According to the Salt Lake County sheriff, DNA evidence helped lead to an arrest in Utah in a deadly stabbing that occurred in 2005 and remained unexplained for over two decades.
According to the sheriff’s office on Friday, Mark Munoz, 53, was arrested Thursday on a murder charge in connection with the August 6, 2005, stabbing death of Jason Royter at his Magna home.
According to sheriff’s detective Ben Pendern, the case broke when Munoz, who is characterized as homeless and frequently moves, was charged with a crime in another state and had a DNA sample submitted into an index system.
At a press conference, Sheriff Rosie Rivera stated that this family has persevered despite the toll that these kind of incidents take on families. “We also don’t give up,” she remarked.
According to authorities, Royter was a 33-year-old father of two when his fiancée found him dead. After around ten years, the case was abandoned, and the tips ceased to come in.
When his father was murdered, Royter’s son, Andrew Royter, was twelve years old. He claimed during a press conference last week that receiving the phone call on Thursday informing him that an arrest had been made felt like a huge weight being lifted off his chest.
He remarked, “I used to be an angry person.” “I feel like ten years of treatment hit me all at once after last night. I simply feel a lot better.
Andrew Royter recalled his dad and the songs they listened to together, especially Alien Ant Farm. The song still holds a special place in the heart of the younger Royter, who was first exposed to it by his father.
According to Andrew Royter, “he was a great person, a great father, a great brother, an uncle, a son, you name it.”
Last year, Munoz’s DNA sample that is purportedly linked to the murder was hit. Because of the continuing investigation, authorities would not reveal the next steps, but they did say Munoz was hard to locate and lacked a fixed residence.
Online court records Monday night did not seem to show a criminal case in the slaying, and it was unclear whether Munoz had a lawyer who could speak for him.
According to Rivera, the matter is still under investigation, and additional evidence is being looked for. She urged anyone with recollections of Munoz or the day of the murder to get in touch with the police.
We don’t currently have a valid reason. According to Rivera, Mr. Munoz was unwilling to talk to us. We don’t know what happened, but he does.