Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a 41-year-old man accused of murdering his co-worker in the warehouse where they were both employed.
Nathan David Evans, 41, is facing a first-degree felony count of murder and a third-degree felony count of abuse or desecration of a human body in connection with the death of 65-year-old David Hinkebein.
Salt Lake City police began investigating on Jan. 3, after an employee reported that Hinkebein was dead inside the warehouse.
Officers found Hinkebein alongside a “large amount of blood” in a back office at A Place for Your Stuff, near 500 West and 300 South, according to charging documents. People experiencing homelessness use the warehouse, sometimes referred to as a temporary storage place or TSP, to store belongings.
The medical examiner later determined that Hinkebein died from being hit in the head multiple times and that his injuries were consistent with being beaten with a hammer. The examiner also identified some injuries that were inflicted after he had died.
Investigation timeline
A warehouse employee told officers he last saw Hinkebein during the evening shift on Dec. 29, and said Evans was also working. Evans and Hinkebein were the last employees there that night, the employee said.
When that employee went to work the next day, he said he saw Evans but not Hinkebein. That happened again on Jan. 1. As that employee walked to the back office to look for Hinkebein, Evans apparently shouted, “He’s not back there!”
That employee later went to the office and told police he saw bloody handprints on the wall and bloodstained carpet.
When he asked Evans about the blood, Evans reportedly asked, “Do you want to speak about it?” The man told police he didn’t press the issue “because he could tell that Evans did not want to talk and seemed defensive about it.” Evans reportedly told the man that Hinkebein was fine, charging documents state.
The employee asked Evans about the blood again on Jan. 2, and if he thought Hinkebein was OK. Evans reportedly replied, “He’s done,” and the man took this as confirmation that Hinkebein was dead. He then reported to authorities the blood and that Hinkebein was possibly dead.
Officers soon found Hinkebein’s body. Near it, they spotted a bloody hammer and a black garbage bag full of blood-stained clothes — beige pants, black shoes, a gray shirt and a red lifeguard jacket. The employee told police that Evans wears similar clothing to work and that Evans had been wearing the lifeguard jacket on Dec. 29.
Police also spoke with a driver who transports people from homeless resource centers. The driver said that on Dec. 29 or 30, he picked up a man who appeared angry and was talking about going to a warehouse to “kill a guy down there by bashing his head in,” according to charging documents. The passenger said the man he aimed to kill had “messed with his stuff.”
The driver later identified Evans as the passenger after police showed him a photo lineup of suspects.
In an interview after his arrest, Evans told police that he hadn’t seen Hinkebein since they worked together on Dec. 29, charging documents state. He denied going into the office and talking with the other employees about the blood or Hinkebein’s absence.
Who was David Hinkebein?
Hinkebein was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on a “brisk” October morning in 1958, the third of seven children and the oldest boy, according to his obituary.
He graduated high school in 1977, and attended college at Southeast Missouri State University, before he enlisted in the Navy in 1980. He was stationed in Utah for several years after enlisting and fell in love with the state. He moved to Salt Lake City in 1985.
Hinkebein loved fast cars, hiking and camping, and had an “infectious smile and keen sense of humor,” his obituary read. While Hinkebein faced struggles, including bouts with substance misuse and the death of a longtime girlfriend, he was resilient, the obituary said.
“[Hinkebein] had a thirst for life and would not be hindered by the troubles he faced,” his obituary read. “Because of his kindred spirit and passion for the homeless he was loved and respected by all who worked with him and for him.”
Hinkebein worked with Advantage Services, the contractor that employs workers for many of the city and county’s homeless services, for 10 years, and was a supervisor at the temporary storage place, according to the obituary.