Murder Charge Filed for Salt Lake City Storage Facility Death

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced charges against Nathan David Evans for the alleged murder of David Hinkebein at their workplace, a storage warehouse in Salt Lake City.

On December 29, 2023, a driver for Advantage Services said he had a passenger, later identified as Mr. Evans, tell another person in the vehicle that he was going down to a warehouse to kill someone by bashing his head in because the person had messed with his stuff. That evening, a co-worker of Mr. Evans left their workplace, leaving Mr. Hinkebein and Mr. Evans alone. When the same co-worker came back to work on January 1, 2024, he saw Mr. Evans but not Mr. Hinkebein. During the shift, that same co-worker went near a back office and noticed bloody handprints on the wall and blood-stained carpet. Mr. Evans made it clear that he did not want to talk about the mess when the co-worker confronted him about it. The next day, the same co-worker noticed the mess was still not cleaned up; he then spoke with Mr. Evans about it, who just told him that Mr. Hinkebein was done. The co-worker then decided to report the mess in the office and that Mr. Hinkebein was possibly dead.

On January 3, 2024, police went to the warehouse for a welfare check. Officers found a large amount of blood and the body of Mr. Hinkebein. When detectives arrived, they found a hammer next to a minifridge that had blood on it and hair the same color as Mr. Evans’ hair. They also found a garbage bag with clothes that were later identified as clothes that Mr. Evans typically wore, covered in blood. A medical examiner later conducted an autopsy and found at least 15 blunt force injuries to the head of Mr. Hinkebein, consistent with a hammer.

Mr. Evans has been charged with one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of third-degree felony abuse or desecration of a human body.

“When people go to work they do not expect to be faced with violence. Workplace violence is intolerable and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this office. Our hearts go out to those who knew Mr. Hinkebein through his work with those experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”