Kearns woman reportedly kidnapped and murdered because she ‘knew too much’
Feb 24, 2021, 6:02 AM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 11:22 am
(Orlando Esiesa Tobar, left, Jorge Rafael Medina-Reyes, right, both charged with aggravated murder. Credit: Salt Lake County Jail)
(Orlando Esiesa Tobar, left, Jorge Rafael Medina-Reyes, right, both charged with aggravated murder. Credit: Salt Lake County Jail)
UPDATE
Three more arrested in case of kidnapped and murdered Kearns woman
The Unified Police Department has confirmed that 3 more arrests have been made in the kidnapping and murder case of Nicole Solorio-Romero.
Officials say Ivan Acosta and Carolina and Fernando Marquez have been arrested.
#Breaking: @UPDSL confirm 3 more arrests have been made in the kidnapping & murder of Nicole Solorio Romero. They are Carolina Marquez, Fernando Marquez & Ivan Acosta. Carolina is Fernando’s mother & a local restaurant owner where Nicole worked. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/A4KOtstSrG
— Garna Mejia KSL (@GarnaMejiaKSL) March 24, 2021
KEARNS, Utah — Aggravated murder charges have been filed against two men accused of kidnapping and killing a Kearns woman. Those charging documents also point to a possible motive.
Prosecutors say after Nicole Solorio-Romero was forced from her home in Kearns, she was taken to a residence on Elba Avenue in West Valley. There, charging documents say she was interrogated by Orlando “Chaparro” Tobar about what she may have told investigators about an associate who is now in federal custody.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says, “She was confronted and there were other witnesses who saw what happened. There was some discussion about what she knew or didn’t know.”
Tobar reportedly ordered Jorge Medina-Reyes to stand behind her while was happening.
“She denied talking to the police,” Gill says.
After a while, Romero turned to another person in the room and accused Tobar and Medina of murder.
“[She claimed] her husband didn’t commit suicide, rather, ‘These same guys who got me here are the ones who allegedly murdered my husband,’” Gill says.
The probable cause statement says Tobar told his victim that “she knew too much,” and she wasn’t going to leave the apartment. That’s when Medina-Reyes reportedly shot Solorio-Romero in the back of the head. Documents state witnesses left the room immediately after the shooting, but some claim they heard a second shot then saw Tobar exiting the room with blood on his hands.
Witnesses also reportedly saw the victim’s body wrapped in plastic and loaded onto the back of a landscaping truck. Solorio-Romero’s body has not been found, yet.
Investigators found what they believe is the murder weapon, but Gill says the suspects may have tried to destroy the evidence.
He says, “The pistol had been soaked in a chemical that had started to corrode the gun.”
Both Tobar and Medina-Reyes are charged with one count of aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping, as well as one count of obstruction of justice.
