Utah murder rate drops in '08

During the first six months of 2008, the Wasatch Front had more than its share of high-profile slayings.

• The manager of a Family Dollar Store, Wally Knapton, 49, was shot and killed during a March 12 robbery.

• A 7-year-old girl from Myanmar who came to America with her family to start a better life was kidnapped and killed in her own apartment complex. A neighbor, also a refugee, was arrested in connection with Hser Ner Moo's death.

• Deborah Jones, 50, was kidnapped and killed and her body stuffed in a plastic storage container in April before being discovered in the back of a car in Branson, Mo.

• Maria Del Carmen Menchaca, 7, was shot and killed by a stray bullet while playing in front of her house by gang members feuding with rival members inside the house.

The Knapton and Menchaca slayings had local and state leaders as well as residents calling for a renewed crackdown on gangs, particularly in the Glendale and Poplar Grove areas. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. formed a new legislative Gang Task Force co-chaired by Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller.

Prosecutors called the Moo and Menchaca slayings two of the most heart-wrenching of the year.

"The public response to these and other cases, however, has shown us that our community is very aware of what happens to its members, and is dedicated to finding ways to stop these tragedies," deputy district attorney Alicia Cook said.

A total of six aggravated murder cases, which carry a possible death penalty, were filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office in 2008. During the three previous years, from 2005 to 2007, the office filed a total of five capital cases.

But despite the number of high-profile homicides in 2008, the overall total number of murders in Utah for the year, according to statistics compiled by the Deseret News, surprisingly hit one of the lowest on record.

The News counted 40 homicides in 2008, a dramatic drop from 2007 and the lowest total since the state began keeping records in 1978. The Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification counted 55 homicides in Utah in 2007 while the News counted 60. The previous all-time low for yearly homicides in Utah was 42 in 2004.

During the first seven months of the year, from Jan. 1 through July 23, there were 28 homicides in Utah, according to News statistics. During the final five months, there were 12.