- Rowdy Aguilar pled guilty to aggravated murder with a mental condition in the killing of his 15-year-old friend in Taylorsville in 2021.
- Aguilar, 17 at the time of the incident and now 21, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years.
- District Attorney Sim Gill hopes the conviction "helps the victim's family feel they have received a measure of justice."
SALT LAKE CITY — The Taylorsville man accused of killing and partially dismembering his friend in 2021 when they were both teens has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder with a mental condition in the case.
As part of Friday's plea deal between Rowdy Aguilar and the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, three other charges — obstruction of justice, abuse or desecration of a dead human body and escape from official custody — were dismissed. Aguilar, 17 at the time of the May 26, 2021, killing, was charged as an adult.
"This tragic loss of life shocked not only our community, but people around the world. We hope that this conviction helps the victim's family feel they have received a measure of justice and accountability for the death of their loved one. We hope they may now begin to heal from the trauma of their loss," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement.
Aggravated murder is a first-degree felony, and Aguilar, now 21, is to be sentenced in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Dec. 5. The plea deal Aguilar agreed to states that he was "acting under the influence of a mental condition" when he killed his 15-year-old friend, Ivan Vetecnik, though it doesn't detail the condition. The aggravated murder charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life, according to Gill's office.
Aguilar admitted to killing Vetecnik "in an especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or exceptionally depraved manner" and dismembering his body in the plea agreement. According to original charging papers, officials were called to Aguilar's home by his father and subsequently found the victim's dismembered body parts in a field behind the home.
"Security video from the defendant's residence showed that the defendant and Vetecnik had entered the house shortly after 10 a.m. that morning. At 1:20 p.m., the defendant reentered the residence alone, his shirt heavily stained with apparent blood," reads Friday's statement. "Approximately 20 minutes later, a security camera at a nearby business captured the defendant carrying items consistent with the garbage bags to the location where they were found."
Vetecnik suffered more than 30 stab wounds, according to Friday's statement, and Aguilar had admitted to stabbing him in an interview with investigators.
According to the plea deal, Aguilar is to remain at a juvenile detention facility until he's 25 years old, when he'd be sent to a Utah prison. He's been held at the Salt Lake Youth Detention Center, according to court papers.
