISH FORK, Utah, May 8, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — An 18-year-old Utah County man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the hanging death of a 16-year-old female acquaintance who had been suicidal, officials say.
Tyerell Joe Przybycien, of Spanish Fork, is in the Utah County Jail, being held on a $20,000 cash-only bail. The hanging victim also was from Spanish Fork. Her name has not yet been released.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon, of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, told Gephardt Daily that on Saturday morning, turkey hunters came upon the body of a girl hanging from a tree in Payson Canyon, near the Maple Lake Campground.
“A young man walked up and said he had been with her when she died,” Cannon said.
There was a cellphone video of her death, and evidence that connected him to the purchase of the items used in her death.
“It was determined that he played an active role in the death,” Cannon said.
The 16-year-old had been suicidal, Cannon said, “and Mr. Przybycien knew that. He recorded the whole thing.”
The phone recording included a conversation in which Przybycien asked the girl if she still wanted to go through with it, Cannon said. The girl indicated that she did.
Przybycien also admitted that before the hanging, he picked the girl up in his car and drove her to the chosen location.
Cannon said he would not characterize the incident as assisted suicide, which he noted is illegal in Utah.
“He (Przybycien) told detectives he had a sort of fascination with death, and wanted to watch someone die,” Cannon said.
Przybycien was booked into jail Saturday afternoon. He also faces a charge of reckless endangerment.
The investigation remains active.
