SALT LAKE CITY, Ut. (KTVX) — Body camera footage, images, and conversations with police related to Mackenzie Lueck’s murder are now being released. Ayoola Ajayi, the man convicted for the murder of the University of Utah student, is now serving his sentence of life in prison without parole.
In the body camera footage, you can see police interactions with Ajayi, as well as police investigating his home and finding alarming evidence.
It all started when Mackenzie’s father, Greg Lueck, called police asking for a wellness check after not being able to get a hold of his daughter.
In the body camera footage, Ayoola Ajayi seemed to be calm and smiling when police arrived at his house on 547 North 1000 West in Salt Lake City.
“Many cases, a suspect can act just as calm and cool as he did in those videos that you saw, knowing he’s committed this heinous crime and thinking in their minds that they are going to get away with it,” said Sgt. Keith Horrocks of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Video shows when one neighbor gives police evidence she found in her yard. Later, police would find that’s because Lueck’s items were burned in Ajayi’s backyard.
“Strangely enough about the time Mackenzie went missing, there was a fire in the backyard and a very strange smell and it wasn’t a normal smell,” said Horrocks.
Police say most of her body was found in Logan Canyon.
“There were a lot of locations that this happened, if we start at the pickup location in North Salt Lake and then the location behind the defendant’s home, the big burn scar, there were pieces of evidence that were just outside of the property line of the defendant,” added Horrocks.
Police say through the investigation, they were able to see just how far Ajayi went, to cover up his crime.
“One piece of evidence will lead to another, but much of it is just the sheer dedication and professionalism of the detectives involved in this case,” said Horrocks.
Police say community support played a huge role in closing the case, ultimately giving Mackenzie Lueck and her family, justice.