Richard Christopher Sentenced to Prison for his Involvement in Murder of Three Men in 2014

Today, a Third District Court judge sentenced Richard Christopher to a prison term of 56 years to life for his involvement in the murders of three men in 2014.

On November 2, 2014, the Salt Lake City Police Department took a missing persons report stating Danny Gallegos and Levi Collins had not returned from an outing. The next day, Braden Emerson was reported missing by a family member; the person reporting said he was last seen with Mr. Gallegos and Mr. Emerson. On that same day, Salt Lake County Animal Control asked Salt Lake City Police to help them with a dog abandoned in a vehicle; the vehicle had bloodstains. That vehicle was later identified as Mr. Gallegos’, and the blood found in it was determined to be from Mr. Collins and Mr. Emerson.

A witness told police that Mr. Gallegos was planning to meet him on November 1, 2014, to give him $200,000 cash so the witness could purchase a home for Mr. Gallegos. The defendant was at the prearranged location with the witness. The witness said when the men arrived for the cash, Mr. Gallegos got out of his vehicle, and the defendant got into it a short time later. When the defendant got into the car, he asked Mr. Collins and Mr. Emerson to take him to a nearby RV. When they arrived at the defendant’s destination he shot and killed them. Mr. Christopher and the witness then cremated the bodies at a Utah County cremation typically used for large animals.

The defendant was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life for both first-degree felony aggravated murders, a consecutive term of five years to life for one count of first-degree aggravated robbery, 1-15 years for one count of second-degree felony obstructing justice, 0-5 years, running concurrently, for three counts of third-degree felony abuse or desecration of a human body, and credit for time served for one count of third-degree felony use of a firearm by a restricted person.

“These murders were predatory, violent, and unconscionable. The brutality of these murders was driven by greed and executed with callousness. Hopefully with today’s resolution, this defendant will likely never see another day of freedom,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “Our office worked with the families for nearly a decade as the investigation and case progressed. I want to thank our team of prosecutors, Marc Mathis, Shantell Argyle, and John Ham, along with our support staff, for tirelessly working on this case. Our team and our law enforcement partners never gave up so that one day some measure of justice could be found for these families and our community.”