ST. GEORGE — A 37-year-old St. George man accused of beating a man to death Saturday night in Castle Dale is being held without bail in Emery County.
The suspect, Zachary James Tuttle, has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, as well as aggravated child abuse and obstruction of justice, each a second-degree felony, for an incident reported over the weekend.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, investigators with the Emery County Sheriff’s Office responded to a store in Castle Dale where they were met by a juvenile who was waiting outside and visibly distraught. He told police that his father, Tuttle, had been fighting with an individual and beat the man “pretty bad,” according to the arrest documents filed in 7th District Court in Castle Dale.
Officers learned that earlier that night, the two men had been drinking at the victim’s house, located approximately a block from the store, when the two men began to fight. Tuttle allegedly was trying to get the juvenile to drink alcohol and the man was telling Tuttle to stop. The fight then escalated.
After responding to the victim’s home on North 300 East in Castle Dale, deputies say Tuttle approached the front door from the hallway with “blood on his hands.”
When deputies asked about the homeowner, Tuttle reportedly said the man “was good,” which is when deputies entered the home and began calling out for the victim.
Deputies then noticed “a lot of blood in the hallway — the same hallway where I saw Zach come from,” and as they went further into the home, they found a man lying on his back in a pool of blood.
The deputy checked for a pulse but found none. He also noted there were no other signs of life, even when he called out to the victim, “there was nothing,” the report states.
The man appeared to have been severely beaten in the face and head, and an extensive wound could be seen on the man’s skull.
Tuttle was arrested and transported to the Emery County Jail in Castle Dale. During further investigation at the scene on North 300 East, a can of chili covered in blood was found near the victim, which led investigators to suspect the can was used to strike the victim in the head, according to the report.
During a forensic interview set up by the Division of Children and Family Services on Sunday morning, the juvenile reportedly said that during the altercation, Tuttle backhanded him in the jaw, which knocked him into the wall.
When the boy tried to back away, he said Tuttle followed him into the laundry room and told the boy to go and sit on the couch “or he would kill him,” the report states. Tuttle then returned to where the victim was lying and started punching the man in the face, the deputy noted in the affidavit.
Eventually, the juvenile was able to get around Tuttle undetected by using another door, but the boy said he was “afraid of what Zach might do to him if he left,” so instead, he sat down on a chair to comfort the dogs, the report states.
A short while later, Tuttle went over to where the injured man was lying in the hallway and “got back on top of the victim and began hitting him again,” the report states, which is when the juvenile ran out of the house to get help.
A review of court records revealed that Tuttle was arrested March 9 in Hurricane after a man called police and said Tuttle had struck him in the head and knocked him down, which caused him to also hit his head on the ground. As the man was getting to his feet, Tuttle reportedly struck him a second time before returning to the man’s trailer where he was later found by police.
Police say Tuttle was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words, and Tuttle later told jail staff he had consumed a 12-pack of beer, according to the March report. He was ultimately charged with misdemeanor intoxication and disorderly conduct after the reporting party declined to press any charges against Tuttle for the alleged assault. Tuttle pleaded guilty to the charges five days later. He was fined $300 and released from jail.
Following Tuttle’s recent arrest in Castle Dale, the case was filed Wednesday by the Emery County Attorney’s Office. Tuttle remains in jail in Emery County without bail. An initial appearance has yet to be scheduled in the case.
Police say the juvenile is being cared for by relatives. A protective order was filed Thursday. Authorities have yet to release any information on the victim.
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