Patrick L. Hayes, a 61-year-old White male, was a man with a towering presence and a warm spirit. Standing 6-foot-5, the former NCAA All-American swimmer and water polo player was a cherished mentor and coach in his Hideout, Utah, community. Friends and family remembered his "million-dollar smile" and an easy charm that put everyone at ease. He was known for his love of the outdoors and for being a friendly neighbor, often seen chatting with others during daily walks with his beloved dog,
Tilly.
On the night of September 25, 2024, Hayes's life was cut short following a road rage incident. The confrontation began near Kimball Junction as Hayes was driving home. Another driver in a Jeep Gladiator followed him for miles until Hayes pulled over around 11 p.m. at the Ross Creek entrance to Jordanelle State Park. Surveillance footage from a gatehouse captured Hayes exiting his vehicle and approaching the Jeep. According to the sheriff's office, he was holding a metal baton and a pocket knife. As he stood near the passenger side of the Jeep, the driver fired a single shot from a .45-caliber handgun, striking Hayes in the chest. The driver then fled, leaving Hayes to die alone on the roadside. His body was not discovered until the next morning by a passerby.
The investigation led police to Greg Kyle DeBoer, a 62-year-old man from nearby Browns Canyon. During a search of DeBoer's home in November 2024, he admitted to shooting Hayes but claimed he had acted in self-defense. He then showed investigators where he had buried the firearm, a .45-caliber Kimber 1911 handgun, in a case wrapped in foil and tape under a rock near his house. The ammunition found with the gun was a rare type of Winchester Black Talon bullet that matched the one recovered from Hayes’s body.
On December 24, 2024, authorities arrested DeBoer. He was not charged with homicide, but with a second-degree felony for obstruction of justice for burying the gun and failing to report the shooting. The Wasatch County Attorney’s Office stated that they did not believe there was enough evidence to disprove DeBoer's self-defense claim beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision sparked outrage from Hayes’s family and fiancée, who argued that DeBoer was the aggressor for following Hayes. The handling of the case drew further criticism after an independent review revealed that the lead detective believed homicide charges were warranted and that investigators felt sheriff's office administrators had interfered with evidence gathering.
While the criminal case proceeded, Hayes’s family filed a separate $20 million wrongful death lawsuit against DeBoer in February 2025, seeking to hold him accountable in civil court. In the criminal matter, DeBoer was released on bail. The case moved forward, and in October 2025, 4th District Judge Jennifer Mabey ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the felony obstruction of justice charge against DeBoer to proceed to trial.
