The West Valley City man charged in the 2011 death of Evelynne Derricott is scheduled to stand trial this June.
Rogelio Diaz Jr, 25, is charged with first-degree felony murder, first-degree felony aggravated burglary and second-degree felony theft. He pleaded not guilty to the charges during an appearance in 3rd District Court in November 2016.
Diaz’s trial was originally slated to begin this week, but those court dates were cancelled during a Dec. 19 pretrial conference. During a scheduling conference in 3rd District Court on Tuesday, the jury trial start date was scheduled for June 18 at 9 a.m. before Judge Matthew Bates.
A pretrial conference was also scheduled for June 12 at 9 a.m.
Diaz was arrested in May 2016 in connection with the October 2011 murder of Tooele City resident Evelynne Derricott.
Tooele City police detectives received a break in the case when they used familial DNA testing, a technique that matches samples of DNA evidence from a crime scene to relatives in the state’s DNA identification system.
DNA samples found on a hammer, believed to be the murder weapon, and on the steering wheel of Derricott’s stolen car, were a near match to a member of Diaz’s family in the state’s DNA database.
Police were able to eliminate other family members who were already in the state DNA database or outside the country at the time of Derricott’s murder.
After narrowing in on Diaz, police obtained DNA samples from a used energy drink can and work gloves that he discarded. The DNA profile from the can and gloves matched the DNA found on the hammer and steering wheel and Diaz was arrested.