On a cold winter day in 1980, the life of a young man, Timothy James "Timmy" Glashien, a 28-year-old White male from Bountiful, Utah, was tragically cut short. On February 23, under the pretense of a marijuana deal, Glashien was lured into Mill Creek Canyon by two men. He was driven approximately two miles up the canyon, where the transaction was supposed to take place. Instead, what unfolded was a robbery that ended in his murder.
Glashien was shot four times at close range, twice in the head and twice in the upper torso, in what authorities would later describe as an execution-style killing. There were no indications that he had fought back against his assailants. The following day, his body was discovered in a pull-off area by a couple who were collecting aluminum cans.
For thirty-five years, the murder of Timothy Glashien remained a cold case, a source of unanswered questions and lingering grief for his family. Investigators pursued leads over the years, but the identities of his killers remained elusive. However, with advancements in forensic technology and a renewed investigative effort, a breakthrough was finally achieved. The case was officially closed in 2015 when the Unified Police Department publicly identified the two men responsible for Glashien's death.
The perpetrators were identified as Stephen Wayne Anderson, who was believed to be the gunman, and his accomplice, Ace Fairbanks. At the time of the murder, Anderson was a 26-year-old prison escapee. A crucial piece of evidence linking Anderson to the crime was the handgun used in the shooting. This same weapon was later used by Anderson in the commission of another murder in California. Although Anderson initially confessed to killing Glashien, claiming he was hired by drug traffickers, he later recanted his statement. Anderson was eventually executed in California in 2002 for the subsequent murder. His accomplice, Ace Fairbanks, a member of a motorcycle gang, died of natural causes in Iowa in 1986. With both suspects deceased, no arrests could be made, but the identification of the killers brought a long-awaited sense of closure to the family of Timothy Glashien.
