Two teenagers and a mother of one of the boys stood before Judge Lyle Anderson in the Seventh District Court in Grand County on Tuesday, May 7. The three are being held at the Grand County Jail for charges relating to the slaying of Gregorio Salazar Campos. All three defendants are scheduled to return to court for their preliminary hearings on Sept. 25.
Charles Anthony Nelson and Brody Blu Kruckenberg, both age 16, are charged as adults with first-degree murder and obstructing justice. Corina Yardley, 44, the mother of Kruckenberg, is charged with obstructing justice.
Authorities have sealed some documents in the case, saying they deal with drug trafficking connected to violent groups.
Nelson and Krukenberg bail had been originally set at $100,000 each; Yardley’s was set at $10,000. After an initial appearance before the judge on April 15, bail was set to $250,000 cash only for each of the boys and $50,000 cash only for Yardley.
The teens face five years to life in prison on the murder counts if found guilty. Obstruction of justice is a second-degree felony.
Campos had been reported missing by his sister to the Moab Police Department on March 29. In the missing persons report, it was said that he had been last seen by his girlfriend, Yardley. When questioned, Yardley said that she had last seen Campos in her bed on March 25.
On April 6, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office received information that Nelson claimed to have killed someone and said “the person was an illegal so no one would miss him.”
According to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office’s probable cause statement, Nelson had been contacted by Kruckenberg who said that Campos was asleep in his mother’s bed and said “let’s kill him.” Nelson said that Kruckenberg said that he couldn’t kill Campos and asked Nelson to do it.
An informant stated that Nelson said he pointed the gun through a crack in the doorway and the first shot went through Campos jaw. When the victim began to regurgitate, Nelson shot two more times. He went on to say that they used Yardley’s truck to dump the body in the Colorado River.
The probable cause statement stated that Nelson and Kruckenberg were questioned about the incident and supplied details with the shooting and dumping of the body.
The information provided by Nelson and Kruckenberg led to the recovery of Campos’ body in an area known as the Old Boat Dock, which is near the pedestrian bridge crossing the Colorado River.
Three slugs were recovered from Campos head by the Utah Medical Examiner. The bullet entry points were consistent with the description from the informant.
A search warrant was served on Yardley’s residence near the end of Riversands Lane on the northwest side of Moab.
Evidence supported the described location of Campos’ death. Blood was found in the area near the head of the bed on both the carpet and the wall.
