SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 17, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has announced formal charges after the Dec. 29 beating death of a storage warehouse manager in Salt Lake City.
Nathan David Evans, 41, has been charged with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, in the death of David Hinkebein at their workplace.
Hinkebein, described in Evans’ charging documents as a warehouse manager, was 65.
“On Dec. 29, 2023, a driver for Advantage Services said he had a passenger, later identified as Mr. Evans, tell another person in the vehicle that he was going down to a warehouse to kill someone by bashing his head in because the person had messed with his stuff,” says a news release issued by the SLCo DA’s Office.
“That evening, a coworker of Mr. Evans left their workplace, leaving Mr. Hinkebein and Mr. Evans alone. When the same coworker came back to work on Jan. 1, 2024, he saw Mr. Evans but not Mr. Hinkebein. During the shift, that same coworker went near a back office and noticed bloody handprints on the wall and blood-stained carpet.
“Mr. Evans made it clear that he did not want to talk about the mess when the coworker confronted him about it. The next day, the same coworker noticed the mess was still not cleaned up; he then spoke with Mr. Evans about it, who just told him that Mr. Hinkebein was done. The coworker then decided to report the mess in the office and that Mr. Hinkebein was possibly dead. On Jan. 3, 2024, police went to the warehouse for a welfare check. Officers found a large amount of blood and the body of Mr. Hinkebein.”
When detectives arrived, they found a hammer next to a mini-fridge that had blood on it and hair the same color as Evans’ hair, the SLCo DA’s statement says. They also found a garbage bag with clothes that were later identified as clothes that Evans typically wore, covered in blood.
“A medical examiner later conducted an autopsy and found at least 15 blunt force injuries to the head of Mr. Hinklebein, consistent with a hammer.”
The DA’s statement says Evans also will be charged with abuse or desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony. That charge does not yet appear on court records.
Hinkebein’s obituary says he had worked for Advantage Storage for a decade and was the supervisor of the Transitional Storage Program, Clean Team Program, and the Portland Loo, “which meant that he supervised most of the programs that mostly employed the homeless.”
The tribute adds that Hinkebein “worked tirelessly to take care of the population that he served and was willing to give help to anyone in need.”
Charging documents for Evans say he was homeless.
SLCo DA Sim Gill said in the released statement, “When people go to work they do not expect to be faced with violence. Workplace violence is intolerable and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this office. Our hearts go out to those who knew Mr. Hinkebein through his work with those experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County.”
Gill’s statement also noted that “all persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
