SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 15, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake City Police Department has released the names of six suspects officials were present or actively involved in the 2019 shooting death of Kathryn Blaire Leavitt at her apartment in Salt Lake City.
“We are here to announce it through extensive investigation, we have identified six suspects in the murder of Blaire Leavitt, and in the obstruction of justice and hampering our case to bring this to the courts,” SLCPD Capt. Victor Siebeneck told journalists at a Tuesday news conference.
This investigation began on July 27, 2019, when SLCPD officers responded to an apartment complex at 1211 N. Redwood Road. The call came in as a burglary.
“Upon arrival, they found Miss Leavitt was the victim of a gunshot wound, and evacuated her to a nearby hospital, and despite valiant life-saving measures taken by medical personnel, she succumbed to her injuries and died at the hospital,” Siebeneck said. Leavitt was 27.
“The people responsible for Miss Leavitt’s death need to be brought to justice. We know there are people who have lied and tried to minimize their involvement or their knowledge or any role in this in this case, and we hope those lies end today. We hope that someone will come forward with one critical piece of information, one crucial item of evidence that will help us march towards our goal of bringing justice for for Blaire, and answers and closure to her family, and bring this case from an investigation into a courtroom.”
Siebeneck said investigators had identified “six suspects in this case. These are the individuals on the screen they are all suspects in this case they have some role or some responsibility in Miss Leavitt’s murder. All six of these suspects, we are very confident, were present, or like I said, had some role.
“However one of the suspects is responsible for Miss Blair’s murder. One of the suspects pointed a handgun at her, pulled the trigger, and fired the bullet that killed Miss Leavitt.”
The photos and names of six people were projected on a screen, and later shared in the image above. The are 26-year-old Katoa Pahulu, 36-year-old Lachelle Fiefia, 26-year-old Mapilivai Laulea, 22-year-old Sunia Cavazos, 37-year-old Tevita Kofutua, and 41-year-old Timote Fonua
Siebeneck said his next message was meant to directly address to the suspects named in connection with “this heinous crime.”
“You’ve been running from this for far too long,” he said. “This is your chance to come forward and set the record straight, to be the first one to come forward and tell us exactly what happened that night or that day; who killed Miss Leavitt.”
Siebeneck next address suspects’ friends, family members, and any community members who may have heard details on the murder.
“They know some of the facts, they know some of the players, they know what went on in that residence. We’re asking you to come forward. These people may live in Utah or they may live in California. We have people who are responsible for the homicide living in both places. We want to know what went down.”
SLCPD investigators have much more information they cannot reveal at this time in order to protect the integrity of any court cases in the future,
Anyone who can share information is asked to call police at 801-799-3000, he said, adding that callers can remain anonymous.
