Shooting suspect to stand trial
Judge says evidence is sufficient to try Eugene Wright for the murder of Kenneth Dolezsar
Jeremy Duda
A man accused of gunning down former UVSC hockey coach Kenneth Dolezsar was bound over for trial Friday on charges of murder and aggravated robbery.
Judge Terry Christiansen ruled that there was enough evidence to send Eugene Christopher Wright to trial after hearing testimony from two Sandy police officers and a man who witnessed Dolezsar’s shooting in a restaurant parking lot. Wright, a 33-year-old Salt Lake City resident, pleaded not guilty to the charges. He will be back in West Jordan’s 3rd District Court on Thursday for a pretrial hearing.
Dolezsar, a Springville businessman and one of the founders of the Utah Valley State College hockey team, was killed on Nov. 15 when he was shot several times in the parking lot of a Village Inn restaurant in Sandy. Wright, a business associate of Dolezsar’s, was arrested and charged in February with the murder.
Lee Carlson testified at Friday’s preliminary hearing that he saw Wright shoot Dolezsar and drive away into the coach’s Lincoln Navigator. Carlson said he saw the two men talking near Dolezsar’s vehicle when he first pulled in the restaurant’s parking lot shortly before 7 a.m. to meet a prospective employer. Minutes later, he testified, Dolezsar walked in front of Carlson’s car while backing away from Wright, whom Carlson said was wearing a wig at the time.
“He had a look of fear in his eyes. He looked me in the eyes. Mr. Dolezsar knew that I was there,” Carlson said on the stand.
Less than a minute later, Wright pulled a black semiautomatic handgun from his pocket, shot Dolezsar and fled the scene, Carlson said. Carlson said he was fearful that he would be killed as well because he witnessed the shooting, so he ducked down in the front of his car so he wouldn’t be seen.
Sandy police Detective Dean Carriger testified that he found a test-fired shell casing in an empty box from a semiautomatic 9mm Springfield Armory handgun that was seized during a search of Wright’s Salt Lake City condominium in January. A ballistics test conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms showed that the shell casing was fired from the same 9mm handgun as five shell casings recovered from the scene of Dolezsar’s murder, Carriger said.
After the hearing, prosecutor Josh Player declined to discuss a motive for the shooting. At the time of Wright’s arrest, Sandy police said he and Dolezsar had business connections, but weren’t sure if they played any role in the murder. Wright is the owner of Exchange Place Capital in Salt Lake City.
Dolezsar’s family was unsure about what motive may have prompted his murder.
“They have no idea. They think it’s probably over money,” said Toni Guest, Dolezsar’s sister-in-law.
Barry Steed, Dolezsar’s stepson, said the case against Wright appeared strong, and said the family is confident that justice will prevail.
“Ken was probably the most genuine, wonderful man I met in my whole life,” Steed said. “He was the perfect stepdad.”
• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.
