EMERY COUNTY, Utah — A man was convicted Friday in the murder and desecration of 61-year-old William Randy Jones of Price.
Brandon Michael Samples, 38, was found guilty of murder, abuse or desecration of a dead human body, and three counts of obstructing justice. All five charges are felonies.
Court documents state that Samples, also of Price, killed Jones on April 28, 2019 and "did intentionally and unlawfully dismember a dead human body."
Jones' body was found May 2 in a remote area of Emery County, between Hiawatha and Mohrland.
According to court records obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, the two men were in the area hunting for rocks, along with Samples' girlfriend Anna Brewer, who told police she saw Samples beat Jones to death with a baseball bat. The two later returned to the site, and Brewer said Samples attempted to cut up Jones' body with a saw. Brewer pleaded no contest to one count of obstructing justice.
