Trial is set in slaying

PROVO — The man accused of killing his co-worker on a dairy farm in Elberta pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the first-degree felony charge of murder, pushing the case to a jury trial in February 2006.

Sergio Ramos-Trujillo, 26, entered not guilty pleas to the murder of Jorge Corana-Mora. He also pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and unlawful possession of a handgun by a restricted person, second- and third-degree felonies, respectively.

A co-defendant, Agustin Cruz-Silva, 44, also entered a not guilty plea to manslaughter for allegedly providing the gun to Ramos-Trujillo. He also pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice and unlawful possession of a handgun by a restricted person. He will be tried at the same time as Ramos-Trujillo.

Ramos-Trujillo and Corana-Mora worked together on the LDS Church-owned farm in southern Utah and lived in an apartment called the bunkhouse. After a series of altercations, Ramos-Trujillo borrowed a gun from Cruz-Silva in Springville and returned to Elberta. The next day, Sept. 16, Ramos-Trujillo allegedly shot Corana-Mora multiple times in the bunkhouse's kitchen, then fled to Provo.

Cruz-Silva's defense attorney said he plans to file a motion to quash, or eliminate, the charge of manslaughter. "I think the state is really overreaching on a manslaughter charge on my guy," said defense attorney Paige Benjamin. "It's a bad charge. They have no business charging (Cruz-Silva) with that."

In previous court proceedings, Benjamin told the judge he believes his client didn't know Ramos-Trujillo was going to use the gun for anything other than protection. Benjamin said Ramos-Trujillo was scared of Corana-Mora.

That fear is a point defense attorney Richard Gale wants to continue investigating.

During a preliminary hearing earlier this month, witnesses told 4th District Judge Lynn Davis that Ramos-Trujillo had told them he was afraid of Corana-Mora and wanted the gun to protect himself.

"It's fairly obvious what the issue was," Gale said Wednesday. "He felt afraid of (Corana-Mora)."

Gale said he will also wants the judge to disregard as evidence any statements Ramos-Trujillo made to police as they investigated the incident. He questions whether they were obtained properly. He also hopes to convince the court to not allow prosecutors to tell the jury about any prior bad acts.

The attorneys will discuss their motions in late December and a trial was scheduled for the first part of February 2006.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com