St. George police find 15 firearms, drugs, and dead man in suspects home

ST. GEORGE, Utah — During an overdose investigation, police found a drug den with two brothers having a large amount of drugs in their home Friday night.

The Washington County Drug Task Force was called to an overdose at a residence near 780 Valley View Drive in St. George, according to the affidavit.

When police arrived, they found an adult man dead in his room of an apparent fentanyl overdose.

“Found nearby were blue M30 stamped pills and sheets of tin foil with distinctive burn marks on them,” the affidavit stated. “Also found was a line of cocaine and a rolled dollar bill, along with various bottles of hard liquor.”

Police said the dead man shared the residence with three roommates, Ryan Keith Burch, 44, and Eric Allen Burch, 47, who are brothers.

According to the affidavit, they knew that the brothers were convicted felons and restricted persons and noticed “guns, magazines, and their accessories strewn about the residence.”

Search Warrant

After applying for and receiving a search warrant, a narcotics K9 was deployed and positively identified the indication of drugs in Eric’s truck.

“During a subsequent search of the vehicle, detectives located a brown cardboard box with a mailing label to Ryan Burch on the back seat,” the affidavit stated. “Inside the box, detectives found digital scales and blue plastic bags containing various controlled substances.”

Police said they found 5.2 grams of heroin, 6.5 grams of marijuana, 8.88 grams of Psilocybin mushrooms, 8.54 grams of methamphetamine, 132.8 grams of MDMA, 45.58 grams of cocaine, and 48.42 grams of fentanyl pills in the box.

According to the affidavit, police found nine firearms in Ryan’s room, a large sword, and in a nearby storage space, six more guns. Police found ammunition in the firearms.

“Also found in Ryan’s room was a large cardboard box which contained two large Ziploc bags full of psilocybin mushrooms and several digital scales,” the affidavit stated.

Police found a large safe in Ryan’s room with $9419 and containers with THC, DMT, and testosterone with no prescription.

According to the affidavit, when Eric was notified about the search warrant, he admitted having cocaine and marijuana in a room upstairs.

Eric’s Interview

Police took the two brothers into custody, with Ryan asking for an attorney, and Eric waiving his Miranda Rights and speaking to police.

According to the affidavit, Eric said the drugs in the storage area were Ryan’s and “the guns are his.”

Eric told police he was awoken by Ryan “screaming downstairs,” and “he rushed down and found their friend deceased in his bedroom,” according to the affidavit. Eric said he saw a “box full of illegal narcotics at the foot of the friend’s bed and panicked.”

Eric said he “did not want to get in trouble, so he grabbed the box and took it out to his truck while Ryan called the police,” according to the affidavit.

Police asked Eric why he thought he would get into trouble, and he said “he did not know why, except that he was a convicted felon and felt that he could somehow be charged,” according to the affidavit.

Police searched Eric’s room and found drug paraphernalia, LSD tabs, and THC wax. Eric admitted to police that the items were his.

Charges and Past History

Eric Burch was booked into the Washington County Jail for misdemeanor charges of obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance schedule I/II/analog, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance marijuana, according to the affidavit.

Ryan Burch was booked into the Washington County Jail with 15 felony charges of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, five felony charges of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, and three misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance.

According to the affidavit, Ryan was arrested for a DUI charge in July. In that arrest, he was found with illegal drugs in the same truck that police searched.