The case against Greg Kyle DeBoer, who is charged with one count of obstruction of justice for burying the gun he used to kill Patrick Hayes, will go to trial next month.
Fourth District Judge Jennifer Mabey filed her decision to bring the case to trial in a written ruling Friday evening. The decision came after Andrew Deesing, defense attorney for DeBoer, argued the state of Utah had not presented enough credible evidence to support the second-degree felony charge.
In oral arguments on Oct. 1, Deesing said DeBoer never delayed the investigation. Instead, Deesing argued that DeBoer had “preserved” the Kimber 1911 pistol used in the shooting.
DeBoer buried the pistol under a large boulder about 100 yards from his home on his 20-acre Browns Canyon property. The pistol was wrapped in a plastic bag, then tin foil and securely shut in a Pelican Case.
The state, Deesing and Mabey all agreed that the way DeBoer hid the weapon was “unusual.”
In Utah, obstruction of justice is “a crime of specific intent,” requiring proof of “intent to hinder, delay or prevent the investigation,” according to court documents.
The defense argued the evidence presented by the state failed to establish that DeBoer concealed the firearm with intent to hinder or delay, but “actually established that Mr. DeBoer preserved and maintained the firearm and aided the investigation when law enforcement came looking for it.”
The state maintained DeBoer buried the gun in an attempt to conceal the weapon from “anyone who might come looking for it,” including police. The court found that while DeBoer shared the location of the gun with law enforcement, he did so “several weeks after he had originally hidden it.”
“The State is entitled to the inference, based upon the highly unusual steps taken by the defendant, that his original intent was to conceal it from an investigation, even if he may have later decided to disclose it to law enforcement if/when asked,” court documents state.
Mabey determined that prosecutors presented “reasonably believable evidence” to entertain the obstruction of justice charge in a trial.
“Ultimately, so long as the state has met its burden of introducing enough believable evidence of all the elements of the crime charged, the issue of defendant’s specific intent is an issue for determination by a jury,” Mabey ruled.
DeBoer shot Hayes the night of Sept. 25, 2024, at the Ross Creek entrance of Jordanelle State Park after a road rage incident. Surveillance camera footage shows DeBoer pulling into the parking area behind Hayes, who then exited his vehicle holding a pocket knife and baton. DeBoer appears to attempt to hit Hayes with his vehicle twice.
After a verbal exchange, a single gunshot is fired and Hayes is seen falling to the ground.
DeBoer then backs out of the parking area and drives out toward S.R. 248. No call to police was made until the following morning, when a passerby found Hayes lying dead on the ground. That was 12 hours after the shooting.
The incident occurred less than a mile from Hayes’ home in Hideout.
Mabey also granted the motion to designate victim representatives for two of the five individuals who filed for it, including Hayes’ three brothers, his son, Christian Hayes, and his fiancée, Sue Ann Kern.
DeBoer is scheduled to enter his plea during an arraignment on Nov. 5.