The Summit County Sheriff's Office arrested Francisco Morales, 31, at his home in Layton early April 3, hours after asking the public for help in locating him.
Arrest records show Morales was jailed on suspicion of desecrating a body and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of a man whose body was found in Browns Canyon.
The deceased man’s wife, a 41-year-old Midvale woman, is in jail on suspicion of the same crimes. Authorities say Morales is her boyfriend.
An initial autopsy found the husband likely died from blunt force trauma to the head, jail records say. His name has not been released.
KPCW does not typically name people who are arrested unless they have been criminally charged. In this case, Summit County publicly released Morales’ name and photograph as it searched for him.
Arrest documents state both he and Midvale woman told investigators that they loaded her husband’s body into a Honda Civic and abandoned him in Browns Canyon early March 26.
But as for how the husband died, both are pointing the finger at one another.
The woman told sheriff’s deputies that her husband was abusing her late March 25 and that, after she told her boyfriend, he killed her husband.
Morales allegedly told deputies the wife “fatally struck” her husband.
While arresting her in Midvale, investigators say she told them where to find the alleged murder weapon, a hammer, and a blood-soaked blanket in her apartment.
Neither the wife nor her boyfriend had been charged with a crime as of Friday morning.
