Body of slain Utah man returns from Guatemala

The body of an Ogden man slain by gunmen who boarded a bus of Utahns on a Book of Mormon tour in Guatemala this week was returning to Utah on Saturday.

Brett Richards, 52, was shot and killed Wednesday as he attempted to prevent bandits from assaulting Book of Mormon Tours leader Dr. Joseph Allen of Orem, who, according to witnesses, was being hit with the butt of a gun.

Richards' family was also returning to Utah on Saturday night on the same flight with his casket, said Gordon Duval, an attorney for Book of Mormon Tours. Funeral services are planned sometime this week in Ogden for Richards, an architect.

The tour bus driver, Guatemalan Philberto Roca, was also shot and wounded in the ankle. The dozen other Utahns on the tour, including eight of Richards' family members, were not injured.

Allen remained in Guatemala City to assist FBI agents from the United States who are now investigating the assault and robbery in cooperation with Guatemalan authorities.

"They have a couple of leads," Duval said. "There's a (stolen) credit card that's been used that they are trying to track."

Allen is also trying to assist Roca, who has provided tour and bus services for Allen for more than 10 years, Duval said. Roca needs surgery on his injured ankle but is without health insurance and needs additional funds to pay for the treatment. Without it, the driver may not walk again, Duval said.

A donation fund for Roca has been established in Utah at Zions Bank, and contributions can be made at any branch, Duval added.

The attack occurred near the city of Columba, about 125 miles west of Guatemala City. The tour was en route to a location near the Guatemala-Mexico border, an area many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints associate with events in the Book of Mormon.

The bus was forced off the road and into the jungle by five men in a pickup truck, who then boarded the bus. Tour members were individually ordered off of the bus, robbed of their money, jewelry and other valuables and then and forced to lie face-down on the ground, Patty and Ed Allen told the Deseret Morning News. The Allens are cousins of Richards but are not related to tour operator Joseph Allen.

Patty Allen, who with her husband returned to Utah on Friday, said she believed everyone on the bus would be killed.

Book of Mormon Tours is an Orem-based company that has operated tours in Guatemala for more than 30 years. Despite Wednesday's events, the company departed on another Guatemalan tour Thursday. A spokesman for the company said the group would be traveling with a police escort.

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com