Found Deceased UT - MacKenzie "Kenzie" Lueck, 23, Salt Lake City, 17 June 2019 #16 *ARREST*

[MsBetsy]

The DA talked a lot about the necessary sequence of events. So, here’s one example. They discover that he’s the last one who communicated with ML. They talk to him and he lies to them. Now they get a warrant to search his place. We know now what they found. They get a warrant for his phone pings. That points them ‘to the vicinity of Ligan Canyon.’ I cant swear that those were his exact words, but it was something like that, All this takes time.

Yes, he said you have to remember that it's not like on tv, where everything gets solved quickly. It's a process and it all takes time.
I think they accomplished a lot very quickly. Imo

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I can't imagine them being able to know that with a burned corpse. Maybe the mattress would help or her clothes, jmo

Charred body means some left. Presuming that internal areas like her vagina, still capable of being tested for dna. Courtesy to family, is my thinking. He’s sick enough to have raped a dead body.

 

[bestill]

Well, LE was able to determine that her hands were bound behind her back with a zip tie, so perhaps his fires weren't effective enough to destroy internal tissue, and perhaps a determination could be made. If the zip tie was still there, maybe internal tissue would yield answers. I guess it depends on where/how much gas was used. MOO.

ETA: He apparently didn't completely get rid of part of her scalp, hair, and bone fragments with his fires either. Another thing he's a failure at. Moo.

Good point about the temp of the fire!

 

[crhedBngr]

A blow to her head that would leave a portion of her skull missing seems to be excessive and messy to just incapacitate her in his car at the park.

That combined with the zip ties make me speculate he just subdued her at the park and waited until he was home to crush her skull with such a forceful blow.

I wish it had been quick for ML but the details released today point to her being alive at least until they got to his home but not past 9am that same morning she was taken because of the gas can purchase.

Alive doesn't necessarily mean conscious or aware of what was going on around her.

JMVHO.

 

[Roadette]

I just dont get it. Nobody can be that stupid.

Still catching up, but this dummy probably thought he could turn location services off and the phone wouldn’t ping. He’s shockingly inept for even a junior IT professional.

 

[Jessthinkin]

A blow to her head that would leave a portion of her skull missing seems to be excessive and messy to just incapacitate her in his car at the park.

That combined with the zip ties make me speculate he just subdued her at the park and waited until he was home to crush her skull with such a forceful blow.

I wish it had been quick for ML but the details released today point to her being alive at least until they got to his home but not past 9am that same morning she was taken because of the gas can purchase.

BBM
True, but AA's nothing if not excessive and messy.

Also, he could've been so amped on adrenaline or "whatever" that he hit her at Hatch Park much harder than he intended to... I'm still hoping for this scenario, as it spares her further trauma.

 

[SoCalGirl]

Charred body of slain college student was bound in shallow grave
[...]



Lueck's last text to Ajayi was at 2:58 a.m.; her phone was turned off at 2:59 a.m. and never powered back on, the district attorney said.

Ajayi's phone was back at his home at 3:07 a.m., Gil said.

So she must've texted him to say, "I'm here." Wow, that's not much time for him to grab her phone, incapacitate her, power down her phone (or to convince her to give it to him or power it down herself). That timing almost leads me to believe she powered down the phone herself. Did the Lyft info show the driver reached Hatch Park at 2:59?

 

[GordianKnot]

He obviously isn't really tech savvy, just like he isn't really a student, and he isn't really a Mormon and he isn't really a model and he isn't really a novelist.

He thinks he's all those things though.

RSABBM:

In point of fact, he isn't really a human being.

Evil Monster.

JMO.

 

[PommyMommy]

Personally, I do not think he could (especially from a sitting position) possess the strength to crush the side of her skull with a blow from a hand. "Blunt force" doesn't usually mean "human hand" anyway.

IMO, no way was her skull injury from a fist, hand, etc. There was a hole in her skull and a piece of her left scalp missing. MOO

 

[Athena94]

Welcome to Websleuths, Athena94.

ML was found on July 3 which LE announced in a press conference on July 5. MOO

Thanks, PommyMommy.

You're right, I read that information wrong. My apologies!

 

[Z88]

I believe with the post a ways above regarding him relocating her charred remains once he was notified by officials that they wanted to speak with him.

AA placed ML's body in Logan Canyon on Jun-25. If there is anything that says police contacted AA prior to the disposal of the body I missed it. Could anyone point that out?

 

[kgreg2529]

Charred body of slain college student was bound in shallow grave
[...]

Her charred remains were found on July 3 in Logan Canyon, Gill said. Ajayi's phone was near Logan Canyon on June 25, Gill said.

Lueck's remains were discovered in a shallow grave in a wooded area with her arms bound behind her back by a zip tie and rope, Gill said.

A hole was found on her skull with part of her scalp missing, Gill said. An autopsy determined she suffered blunt force trauma to her head, Gill said.

[...]

Lueck's last text to Ajayi was at 2:58 a.m.; her phone was turned off at 2:59 a.m. and never powered back on, the district attorney said.

Ajayi's phone was back at his home at 3:07 a.m., Gil said.

[...]

A freshly dug site was found by Ajayi's garage. It was there that police found a human bone, part of a scalp with hair, a phone and charred personal items, Gill said.

[...]

A gasoline can was found in the trunk of his car, Gill said.

Ajayi's first court appearance will likely be this week, Gill said.

I think, and I really hope, the blow to the head was immediately in the car, dependent on if he’s left or right handed, but the hit to the left side would make sense in the car.. and that he thought he had just knocked her out and turned off her phone then.. but that she was unable to be revived once he got her back into his house. Gosh, I hope so. JMO. It’s all so sad.

 

[Jessthinkin]

So she must've texted him to say, "I'm here." Wow, that's not much time for him to grab her phone, incapacitate her, power down her phone (or to convince her to give it to him or power it down herself). That timing almost leads me to believe she powered down the phone herself. Did the Lyft info show the driver reached Hatch Park at 2:59?

Yes, I think they said it all happened within a minute or so. If AA's intent was to get that phone turned off ASAP, he would've had to act immediately.

 

[Destini]

Yes, that makes sense. I can't imagine he used his car, as all they recall smelling in it was gasoline...

DBM

 

[crhedBngr]

I doubt if we'll ever know exactly what happened, or how long she suffered.

JMVHO.

 

[Elley Mae]

Fractured my skull when about 4-5 yrs old. I didn’t have a hole and none of my hair was missing.

.....
Snip


"A five-centimeter hole was located on the left side of her skull with part of her left scalp missing.”

Snip

A search of Ajayi’s home before his recent arrest uncovered a human bone, charred muscle tissue and part of a scalp with hair on it, Gill said.
Mackenzie Lueck's alleged killer is formally charged as prosecutors reveal more crime scene details

Investigators reportedly later traced Ajayi’s cell phone to the area in Logan Canyon where her body was discovered.

 

[Jessthinkin]

Wait, didn't they confiscate his car when he was first arrested? If so, how did he transport her body 10 days later??

I think it was confiscated on the 26th...

 

[PommyMommy]

Mackenzie Lueck's alleged killer is formally charged as prosecutors reveal more crime scene details
The man accused of killing Mackenzie Lueck was formally charged Wednesday as prosecutors revealed during an emotional press conference that the University of Utah student was found dead with her arms bound behind her back "by a zip tie and rope" and that she had a 2-inch hole in her skull.

[...]

“Mackenzie’s arms were bound behind her back by a zip tie and rope," Gill said. "A five-centimeter hole was located on the left side of her skull with part of her left scalp missing.”

[...]

Gill told reporters Wednesday that a medical examiner determined she “suffered blunt force trauma to the left side of her skull resulting in significant intracranial hemorrhaging which would have been fatal."

A search of Ajayi’s home before his recent arrest uncovered a human bone, charred muscle tissue and part of a scalp with hair on it, Gill said.

Investigators reportedly later traced Ajayi’s cell phone to the area in Logan Canyon where her body was discovered.

"After a lengthy search, detectives located a disturbed area of soil under a grove of trees," Gill said. "Under the soil, detectives located a charred human body."

[...]

"This case is far from over," Gill said.

 

[Boxer]

dbm
better info available

 

[SoCalGirl]

IMO, no way was her skull injury from a fist, hand, etc. There was a hole in her skull and a piece of her left scalp missing. MOO

Maybe he had a weapon in the car, butt of a gun, flashlight. We don't know what evidence, if any, LE found in the car, other than a smell of gasoline.