A man has pleaded guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend after her body was found stuffed inside a cardboard box in the boot of his Jeep.
Jacob Holt Johnson admitted to aggravated murder in the death of Summer Tatiana Roney, 30.
The 42-year-old has agreed to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole as part of a plea deal.
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He is due to be sentenced on 17 December.
The case came to light shortly after midnight on 31 December, 2024, when a police officer found Johnson unconscious in the driver’s seat of a white Jeep parked across several spaces at a petrol station, as reported by Need To Know.
An assisting officer then spotted a woman inside a cardboard box in the vehicle’s boot.
When officers opened the boot, they found Roney unresponsive, with an extension cord around her neck and multiple bruises and cuts to her head, arms and legs.
She was pronounced dead.
A hammer with blood on it, a hatchet, a knife, a petrol can and a bottle of bleach were also found inside the Jeep.
Detectives later determined the killing had taken place at Johnson’s home in Herriman, Utah.
A search of the property uncovered blood throughout the house and apparent signs of an attempted clean-up, including a bat on the kitchen floor that appeared to have recently been washed.
Several people who knew Roney told police she had previously spoken about verbal and physical abuse by Johnson.
The pair had been in an on-and-off relationship for around four years.
Johnson admitted causing Roney’s death by strangling her with an extension cord as part of his guilty plea.
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty under the plea deal, while Johnson agreed to life imprisonment without parole.
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