3 days ago
Utah man pleads guilty to attempting to hire hitman while behind bars in 2020
SALT LAKE CITY () — The Utah man who was while behind bars in 2020 pleaded guilty Thursday.
Lorenzo Gutierrez, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree felony criminal solicitation to commit murder. The trial was scheduled to go on for four days, but he changed his plea to guilty on the second day of the trial.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told that Gutierrez was going through a breakup with his girlfriend at the time, who he also had a child with, and he began to look for a hitman who could kill his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
When Gutierrez began looking for a hitman, he was in jail, because he had been convicted of several other felonies previously, Gill said.
In April of 2020, a detective with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office learned that Gutierrez was looking for someone to commit the murders for him, and law enforcement installed a recording device in his cell.
Gutierrez told another inmate that he wanted to 'smoke' and 'stomp out' the victims, but he wanted it to happen while he was in jail so he wouldn't be a suspect, according to a press release from the District Attorney's Office.
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The inmate gave Gutierrez contact information for a supposed hitman, who was actually an undercover ATF agent. Gutierrez told the agent that he had received custody papers regarding his child with his ex-girlfriend, and he 'was not happy about it,' according to the press release.
Gutierrez began to make detailed plans with the undercover agent about how he wanted his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend killed.
In an interview with Gill explained, 'He was taking some very specific steps, trying to orchestrate and set this in motion to fund it with some very specific direction and demands.'
Gill said that Gutierrez provided very specific information about where the victims were going to be and pictures he wanted taken. He also had a plan to fund the murders.
'He was talking about turning over the title to his car and throwing a handgun in the mix, as well as the money that he was going to be getting back from his stimulus check as a down payment for asking for this alleged hit man to kill these two individuals,' Gill said.
Gutierrez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, and he is facing six years to life in prison, according to Gill.
'This was somebody, we were very lucky that they were able to intercept,' Gill said. 'And otherwise, no doubt, certainly in my mind, that he would have followed through on it.'
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