A man accused of fatally stabbing another man that he believed had burglarized his house earlier in the day has been charged with murder.
MAGNA — A man who allegedly hunted down another man who he believed had burglarized his house earlier in the day has now been charged with murdering him.
Jose Francisco Hernandez, 44, of West Valley City, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
After he was burglarized, charging documents say Hernandez went looking for the people responsible. As two of Hernandez’s friends drove past a gas station on Sept. 8, they “identified people at the gas station as people Hernandez was looking for,” the charges state.
They then went to Hernandez’s residence and brought him back to Shell gas station, 7210 W. 3500 South.
One man said he thought Hernandez “was going to beat up the male at the gas station,” according to court documents. The two other men stayed in the car as Hernandez got out to confront Eugene Rowland.
Hernandez ran up to Rowland and said, “I’ll kill you,” before stabbing him, the charges state. Hernandez then chased Rowland as he tried to run away while yelling for others to call an ambulance, according to police.
After the incident, Hernandez got into a friend’s vehicle and told him, “That guy won’t bother me again,” the charges state.
Rowland, 29, was stabbed three times in the back with a kitchen knife, police say.
After the stabbing, Hernandez called a friend and told him “he may have killed the person who robbed him this morning,” according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Thursday.
“We also received information from a West Valley officer confirming that a call was made by Jose Hernandez reporting a home invasion earlier in the morning,” investigators wrote in the affidavit.
Hernandez’s next court hearing is scheduled for Friday.
