A 23-year-old man who was in critical condition after being attacked Saturday and left hanging by a piece of exercise equipment at an Ogden apartment complex gym has died, officials confirmed Wednesday.
The suspect, 28-year-old Christian Taele, told police after he was arrested at the complex Saturday that he had killed a man a day earlier in Spanish Fork and attempted to kill the 23-year-old that night because a higher power told him to “purge” the cities, according to a probable cause statement.
Ogden police Lt. Will Farr confirmed Wednesday that the 23-year-old had died. Officials have not released his name at the request of the man’s family. Police documents indicated he had “no signs of brain activity” after the attack.
Taele remains jailed in Weber County without the option of bail. Prosecutors in 2nd District Court charged him Tuesday with aggravated attempted murder, a first-degree felony. They amended the charge later Tuesday to a count of aggravated murder, also a first-degree felony, after the 23-year-old died.
Utah County prosecutors had not filed charges in the Spanish Fork case as of Wednesday afternoon.
Two days, two attacks
The updated charging documents state that someone called police just after 7 p.m. Saturday to report that a man had been beaten and apparently hanged by another man at the 2433 Adams Ave. complex.
Ogden police found Taele there and arrested him. Soon after, they found the 23-year-old hanging by the neck from a piece of equipment in the complex’s gym.
The document states that a witness told police they saw Taele approach the man and choke him with a rope or strap before kicking him multiple times and then dragging him into the gym.
“The attack was unprovoked and there is no indication that either the suspect or victim have ever spoken prior to the attack,” according to the charging documents.
After his Saturday arrest, Taele admitted to killing a man Friday in Spanish Fork, which is about 90 miles south of Ogden, police said. That victim was identified Monday as 49-year-old Ryan Hooley.
Investigators have released little information about Hooley’s death, stating only that officers found his body by a dumpster near 1200 N. 400 East. They have not said how he died.
(Brittany Hooley) Ryan Hooley, pictured in an undated family photograph, was found dead in Spanish Fork on Friday, July 8, 2022. The man suspected of killing him has been charged in the death of a second man who was attacked in Ogden on Saturday, July 9, 2022 and later died.
Brittany Hooley, Ryan Hooley’s niece, said it is hard for her family to understand her uncle’s death.
“He truly was just such a good guy,” she said. “He gave what he could with what little he had.”
Her uncle was homeless, she said, but he had options to stay with family. He chose a different lifestyle because he enjoyed the freedom of staying where he wanted and doing what he wanted. He especially liked spending time with his friends, she said.
Since he died, Brittany Hooley said those friends have been reaching out to her family with stories of his kindness. One couple recounted a time he bought a can of chili to eat — then split it three ways to share with the pair he barely knew.
Brittany Hooley will always remember her uncle’s sense of humor, she said, which could brighten any bad day. He had five children.
“He did not deserve at all what happened to him,” she said, “and it was just so very random. So random. So he really was just wrong place, wrong time.”
Sister of suspect ‘not asking for leniency or sympathy’
A little more than a decade ago, Taele was a football standout at Spanish Fork High, playing as an all-state and all-region running back his senior season in 2011, according to a since-removed bio page from the Southern Utah University football team. He was listed as a redshirt freshman on the Thunderbirds’ football roster during the 2012 season.
The page, which listed his football achievements and noted his plans to pursue a degree in mathematics, was removed from SUU’s website after Taele was charged.
“While the person accused of the crimes did attend Southern Utah University as a student from 2012 to 2013, he has not been connected with the University since then,” the university said in a statement. “SUU extends its deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.”
Taele’s mother declined a request for comment Wednesday. However, a letter from Taele’s sister, filed in 2nd District Court, indicates that the family is also struggling to understand the homicide allegations.
Taele’s sister sent the email to a judge just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, writing that the family will accept whatever sentencing the court sees fit. They understand the allegations are “heinous,” she wrote, but they don’t understand “how Christian ended up here.”
The allegations, she said, “don’t sound like the brother I grew up with.” She wrote that she is concerned about his mental health and asked for treatment for “whatever has caused him to change so quickly and drastically.”
“I’m not asking for leniency or sympathy for Christian,” she said, “I’m asking for mental health care and psychiatric attention in addition to what you decide needs to happen with Christian.”
Court records show Taele’s documented run-ins with Utah law enforcement prior to 2019 were all traffic-related. He was charged with three misdemeanors in 2019 and all were dismissed.
Two months ago, 4th District Court prosecutors charged him with two third-degree felonies after he allegedly spat on an officer and knocked away another officer’s Taser during a May 18 confrontation on a FrontRunner train in Lehi.
The documents state that Utah Transit Authority officers tried to arrest Taele when he told them he didn’t have a ticket for the ride and would not identify himself.
Court records indicate that two days earlier, Taele’s spouse filed for divorce.
A public safety assessment at the time of the May arrest indicated Taele was at an elevated risk of committing a violent crime if released from jail. Documents show Judge Anthony Howell ultimately set his bail at $5,000, which Taele posted nine days after his arrest.
A court hearing for the Weber County homicide case is scheduled for July 21 at 1:30 p.m.
