Arrest warrant filed for murder in 1972 Vernal cold case

VERNAL, Utah (KUTV) — Documents show how authorities finally identified a second suspect in the more than 50-year-old cold case murder of a Vietnam veteran.

An arrest warrant has now been issued for Darrel Eugene Choate for the 1972 murder of 21-year-old Gregory Nickell.

“It was a terrible loss for us,” said Lynnette Ray, Nickell’s sister.

LAST:Suspect identified in Uintah County cold case nearly 50 years later

KUTV spoke with Ray in 2022.

Nickell was shot and killed in 1972 while on a date with an 18-year-old woman.

According to court documents, the woman told police she and Nickell were parked at a rest area on Hwy 40 west of Vernal.

The woman told police a man approached them and said there had been an accident on Hwy 40, and asked Nickell to drive across town and contact the sheriff.

The man then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Nickell. The victim told police that Nickell tried to protect her from the bullets because she thought some of the shots were aimed at her.

His car and body were later burned after the suspect was joined by another man and stole Nickell’s car. The woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by the two men.

DNA was collected from the woman and kept for observation once the appropriate technology was available.

In 2015, Uintah County investigators re-evaluated the evidence.

DNA samples were tested and one suspect was identified as Daniel Bell. Police discovered he died in Washington in 2019 before investigators got the DNA results back.

The second suspect, Choate, remained unknown until recently.

“I just want to look him in the eye and ask him why,” Ray said.

The Utah State Lab compared Choate’s DNA to DNA collected in 1972, according to documents.

Choate is a direct match for one of the suspects who killed Nickell and raped the 18-year-old.

Ray doesn’t understand why these two men would do something like that.

“(Nickell) was nothing but a contributor to this society. Just a fine person. Why would you do it? I don’t think they’ll have an answer,” Ray said.

The request for an arrest warrant for Choate was signed on October 30.

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