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Wesley Dee Nay

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Raul Vidrio

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A known drug dealer and gang member pleaded not guilty on Friday to reportedly killing a Mount Pleasant man and burning his remains.

Raul Vidrio, 21, is charged with aggravated murder in the death of 22-year-old Wesley Nay after investigators found his body buried in a grassy meadow near Indianola in October 2016.

The remains had been burned and detectives found pieces of charred wood inside the grave, according to court records. The Medical Examiner’s Office determined Nay died from stabbing and blunt trauma.

According to charging documents, Vidrio reportedly “placed Mr. Nay’s body in a shallow grave lined with wood, doused it with gasoline and lit it on fire. Once Mr. Nay’s body was mostly destroyed and disfigured by the fire, Defendant partially filled in the grave, concealing Mr. Nay’s remains under several inches of dirt.”

Vidrio is also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and abuse of a dead body, a third-degree felony. If convicted, aggravated murder is punishable by a minimum of 25 years to life in prison.

A family friend had reported Nay missing on Sept. 18. She told detectives the last time she saw Nay was three weeks prior after he left her house with Vidrio.

Investigators interviewed a witness who reportedly went with Vidrio to cut wood in Indianola Canyon in August 2016 before Nay was reported missing. The witness identified the area they went was yards from where the remains were found, court records stated.

Vidrio reportedly told the witness to leave the wood in the area as it would be used to “destroy evidence, specifically to ‘burn flesh,'” police reported.

Another witness told investigators that Vidrio had been talking with two other individuals about “opening the door to hell” shortly before Nay was reported missing.

Deputies with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office arrested Vidrio in September 2016 for stealing a truck, court documents reported.

“Located in the bed of the truck at the time of Mr. Vidrio’s arrest were shovels, a pick, and gas jugs,” the probable cause statement reported.

Deputies also found a large knife inside the truck. DNA tests determined the blood on the knife belonged to Nay.

During the investigation, detectives searched Vidrio’s phone and found a deleted image of Nay digging a hole in a grassy meadow that resembled the area where he was found. The picture showed Nay dressed in the same outfit he wore on the day he was last seen.

Officers said Vidrio is a known drug dealer in Mount Pleasant and also associates with a specific gang. He is being held at the Utah County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bail.

A jury trial was set for Aug. 5-30.

Stacie Miner spoke with the Daily Herald in November 2016, remembering Nay as someone who didn’t have an easy life but always had a smile on his face. She and her family welcomed Nay into their home after he told them he had difficulties with his parents.

“Wesley didn’t have a very easy life. When he first started coming around … I’d hide my purse,” Miner said. “But when he actually came here, he was very respectful, very nice.”