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VERNAL, Utah (ABC4) — The Tooele man who was identified earlier this month as the second suspect in the 1972 murder of 21-year-old army veteran Gregory Dahl Nickell has been arrested, the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday.
Uintah County Deputies issued the arrest warrant for Darrel Eugene Choate, 74, on Nov. 1. Due to medical issues, however, Choate was not taken into custody at that time. Now, 52 years to the day after the murder, Choate is behind bars at the Uintah County Jail.
Choate was charged at the start of November with first-degree felony murder for his alleged role in the death of Nickell, as well as the kidnapping and rape of Nickell’s date. While the murder case went cold shortly after the 1972 murder, both Choate and his alleged accomplice, Daniel Arthur Bell, were identified with the help of advancements in DNA technology.
Bell was first identified in 2022. However, investigators confirmed Bell had died in Yakima, Wash., and his body was cremated in 2019.
Now, as the investigation into Nickell’s murder continues to unfurl, the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in gathering any additional information.
“We are interested in speaking with anyone who may have known Darrel Eugene ‘Gene’ Chaote personally, or who may have information related to this case,” the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “He has criminal and residential history in Uintah, Carbon, and Duchesne Counties, as well as the states of Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.”
At the time of the murder, Choate was 22 years old, about six foot tall with bluish/hazel eyes and brown hair. The Sheriff’s Office said throughout his life, Choate has been a horseman, a marksman, a truck driver, a ranch hand, an oil field worker, and a worker in the mining industry.
The Uintah County is hoping to find anyone Choate may have confided in or had conversations with where he shared even the most minor details that could be crucial to the case.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office at 435-781-6700 or email coldcase@uintah.utah.gov. The Sheriff’s Office said any information provided will be treated with the “utmost confidentiality.”