A Korean American man who murdered two roommates in Utah has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office announced that Charles Youngkuom Yoo received the sentence on the 10th for two counts of murder.
The investigation began when William Drew Bull and Christopher Owens were reported missing on February 27 last year. Phone records showed their last signal near Yoo’s residence before the devices powered off. Police later searched the home, finding bullet-damaged clothing and blood on the walls and ceiling.
Yoo told investigators that the victims left in a black Dodge, though CCTV footage did not show the vehicle. By the end of March last year, the two bodies were discovered in the Arizona desert, both with gunshot wounds. Ballistic fragments recovered from the scene matched a firearm owned by Yoo, and phone data placed him at the site four days after the missing-persons report.
In September last year, Yoo confessed to shooting both men, placing the bodies in a military-style tote container, and burying them in the desert to conceal the crime. The court said it would recommend that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole deny any future parole-review requests.
BY YOONSEO SONG [song.yoonseo@koreadaily.com]
