Rowdy Lee Aguilar Aggravated Murder Guilty with a Mental Condition Conviction

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Rowdy Lee Aguilar entered a plea of guilty with a mental condition to the charge of aggravated murder for the 2021 killing of 15-year-old Ivan Vetecnik.
 
On May 26, 2021, a witness found the victim's body in a cargo trailer near the defendant's residence in Taylorsville. Vetecnik had been stabbed more than thirty times and partially dismembered. The dismembered body parts were found in garbage bags a short distance from the cargo trailer. Security video from the defendant's residence showed that the defendant and Vetecnik had entered the house shortly after 10:00 a.m. that morning. At 1:20 p.m., the defendant re-entered the residence alone, his shirt heavily stained with apparent blood. Approximately twenty 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. Several items of evidence were submitted to the Utah State Crime Lab. DNA identified on a bloody leather glove and knife found inside the trailer were consistent with Vetecnik's and the defendant's profiles. During an interview with detectives, the defendant admitted to stabbing Vetecnik. 
 
Today, the defendant pled guilty with a mental condition to one count of first-degree felony aggravated murder, which has a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life incarcerated. The defendant was 17 at the time of the killing. Since he was a minor at the time of the crime, he will be held at a youth secure care facility until he is 25, at which point he will be transferred to the Utah State Correctional Facility to serve out the rest of his sentence.
 
A special set sentencing is set for December 5, 2025.
 
"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," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We appreciate the work of our prosecutor Brad Cooley as well as our support staff on this case. We thank the detectives from the Unified Police Department for their diligent investigation, which helped lead to this conviction.