Murder Charge Filed in 2005 Cold Case

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced a murder charge filed against Mark Anthony Munoz for his alleged role in the 2005 fatal stabbing of Jason Royter. 

On August 6, 2005, Unified Police Department responded to reports of a stabbing at Royter’s home in Magna. When they arrived, they found a crime scene with what appeared to be blood on a seat cushion, on the kitchen walls and floor, as well as blood on the wall of the stairwell leading into the basement. Detectives also found a knife with a bent blade covered in blood and a blood transfer on a folding door in the basement laundry room. The state crime lab tested that blood sample and developed a DNA profile that matched Mr. Royter and an unidentified individual. The unknown profile was put into the National DNA Index System of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database. Years later that DNA unknown profile returned to the DNA profile of Mark Anthony Munoz. 

A person who was near the scene of the stabbing, M.D., told police that on August 5, 2005, between 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., he went for a job and heard two males fighting as he passed Mr. Royter’s residence. M.D. told police he heard one male say “Pay me back” and then heard Mr. Royter say “I don’t owe you shit.” 

The defendant is charged with one count of first-degree felony murder. 

“We appreciate the dedicated work of our law enforcement partners who continued investigating this homicide for almost 20 years. Their dedication has helped lead to the filing of these charges. We hope that this step in the process will help the healing process begin for Mr. Royter’s family and friends,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We appreciate the patience of Mr. Royter’s family and their dedication to trying to find justice for the death of their loved one. All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”