DPS NEWS

The Department of Public Safety’s State Bureau of Investigation Arrests Two Suspects in Connection to a 2009 Cold Case Homicide

Agents from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s State Bureau of Investigation, in partnership with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office have arrested two men believed to have fired shots at a green Jeep Cherokee driven by whom the men thought to be rival gang members on January 9th, 2009, on I-15. Those shots killed one of the two brothers driving the Jeep. The arrests of Nicholas Dean MacNeil and Aaron J. Paul Campbell were made yesterday, January 11th, 2023, after the culmination of 14 years of investigative interviews and even some help from the public after the department offered an award for information leading to a conviction in the case. 

Both MacNeil and Campbell are associated with the Nortenos gang and have a history of violent criminal activity. Due to the violent past of MacNeil and Campbell, the safety of witnesses is one of the prosecutors’ and investigators’ primary concerns. That, along with constitutional considerations, leaves few case details available for public release. Please direct any follow-up inquiries on the case to Hillary Koellner, Director of DPS Public Affairs, 385-296-4311 or hkoellner@utah.gov .