Burned body leads to murder charges

The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office and Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office have charged 24-year old Conor Michael Dayton in the death of Marcos Jesus Gutierrez Rodriguez.

Gutierrez-Rodriguez's body was found, burned, under the Eastside Road Bridge in Milton Freewater on May 22, 2017.

Detectives from UCSO and other law enforcement agencies investigating the death suspect that Mr. Gutierrez-Rodriguez’s body was burned in order to hide evidence of a murder.

The body was found after fire fighters were called out to a fire under the Eastside Road Bridge near Milton Freewater .

Detectives have followed a number of investigative leads, interviewing numerous witnesses and persons of interest.

During questioning in July, Mr. Dayton admitted that he started the fire that burned the victim, but claimed that he found found the man dead. He says he set the fire to the body in order to hide his drug addiction.

The District Attorney’s Office plans to present the case to a grand jury soon.