Officials have identified remains recently unearthed in an industrial district west of Salt Lake City, and charged the man they believe killed him five years ago.
Carlos Clemente Trevizo, 56, was taken into custody on Nov. 18, as Salt Lake City police officers unearthed the body of Jose Ignacio Valdez-Guzman, whose remains had laid buried under 7 feet of wet dirt.
Trevizo, of West Valley City, was charged Dec. 5 in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony murder, second-degree felony obstructing justice and third-degree felony tampering with a witness. He was also charged with four counts of third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
Police were led to the body by a tip from a witness who saw the killing five years ago, and has been intimidated by Trevizo, according to charging documents.
The witness recently told police that during the summer of 2012 he had been working near 800 South Chestnut Street (2500 West) — on a lot he rented from Trevizo — when he heard yelling and gunshots.
After hearing two or three shots, he saw Valdez-Guzman attempting to get off the ground, charges state. Trevizo pushed Valdez-Guzman back down with his foot and Trevizo stabbed him in the neck multiple times.
“Trevizo then held Mr. Valdez-Guzman’s head back and slit his throat,” charging documents state.
Then Trevizo noticed the witness, charges state. The witness told Trevizo he hadn’t seen anything, but Treviso insisted on driving him home, “just to make sure.”
Trevizo told the witness that what happened on the lot is what happens to people who “steal” or “snitch,” charges state. Valdez-Guzman had set up a robbery of two pounds of methamphetamine and $1,800, Trevizo told the witness, charges state.
Trevizo continued to intimidate the witness — showing him various weapons and saying he would watch over the witness’s family when he left town — before dropping him off, according to charging documents.
Three weeks later, the witness was contacted by an associate of Trevizo’s, who said he had helped bury the body with a backhoe on the lot the witness rented from Trevizo, charges state.
Another witness told police he had bought large quantities of meth from Trevizo between 2009 and 2012, according to charging documents. Trevizo told this witness he had shot someone who tried to rob him.
Valdez-Guzman was reported missing on June, 29, 2012, according to the charging documents.
The tipster told police about the shooting on Nov. 18, 2017. While police excavated the property, a man who said he knew Trevizo arrived, asked what was going on, and then left.
Police watched Trevizo and his residence while other officers dug for the body. Trevizo left his home at one point, drove around erratically, and when he returned police took him into custody, fearing he would flee.
Police believe Trevizo had access to “large amounts of cash,” and was liquidating assets with the intent to move to Mexico, said the request for an arrest warrant. They found four firearms at Trevizo’s home.
During an interview before the body was found, Trevizo told police he had “never shot a man like that.” But, “officers had not mentioned whether or not Mr. Valdez-Guzman was shot,” charges state.
