SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 18, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — An inmate in the Utah State Prison is facing charges of criminal solicitation after he allegedly offered to use his government stimulus check to hire someone to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
Lorenzo Gutierrez, 28, was charged Wednesday on suspicion of two counts of criminal solicitation, a first-degree felony.
A probable cause statement filed by a detective with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office says that on April 3, 2020, Gutierrez, an inmate at the Adult Detention Center, asked about hiring someone to murder his ex, with whom he has a child, and her new boyfriend.
“The defendant offered to pay (the informant) with two ounces of ‘black’ (heroin) and two ounces of ‘clear’ (methamphetamine), and $10,000 in cash in exchange for the murders. The defendant requested that (the informant) photograph or record the killings.”
In May, a recording device was installed in Gutierrez’s cell at the Adult Detention Center, the detective’s statement says. Gutierrez was recorded talking to another inmate about his desire for the second man to “smoke” or “stomp out” the girlfriend and several other people, saying he wanted things handled while he was in jail “so that he wouldn’t be a suspect.”
On the instruction of law enforcement officials, the second man gave Gutierrez the name of a fictitious man, “Bill Murphy,” whom he said was a hitman who would do the job. The man wrote a letter to the fictional Murphy, in which Gutierrez provided specific details on how Murphy could locate the people he wanted killed, and how payment would be handled, the probable cause statement says.
An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives played the role of Murphy. The detective’s statement says that in June of 2020, Gutierrez tried to arrange a meeting between Murphy and a female friend who would reportedly give Murphy a car title and a firearm as a down payment.
“On June 24, 2020, the defendant called Bill and told him that he had a stimulus check he could use as a down payment on the contract,” the statement says. That came after Gutierrez was served custody papers by his ex, the statement says.
In July of 2020, Gutierrez was transported to the Utah State Prison, where a records check shows he still resides. Gutierrez continued to contact “Bill,” the detective’s statement says.
In late July of 2020, Gutierrez reportedly contacted a female friend on the outside and told her to pick up a letter at his relative’s house regarding what he wanted done, and instructing her to read it, then burn it, the detective’s statement says. A few days later, Gutierrez reportedly told the friend to inform Murphy she had the firearm and the car ready for him.
A few days after that, Gutierrez called the female friend again, and she asked him what Bill was going to do for him.
“Lorenzo said that Bill was doing him a favor, ‘a certain thing to certain people,'” the probable cause statement says.
Gephardt Daily will have more information on this case as it develops.
