Utah murder suspect deported from US, returned six days later, police say

Jan 6, 2025, 12:35 PM | Updated: Jan 8, 2025, 2:42 pm

KSLTV.com

SALT LAKE CITY — A man suspected of killing his girlfriend in Utah was deported six days before he allegedly left her body in a remote area of Tooele County.

On Jan. 1, the Unified Police Department received a report that 31-year-old Talia Lee Benward was reported missing. She’d borrowed a family member’s car and had not returned, according to the police affidavit.

The affidavit stated police attempted to locate Benward and the car but could not locate either of them.

Two days later, the family contacted Unified police again about Benward’s disappearance, saying she had not returned. Investigators also learned that Benward had missed two days of work.

Benward’s family told investigators that she was dating 24-year-old Nestor Rocha-Aguayo and the two have been in several domestic incidents.

“Investigators learned (Rocha-Aguayo) had been deported on 12/24/2024. [He] had recently been contacting (Benward), telling her he had come back to Utah,” the affidavit stated.

Benward’s family said they recently confronted Rocha-Aguayo about seeing Benward again, but he denied seeing her on Jan. 1.

After obtaining a search warrant for Benward’s iPad, investigators reported finding a conversation between her and Rocha-Aguayo. In it, Rocha-Aguayo asked Benward to pick him up at a Maverik gas station in West Jordan on Jan. 1.

According to the affidavit, investigators obtained video of Benward arriving in the borrowed car. She then allows Rocha-Aguayo to enter the passenger seat.

“The two can be seen greeting each other and appeared to be acting normal,” the affidavit stated. “The video showed their movements eventually became sharp. They began pointing at each other, they rolled up their windows and it appeared as if they were arguing.”

Investigators obtained phone records for Benward and Rocha-Aguayo. The records show the two remained with each other for several hours in Salt Lake County.

According to the affidavit, both phones entered a “secluded area” in Manga at approximately 6:45 p.m. They remained there for about 40 minutes. The couple then remained in Salt Lake County for about an hour. They appeared to have stopped at a different Maverik. Then they left Magna and traveled to Tooele County.

“The two phones entered a rural area of Tooele County and remained there for approximately 28 minutes,” the affidavit stated. “(Benward’s) phone left the initial Tooele County area, but stopped moving just off of (Interstate 18), while (Rocha-Aguayo’s) traveled back to Salt Lake County.”

Investigators reported that Rocha-Aguayo’s phone traveled to an address in Kearns. When detectives arrived at the address, they found the missing car and noticed human blood on the outside of the back passenger door.

“A warrant was obtained to search the vehicle and more blood was located in the back rear passenger seat, on the back passenger door and on the floor,” the affidavit stated. “Detectives also noticed the floor mat was missing on the back passenger floor, but the other mats in the car were not missing.”

Detectives reported smelling gasoline in the car’s truck, but there were no signs of gas containers.

According to the affidavit, a taxi company confirmed to police that they picked up Rocha-Aguayo on Jan. 1 near the address where officials found the car.

Investigators went to Tooele County, where the phones were traveled, and began searching for Benward. On Saturday morning, police reported finding a burn pit containing the burned remains of a floor mat, which matched the ones in the missing car.

“The burn pit also contained rocks with what appeared to be blood stains and other burned materials other than the burned mat,” the affidavit stated.

Weber County Search and Rescue K-9s were called to help search for Benward and found Benward dead in a large pile of sagebrush and “strategically stacked sticks,” according to the affidavit.

Investigators reported that Benward had scratches and bruises throughout the top of her arms and chest, which appeared to be defensive wounds. Benward also had marks indicating she was killed before being placed in the pile and was missing her pants and shoes.

On Saturday evening, police performed a traffic stop on a vehicle with Rocha-Aguayo near 4715 S. Arlington Park Drive in West Valley City. Officers attempted to take him into custody and used a TASER on him. But he fled, leading to a shelter-in-place for nearby residents.

The next day, the US Marshalls learned that Rocha-Aguayo was on an international travel bus to Mexico.

According to the affidavit, Rocha-Aguayo attempted to flee from the Marshalls but was forcefully taken into custody. However, he tried to escape from the police by jumping from a moving vehicle while being transported.

Rocha-Aguayo was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of aggravated robbery, two counts of evidence tampering, abuse or desecration of a dead body, escape, possession of a stolen vehicle and two counts of failing to stop for police.

According to the affidavit, Rocha-Aguayo was released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was ordered not to return to the county but returned within six days.

Court documents show that Rocha-Aguayo and Benward had a lengthy history of violence between each other from November 2023 to August 2024.

In August, Rocha-Aguayo broke into Benward’s home and took her password, her daughter’s birth certificate, a photo, and a bracelet. Court documents stated that Rocha-Aguayo refused to return those items to Benward unless she left with him.

A *GoFundMe was organized by Benward’s friends and family to help with funeral costs.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.