Amazon — the online retailer that made its name selling books — has removed a novel from its website that was written by Ayoola Ajayi, the man police have accused of kidnapping and murdering University of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck.
Some journalists noticed Monday that the novel, “Forge Identity,” had been removed.
A plot summary on Goodreads.com states that “Forge Identity” is about a character named Ezekiel, who is 15 when he witnesses two murders and, in his trauma, is enticed to a life of crime. Some synopses also say the book depicts victims being incinerated.
This screen grab shows what Amazon users find when they click the former weblink to the book "Forge Identity," written by Ayoola Ajayi. He is accused of kidnapping and murdering Mackenzie Lueck on June 17, 2019, in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown on Friday said police found charred tissue in Ajayi’s backyard that was a DNA match to Lueck.
“Ezekiel must decide if he will join the ranks of a criminal mastermind, or fight to escape the tyranny that has surrounded his young life. Or even beat them at their own game,” the Goodreads.com summary states. “When trust is lost, can he even trust himself?”
Ajayi, 31, has not yet been formally charged in connection with Lueck’s death. A state court judge granted a motion Tuesday from Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill to keep Ajayi in jail, without an opportunity to post bond, into next week.
Brown on Friday described Lueck, 23, meeting Ajayi about 3 a.m. June 17 at Hatch Park in North Salt Lake. The pair then went to Ajayi’s home in Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood, though Brown has not said when or where detectives believe Lueck died.
Ashley Fine speaks during a vigil for Mackenzie Lueck at the university in Salt Lake City on Monday, July 1, 2019. Friends and mourners gathered Monday night to remember Lueck, a Utah college student who was missing for nearly two weeks before police arrested a man accused of killing her and burying her charred remains in his backyard. (Jeremy Harmon/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
