Charges filed as final suspect arrested in W.V. homicide

Prosecutors have filed murder charges against four people accused of kidnapping a man, severely beating him and then leaving him to die in a West Valley City shed.

Pailate Lomu, Fonua Kimoana, Ooleanui Kaina Salanoa and Tuusao Adele Ama each face first-degree felony counts of murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

The charges come one week after Jay Wolfinger, 32, was found bound and gagged inside a shed. Wolfinger was taken to a hospital where he died a short time later.

The four suspects forced their way into a West Jordan apartment where Wolfinger was staying, according to prosecutors. Lomu and Kimoana then beat the man, fatally injuring him, investigators say.

Wolfinger was wrapped in a sheet and taken to a shed in West Valley City where he was tortured. Wolfinger was stabbed in the knee with a knife and hit in the head with a blunt object that caused a skull fracture, according to jail documents.

The murder was apparently a gang-related drug debt, jail documents state.

Kimoana was the last of the suspects arrested Thursday. Kimoana arranged through his attorney to be taken into custody at a convenience store near 3300 South and 300 West, said West Valley Police Capt. Tom McLachlan.

"He gave up without incident," McLachlan said.

A fifth suspect, 42-year-old Makasini Lomu, remained in the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of murder, forgery and obstruction of justice on Thursday, though she has not been formally charged in connection with Wolfinger's death. — Pat Reavy, Aaron Falk