Second suspect identified in 1972 Army soldier’s death and kidnapping, assault of his date

UINTAH COUNTY, Utah (TCN) — Investigators recently identified a second suspect in the death of an Army soldier nearly 52 years ago.

According to the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, on Nov. 26, 1972, a man knocked on 21-year-old Gregory Nickell’s car window as he and his 18-year-old date were parked at a scenic overlook. Nickell had recently been discharged from the Army.

Nickell rolled down his window, and the man reportedly told him there had been a car crash and asked him to drive to Vernal to report it. Deputies said Nickell turned from the window and the man allegedly shot him before firing at least three more times into his body.

Investigators allege the man pushed Nickell onto his date in the passenger seat and then got into the car and drove away. The woman in the vehicle reportedly told authorities the man aimed a gun at her head as he drove. Another suspect in a separate care reportedly pulled up behind them and then pulled around them. The woman called them “Tex” and “Johnny” during interviews.

In a recent news release from the sheriff’s office, officials said Nickell’s vehicle was set on fire with his body inside. The suspects then allegedly left the area and drove around with the woman for several hours. They each allegedly raped the woman and left her on the side of a highway. The woman made it to a nearby house to call law enforcement and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.

According to the sheriff’s office, the woman said the men covered her head during the incident, so she wasn’t able to provide a detailed description of the suspects, and the case went cold.

In January 2020, investigators submitted evidence for testing and found two male DNA profiles. In September 2020, the sheriff’s office said one of the DNA profiles matched Daniel Bell, who died in March 2019 in Washington. He had previously been convicted of rape in Oregon in 1988 and was paroled in 1999 before moving to Washington state.

The sheriff’s office announced Nov. 1 that they identified the second suspect as 74-year-old Darrel Choate. Authorities issued a warrant for him on a charge of murder.

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