Parole date granted, another denied in 2002 St. George slaying

UTAH STATE PRISON — The state parole board has set a release date for one of three men involved in the 2002 slaying of a St. George golf course worker but has denied parole to one of his co-defendants.

The board has decided to release Robert Arthur Audette on Jan. 7, 2014, said Utah Board of Pardons and Parole spokesman Jim Hatch.

Parole has been denied, however, for Koda Quest Lanza, 25, who was also present when Southgate Golf Course employee Ted Banister was shot six times and killed, Hatch said.

During his Jan. 5 parole hearing, Audette told board Chairman Curtis Garner that he has changed his life during the nearly eight years he's been in prison.

"I was a very violent person. I'm past all that now," Audette said. "I feel like I've changed and I should have a chance to go out there and prove myself."

Audette, 26, acknowledged joining a gang shortly after arriving at the prison, but said he has left that life and earned his high school diploma. He told Garner he now spends his time encouraging younger inmates to avoid gang involvement and work on bettering themselves.

"This place, to be honest with you, is for losers," Audette said. "I try to explain that to people."

Audette acted as a lookout on the morning Banister, 37, was killed. He said the plan to rob the man was hatched by Juan Antonio Olvera. A former golf course employee, Olvera said he knew Banister carried a large sum of money, according to Audette.

"The intention wasn't to hurt nobody. Yeah, the intention was to do a crime, to do a robbery, but my intention wasn't to hurt nobody," said Audette, who pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of robbery, both second-degree felonies, for his role in Banister's death.

"I didn't kill nobody, but at the same time I did; I was there," Audette added. "Maybe I could have changed something if I had said something."

Lanza, who also had his first parole hearing Jan. 5, told Garner that he had accompanied Olvera to the maintenance shop where Banister was working on Jan. 3, 2002, and held a garage door open after Olvera entered the building.

"All I heard was gunshots," Lanza said. "I just rolled the doors up after that."