The home of Ayoola Ajayi, where police say they found physical evidence in the murder of Mackenzie Lueck. Photo: Paul Nelson, KSL NewsRadio
SALT LAKE CITY – Even though an arrest has been made in the kidnapping and murder of Mackenzie Lueck, police say they still have a mountain of evidence they need to sift through.
Officials with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office believe Tuesday will be the most likely day when they’ll file formal charges against accused killer Ayoola Ajayi. That’s when more details could come out about how he knew his alleged victim and what happened after they met in Hatch park in North Salt Lake.
In the meantime, police say they still have a lot of work left to do.
Salt Lake City Police Sergeant Brandon Shearer says, “With a case as important as this, we want to make sure we’re looking at all possible leads.”
Police executed two new search warrants since they announced the Ajayi’s arrest. Chief Mike Brown tells KSL more warrants could be coming.
Certain things like ammunition and a pitchfork have already been taken from Ajayi’s home on 1000 West in the Fairpark area. The mattress that Ajayi reportedly gave away after Lueck’s death has been found and taken to the state lab for analysis, but Shearer can’t yet say what evidence has been found on it.
“Just because they’ve picked up or gathered evidence at the crime scene, there is still a lot of evidence that has to go through our crime lab or the state crime lab,” he says.
Along the physical evidence, officers received hundreds of tips from the public, and Shearer says they have to vet out every single one.
“We have to make sure we overturn every stone that’s available in this case, and that will take some time,” says Shearer.