- A Hyrum man killed his wife and later died in a trailer explosion Sunday.
- Jorge Andrade exchanged gunfire with police after stabbing his wife, Holly Andrade.
- The gunman sent deputies pictures of his bomb vest and what appeared to be explosives in the house
HYRUM, Cache County — A man who exchanged gunfire with police Sunday had earlier stabbed his wife to death, then died in an explosion inside his home during a standoff with a SWAT team.
That information was released Tuesday by the Cache County Attorney's Office.
Investigators say Jorge Andrade, 45, stabbed his wife, Holly Andrade, in their mobile home at the Valley View Mobile Home Park, 560 Valley View Drive in Hyrum. She suffered "multiple knife wounds."
On Sunday, Jorge Andrade's sister called police early Sunday and said her brother had told her "that he just murdered his wife Holly Andrade and was waiting to engage police at his residence," the county attorney's office said in a statement.
A Cache County sheriff's deputy responded to the homicide call "unaware Andrade was lying in wait," the statement said. "Nearly immediately upon his arrival in his patrol vehicle, he began receiving gunfire from Andrade."
After other officers and a SWAT team arrived, Andrade began firing at them and the officers returned fire.
"Negotiations teams made contact with the suspect and the suspect sent pictures of his bomb vest and what appeared to be explosives inside the house," Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen said Sunday.
During the subsequent standoff, Logan police sent an armored police vehicle to assist. "After some minutes, an explosion detonated inside the trailer and no further shots were fired or heard," the attorney's office said.
Not knowing whether Andrade was still alive, officers used the armored car with a ram attachment to try and break into the mobile home. With the help of another armored police vehicle, deputies were able to breach the mobile home and use drones to assess the situation, according to the county attorney's office.
From drone images, investigators were able to determine that both occupants were dead.
The Northern Utah Critical Incident Protocol Team has begun an investigation to determine whether officers were justified in firing at Andrade.
