MONTICELLO, Utah, March 14, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Prosecutors filed aggravated murder charges Wednesday against the landlord and roommate of two men missing since Feb. 25.
Two counts of the offense were filed against Charles Youngkuom Yoo, 35, in connection with the disappearance of William (Drew) Bull, 29, and Christopher “Topher” Owens.
Aggravated murder carries the death penalty, one of the qualifying factors being the killing of two or more people in the same incident or course of action.
The Wednesday charges filed in 7th District Court in Monticello follow Yoo’s arrest March 8 on a charge of obstruction of justice after some odd behavior caused friends to contact authorities.
No probable cause affidavit or supporting documents are filed yet with the murder charges, but those court papers filed with the obstruction of justice charge illuminate the case against Yoo. He’s been held without bail since March 8 in the San Juan County Jail.
Friends said they had last heard from Bull and Owens on social media and texting Feb. 25, the obstruction of justice charging documents say. Yoo indicated he last saw the two drive away from their shared Blanding residence Feb. 26.
But he could provide no real detail on their destination or vehicle, according to investigators. A close friend of Bull and Owens said he’d received a text message from Bull on Feb. 27, which he shared with officers because he found it suspicious.
In the text Bull expressed frustrations, including with his ex-wife. But he had not talked with the woman in three years, according to investigators.
They also determined the text locators indicated it had been sent from the vicinity of the Blanding home of the three men.
Yoo admitted he was the only person at the residence on Feb. 27 and in baffling behavior nodded affirmatively when asked if he knew the text had been sent from that vicinity that day and how it was sent, according to the affidavit. There was no further mention of that circumstance in the affidavit.
“Due to evidence collected at the residence, interviews with Yoo, investigative techniques and the lack of proof of life from William Bull and Christopher Owens, the investigation is now being termed a homicide investigation,” the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement online Sunday.
Other odd behavior reported about Yoo since the two men, now presumed dead, went missing was his refusal to let friends look into a locked room in the garage of the Blanding residence, according to the affidavit.
On another occasion as he and others returned to the residence Yoo, a former military officer, insisted on first clearing the residence tactically of any possible threats.
