Inset: Ivan Vetecnik (GoFundMe). Background: Police in Salt Lake City, Utah, investigate Vetecnik”s murder in 2021 (KSL).
A teenager from Utah is facing a prison sentence ranging from 25 years to life after stabbing his friend over 30 times, dismembering part of the body, and discarding it in a cargo trailer.
Now 21, Rowdy Lee Aguilar has confessed to the aggravated murder of 15-year-old Ivan Vetecnik, acknowledging a mental health issue at the time, according to a statement from the Salt Lake County District Attorney. Aguilar was 17 when he committed the murder on May 26, 2021.
Prosecutors presented evidence from surveillance footage showing the two friends entering Aguilar’s residence around 10 in the morning on the day of the incident. Over three hours later, Aguilar emerged alone, wearing a shirt soaked in blood, and proceeded to carry garbage bags to a nearby establishment.
Aguilar’s father called police later that day when he found Vetecnik’s body in the trailer, which “smelled strongly of cleaning agents,” cops said.
In the investigation, authorities found a bloodstained leather glove, a knife, and Vetecnik’s remains in the trailer. Additional body parts were discovered behind the property.
Initially, Aguilar claimed he didn’t know Vetecnik and said he was at his girlfriend’s house the entire day. He also had cuts on his hands, which he attributed to slicing ribs at a barbecue. Eventually, Aguilar confessed to the murder, admitting, “I did it.” Investigators did not disclose a motive for the crime.
Aguilar will stay in a juvenile facility until he reaches 25 years old, after which he will be transferred to an adult prison to complete his sentence. His sentencing is scheduled for December 5.
Vetecnik’s sister Samantha VanTreese wrote in a Facebook post that the guilty plea felt like a win.
“But at the end of the day no amount of time in prison will ever be enough!,” she wrote. “He took my baby brother in the worst way possible!”
