Steven Chance Brinkerhoff is an alleged killer who was charged with the Utah murder of Yuping Jiao
According to police reports Yuping Jiao was working in a massage parlor in Midvale Utah when she was brutally beaten and stabbed more than fifty times. When Yuping Jiao loved ones could not reach her on the phone they would go to the massage parlor and discovered her body
With thanks to DNA officials were able to tie the brutal murder to a convicted felon, Steven Chance Brinkerhoff, and days later the US Marshals would arrest him back in California
Now Steven Chance Brinkerhoff is being extradited back to Utah where he faces charges of murder
Steven Chance Brinkerhoff News
A California man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a brutal attack at a Utah massage parlor that left one woman dead in early January and prompted police to warn employees in similar occupations to “exercise extreme caution.”
Steven Chance Brinkerhoff, 39, is facing one count of first-degree felony murder for the death of 45-year-old Yuping Jiao, who was working alone in the spa when she was brutally attacked and stabbed approximately 56 times, according to an indictment.
Brinkerhoff, who was not a Utah resident, fled back to his home state of California, where he had an extensive criminal record, including possession of a dangerous weapon, assaulting a peace officer, fighting in public, drugs, possession of stolen property and a domestic violence violation.
According to the indictment, Jaio, who had immigrated to the U.S. from China, had been working at the A+ Massage in Midvale on Jan. 4. When Jaio’s brother could not get in touch with her, he went to the parlor to check on her and found her lifeless body in one of the massage rooms, riddled with stab wounds.
The Utah State Office of the Medical Examiner found 56 stab wounds total on Jiao’s body, as well as slice marks on her fingers, prick marks on her ankles, and a small chunk of skin that had been removed, according to documents.
Investigators sent evidence to a lab for testing, where a DNA profile connected Brinkerhoff to the case.
Video surveillance matched the description of Brinkerhoff, who only has one leg and was seen using a wheelchair to access the parlor at 12:30 p.m. and then leaving the building just before 2:30 p.m.
“Detectives were able to identify that cell phone data placed Brinkerhoff in the area of A+ Massage on the day of the incident,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “Additionally, Brinkerhoff had made contact via text messages with Jaio prior to the incident.”
After learning about Brinkerhoff’s involvement in the crime, officials enlisted the help of federal partners to take him into custody in California. He was arrested outside a California massage parlor on Jan. 19, two weeks after Jiao’s murder.
Steven Chance Brinkerhoff, now considered a flight risk, is being held without bail while awaiting extradition to Utah.
https://www.courttv.com/news/one-legged-man-charged-in-brutal-murder-of-utah-massage-parlor-worker/
Steven Chance Brinkerhoff More News
On January 24, 2024, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force (PSWRFTF), in coordination with the USMS District of Utah Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, located and safely arrested a man wanted by the Salt Lake City Police Department for a murder committed on January 4, 2024.
Steven Chance Brinkerhoff, 39, was wanted in connection to a murder in Salt Lake City in which a female victim was stabbed multiple times in a massage parlor in the 7400 block of S. State Street.
PSWRFTF investigators determined Brinkerhoff fled to Las Vegas, and then to California. When investigators developed information that placed Brinkerhoff in the city of Orange, CA. PSWRFTF requested the assistance of the Santa Ana Police Department.
Investigators narrowed the search to the 2100 block of N. Tustin Street in Orange where they located and arrested Brinkerhoff inside a sandwich shop, then transported him to the Santa Ana Jail.
The PSWRFTF began operations in August 2002. The PSWRFTF has partnership agreements with more than nine federal and 57 state and local agencies and operates throughout California and Nevada.
The PSWRFTF has apprehended more than 102,000 fugitives since its inception and is always striving to make communities safer.
The USMS District of Utah Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team began in 2015 and has three federal and 26 state and local partnerships that assist in the location and capture of dangerous fugitives.
https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/press-release/us-marshals-nab-ut-murder-suspect-ca-sandwich-shop