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TOOELE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A man facing charges for the alleged kidnapping and murder of three people in Salt Lake and Tooele Counties has now been linked to a fourth homicide after police found human remains “in the same general area” where the other victims were found.
According to court documents, Cesar Matias Sevilla-Aleman, 27, is now facing four counts of aggravated murder and four counts of aggravated kidnapping after additional felony charges were released on Thursday, Jan. 2.
Sevilla-Aleman, also known as “Taliban,” was charged in the killing of Rocio Bustamante-Banuelos, Carlos “Carlitos” Sepulveda, and Zamir “Cumbias” Sanchez in early 2024. He is now also being accused of kidnapping and killing Jose “Angel” Castaneda-Lopez shortly after.
Bustamante-Banuelos, Sepulveda, and Sanchez had gone missing on March 28, 2022. Witnesses told police they believed Sepulveda owed Sevilla-Aleman money, which later was discovered to be a debt of $2,400, court documents said.
In 2023, cadaver dogs from Rocky Mountain Cadaver Search and Rescue Group were training in Tooele County near Mercur Trailhead.
During the training, the dogs located three human remains which were later identified through DNA and fingerprint testing as the bodies of Bustamante-Banuelos, Sepulveda, and Sanchez.
Almost exactly a year after the three bodies were discovered, a detective with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office found a human rib bone and “numerous scattered bones” near Mercur Trailhead. The remains were exhumed, and located with them was a passport for Jose “Angel” Castaneda-Lopez. DNA confirmed the human remains belonged to Castaneda-Lopez.
According to the National Crime Information Center, Castaneda-Lopez had been missing since April 2022. Police say he was shot sixteen times and the shell casings found at the site were the same as the ones located near the other three bodies.
During the investigation, police said they found Sevilla-Aleman had called Castaneda-Lopez the day before he went missing and told a witness “he was furious with Angel and that he believed Angel was going to rob him.”
Sevilla-Aleman is now accused of murdering all four victims. It is not known at this time if police are investigating Sevilla-Aleman for any other crimes.
Sevilla-Aleman has been in custody since he was arrested in September 2022 in an unrelated non-fatal shooting at a Lincoln Beach rodeo in Spanish Fork, to which he has since pleaded guilty. He is currently in the Utah State Correctional Facility.
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.