Greg Kyle DeBoer pleaded not guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in 4th District Court Wednesday for his alleged actions related to the death of Hideout resident Patrick Hayes.
Hayes was shot and killed during a road rage altercation near the Jordanelle Reservoir in September 2024. DeBoer was arrested three months later, after he told investigators he shot Hayes, then buried the gun outside his Browns Canyon home.
Wasatch County prosecutors charged him with second-degree felony obstruction, but not with Hayes’ death. The charge carries a possible penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
DeBoer’s attorney, Andrew Deesing, entered the plea on his client’s behalf, and Judge Jennifer Mabey set a pretrial hearing for Jan. 21, 2026.
The plea comes two days after a victims’ rights committee said the rights of Hayes’ family may have been violated by the Wasatch County sheriff’s and attorney’s offices. The group will gather more evidence and meet again in December.
In a statement, the county laid out part of its rationale for charging DeBoer with obstruction rather than homicide.
Prosecutors said they considered Utah’s law that says a person is justified in using deadly force to defend their property, business or vehicle if they “reasonably” believe they are being threatened with assault or another form of personal violence.
The law also says that defendants in criminal cases who claim they acted in self-defense, as DeBoer did in interviews with investigators, don't have to prove it. It falls to prosecutors to show the use of deadly force was not warranted.
According to the attorney’s office, DeBoer told deputies he followed Hayes from the highway to the state park entrance because Hayes’ alleged erratic driving suggested he was intoxicated.
DeBoer said before he fired his gun, he feared Hayes would break the window of his car with “what looked like a pipe” and feared “getting his head beat in with a pipe.”
Investigators later found Hayes was holding a polymer baton and a pocketknife.