UTAH COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 6, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A Smithfield man has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of his girlfriend and her toddler son in 2015.
Christopher Richard Poulson, 30, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to murder, a first-felony, and to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the deaths of 23-year-old Emily Quijano Almiron and her 3-year-old son Gabriel, both of Orem.
As part of the plea deal, Poulson provided information he said will lead investigators to the bodies of his victims.
Also as part of the plea bargain, a second murder charge was reduced to the manslaughter charge and two charges of abuse or desecration of a dead human body were dismissed. The status of obstruction of justice charges is still pending, depending in part on whether bodies are found.
Poulson was arrested in Hawaii, where me moved after the crimes, believed to have happened in September of 2015.
Poulson originally told investigators he broke up with Almiron four days before she was reported missing, saying he ended the relationship because he believed Almiron was using meth.
A statement later read in court reportedly said that Poulson had been babysitting Gabriel when he severely injured the child. Rather than taking Gabriel to the hospital, Poulson reportedly put Gabriel to bed, and later found the boy dead.
Investigators tracking Poulson’s phone locations after the mother and child’s disappearance discovered he went to dumpsters in two areas of Orem, and bought work gloves and a shovel at a Walmart in Springville.
Months later, police found Almiron’s red Prius in a St. George parking lot. Its windows were open and there was a diaper bag in the back seat.
Poulson’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26.
Emily Almiron is shown alone (right) and with son Gabriel (left). Photos: Orem Police Department
