SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 24, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Third District Court jury has found Richard Christopher guilty of eight felonies, including the aggravated murders for the 2014 deaths of two men.
On Nov. 2 of that year, Salt Lake City police took a missing persons report stating Danny “Kiko” Gallegos, 35, and Levi Collins, 34, had not returned from an outing.
The next day, Braden Emerson, 23, was reported missing by a family member who said he was last seen with Gallegos and Emerson. On that same day, Salt Lake County Animal Control asked Salt Lake City Police to help them with a dog abandoned in a vehicle that had blood stains.
It was Gallagos’ vehicle, a statement from the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office says. The blood was determined to be that of Emerson and Collins.
A witness told investigators Gallegos arranged to meet with him on Nov. 1 of that year to give him approximately $200,000 cash for the purchase of a residence for Gallegos, the statement says. The man said he was waiting in the prearranged location when Gallegos arrived with Emerson and Collins.
“When the defendant (Christopher) got into the car, he asked Mr. Collins and Mr. Emerson to take him to a nearby RV. When they arrived at the defendant’s destination, he shot and killed them. Mr. Christopher and the witness then cremated the bodies at a Utah County cremation retort typically used for large animals.”
Christopher was previously charged with murder in the death of Gallegos as well, but was not found guilty of that in his recent trial. It was not immediately clear why that charge was removed in the current case.
Christopher was found guilty of two counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder in the deaths of Collins and Emerson, as well as one count of first-degree aggravated robbery, one count of second-degree felony obstructing justice, three counts of third-degree felony abuse or desecration of a dead human body, and one count of third-degree felony use of a firearm by a restricted person.
Sentencing for Richard Christopher is scheduled for March 27 of this year.
“This is a horrible case of greed that led to the deaths of multiple men. We hope these convictions will help the victims’ families the chance to start healing from the tragic loss of their loved ones,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
“I commend the work of our prosecutors Marc Mathis, John Ham, Shantelle Argyle, and our victim counselor Pari Vroman, as well as the rest of our staff for their dedication to this case over the last 10 years. We appreciate the work of Salt Lake City Police detectives who thoroughly investigated this case.”
