Salt Lake City, Utah – The Salt Lake City Police Department has announced three arrests in connection to a double homicide at a downtown hotel.
SLCPD said in a news release that the investigation was initiated around 12:30 a.m. on April 15 when officers responded to a report of a shooting at a hotel at 171 West 500 South.
At the scene, responding officers found two men with critical injuries. Both men succumbed to their injuries at the scene.
At this time, the identities of the victims are not being released. SLCPD said in a release that 40-year-old Tiffani Papach, 38-year-old Kendra Mitchell, and 56-year-old Kevin Thrower had been arrested by detectives.
Court documents say that Mitchell told detectives she had been contacted by the person renting the motel room to meet in person. A dispute occurred a short time after she arrived.
Mitchell allegedly contacted Papach and asked to send two men to the motel to act as “security” or “protection” regarding the payment dispute.
According to court documents, Papach and two men arrived and forced their way into the hotel room. The men allegedly began assaulting the renter and demanding money before stealing his car keys.
At some point, two of the men were shot and both succumbed to their injuries. Papach was booked on charges of Obstruction of Justice, Aggravated Robbery, and Aggravated Burglary.
Mitchell was booked on charges of Aggravated Burglary and Aggravated Robbery.
Thrower is accused of obstructing the investigation by misleading officers who were searching for Mitchell, according to SLCPD.
Police say he initially claimed Mitchel had run off even though she was standing next to him. Thrower also allegedly denied knowing Mitchell’s identity or anything about the incident.
SLCPD says Mitchell told detectives she had informed Thrower about the shootings before they were contacted by police. According to court documents, she also said Thrower told her not to say anything.
Police say the shooter has not been arrested and the person’s name is not being released at this time.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact SLCPD at 801-799-3000 and reference case number 24-84745.
Jay Skelton is an independent crime journalist with a passion for covering the uncovered and the under covered.