Brother is charged with murder

PROVO — Prosecutors charged Eryk Drej with first-degree murder on Friday, 17 days after the shooting death of his younger brother in American Fork.

The delay was caused in part by strange statements Drej, 31, made to police. Drej confessed that he fired 10 bullets into Lukasz Drej on June 1 because he believed the 25-year-old man was plotting to kill an unnamed woman, harvest her organs and sell them on the black market, according to police.

Charges were expected against Drej on June 10, but Utah County deputy attorney Jeff Buhman's request for an extra week was granted by 4th District Judge Claudia Laycock.

"We needed an extra week to finalize parts of the investigation, though we're not done yet," Buhman said Friday.

In fact, American Fork assistant police chief Steve Cornia said further analysis is needed on evidence collected during the investigation.

"Right now, everything is in the hands of the analysts. We've done all the homework we can; we gotta wait."

Cornia said police seized computers from the Drej home at 29 S. 400 East, where the brothers lived with their mother and where the shooting took place.

"We've got the computers being looked at, physical evidence being analyzed, some psychological stuff going on," Cornia added. "(The police department has) done everything we can do."

Buhman considered Drej's potential state of mind in determining the charge, which includes an enhancement for use of a dangerous weapon that increases the possible sentence from five years to life in prison to six years to life if Drej is found guilty.

"It looks like an intentional act, so that makes (the charge) first-degree murder," Buhman said.

Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis read the charge to Drej at a hearing Friday morning, then ruled Drej could not afford to hire an attorney and appointed the Utah County Public Defenders Association to represent Drej.

Drej voluntarily spoke to police without an attorney several times since the shooting, Buhman said.

"He voluntarily spoke to the police more than once. He wasn't hiding it. When they caught him he was on his driveway with the guns. He wasn't running anywhere."

Public defender Debbie Hill met briefly with Drej immediately after the hearing, and prosecutors, investigators and observers expect the next step will be a request to have a psychologist examine Drej, who has been held in the Utah County Jail on $750,000 cash-only bail, considering his unusual statements and actions.