Bluff Man Sentenced to 300 Months Imprisonment for Indian Country Murder

Salt Lake City, Utah – A Utah man was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment and a term of four years supervised release after a federal jury convicted him of murder in the second degree while within Indian Country and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. 

According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial in May 2023, Perry Maryboy, 59, of Bluff, Utah, unlawfully shot and killed another man while within Indian Country on April 13, 2018. Evidence presented at trial showed that Maryboy, who was parked on the side of the road at the intersection of Country Road 443 and Summerhouse Road, escalated an argument with the victim, who was accompanied by the landowner’s granddaughter, after being told to leave the area by the victim. Maryboy exited his truck, retrieved a revolver from the backseat, loaded the revolver, and shot the victim in the back of the head as the victim was walking away. The victim died on scene in front of his common law wife and her 7-year-old child. Maryboy then fled the scene in his truck. 

“This was no accident. My view of that is confirmed by later facts when Mr. Maryboy made no assistance at the scene,” said Senior United States Federal District Court Judge David Nuffer. “Taking a life without apparent justification is an extremely serious matter and doing it in a violent way is extremely serious. It is my judgment that Mr. Maryboy be placed in the custody of Bureau of Prisons for a period of 180 months on count one and 120 months on count two for a sentence of 300 months.” 

“Mr. Maryboy’s violent act took the life of another person, causing great loss to his family and friends, who will bear the burden of this crime. That harm cannot be undone,” said U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “We appreciate the work of law enforcement, victim service providers, and the prosecutors in this case who worked hard to ensure justice for the victim’s family and the community.”

The case was investigated jointly by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office’s Monticello Resident Agency, Navajo Nation Police Department and Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Y. Hirata, Angela Reddish-Day, and Stephen Dent of the District of Utah prosecuted the case.