UINTAH COUNTY, Utah, Nov. 2, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Uintah County Sheriff investigators have identified a suspect in a 52-year-old cold case murder.
On Nov. 26, 1972, the murder victim, 21-year-old Gregory Nickell, and a female passenger were in a vehicle at a rest area just west of Vernal when they were approached by a man stating there had been an accident, the Uintah County Sheriff statement says.
“The man then pulled a gun on Nickell and shot him multiple times. The man then got in the vehicle that Nickell and the woman were in and drove to an area near Brough Reservoir in Uintah County. A second man followed the vehicle to Brough Reservoir in another vehicle.”
“At that location, “the woman was taken out of the vehicle and was raped,” the statement says. “She was then placed in the back seat of the suspect’s vehicle. At that time the vehicle with Nickell’s body inside was set on fire.
“The suspects then left the area and drove around for several hours, before stopping and raping the woman a second time. Eventually the woman was dropped off near Duchesne. She walked to a nearby house, where she called for help. The woman was later transported to a local hospital where she was evaluated and treated.”
In 2015, investigators with the sheriff’s office began reevaluating evidence relating to the Nickell case. Evidence was sent to the Utah State crime lab for testing in 2019.
“DNA samples were tested and one suspect was identified as 87-year-old, Daniel Arthur Bell. Bell died in 2019 in Washington, prior to investigators getting the DNA results. The second suspect was unidentified by the DNA test in 2019.
“Detectives continued pursuing the second unknown suspect, and through further investigation and DNA testing were able to identify the second suspect as 74-year-old, Darrel Eugene Choate. A warrant has been issued for Choate for the murder of Gregory Nickell.”
