RIVERDALE, Utah, March 25, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Ricardo Trujillo Rojel has been arrested for investigation of aggravated murder and aggravated arson, each a first-degree felony.
Trujillo Rojel, 29, was arrested Monday night in Utah County, nearly six hours after police and fire crews were called to the Riverdale trailer home the suspect shared with the victim and their children, ages 2 and 3.
At about 2:46 p.m. Monday, Riverdale Fire and Police crews arrived at Riverdale Mobile Estates, at 5100 S. 1050 West.
At the smoke-filled residence, they found the door ajar, and a deceased female on the floor with severe burn marks to her body and a puncture wound to her neck.
“It was determined the death was a homicide. Investigators responded and found the fire was caused by an accelerant and a gas can was located inside of the trailer,” says a court document filed by a Riverdale Police officer. “Inside the residence there was a pair of blue jeans found with blood on them.”
Riverdale crime scene, March 24, 2025. Photo: Gephardt Daily/ Nancy Van Valkenburg
A neighbor told police “she saw the victim and her boyfriend on the porch in the morning. Another neighbor stated she heard a female scream sometime before officers arrived at the structure fire.”
The victim’s mother told investigators she had been with her daughter at a bank at about noon when Trujillo Rojel called the victim and told her to come back home. The victim drove home, and “the mother did not speak to the victim again,” arrest documents say.
After Trujillo Rojel and the children could not be found, an Amber Alert was issued at about 5 p.m. Monday, stating the children were “in imminent danger” and giving a plate number and model for the pickup the missing man was believed to be driving.
“Ricardo’s truck was seen on a license plate reader in Spanish Fork at 1512 hours,” his arrest document says.”I responded to Spanish Fork and a citizen called in that the vehicle was parked in a canyon, and they observed a male walking with two young children.
“Local police agencies located Ricardo and took him into custody after he resisted arrest and assaulted an officer. Blood was found inside Ricardo’s vehicle. Ricardo was the last person known to be with the victim on this date. Ricardo turned his phone off and left in his vehicle with his two young children to an area that was over an hour away from home when he was supposed to be moving to Roy with the victim.”
Photo: Gephardt Daily/ Nancy Van Valkenburg
The children did not appear to have been harmed, police said at the scene.
Trujillo Rojel did not cooperate with arresting officers, and refused to speak, the arrest document says. Ricardo continued to physically resist deputies at the Weber County Jail, and he was uncooperative with CSI and a blood technician when he was served with warrants.
“Ricardo’s behavior on this date was indicative of recent criminal conduct and his behavior exhibited signs as if he was trying to flee and destroy evidence. Ricardo has a history with the victim involving domestic violence and he was arrested on 1/18/25 for multiple domestic violence charges.”
Trujillo Rojel is being held without bail at the Weber County Correctional Facility.
File Photo: Patrick Benedict/ Gephardt Daily
