The murder of William Ercanbrack
Coalville, Summit County, Utah · 1976
Overview
William Ercanbrack, 47, a well-known rancher in Summit County, Utah, was shot in the back on Thursday, October 28, 1976, as he opened the gate to his ranch in Clarks Canyon, about seven miles east of Coalville. The sheriff's office said the shot came from about 300 feet away, fired from a high-powered, small-caliber rifle by someone who had waited along a fence line. Some investigators first thought it was a hunting accident during deer season, but that idea was ruled out. Nobody was arrested, and the case stayed open for more than 30 years. In November 2010 the sheriff's office publicly appealed for information. In early 2015 the Summit County Sheriff's Cold Case Team obtained information from what it called a reliable source, who was granted anonymity. On July 28, 2015, the sheriff's and county attorney's offices announced that the evidence would now be enough to charge George B. Toone, of San Bernardino, California, but that he had died of natural causes on September 11, 2001. Investigators said the motive was a land dispute. In May 2022 Salt Lake City police said that fingerprints from a 1974 Salt Lake City murder also matched Toone.
How it was solved
The case sat open for more than 30 years. Sergeant Ron Bridge of the Summit County Sheriff's Office said no strong leads were ever developed. In November 2010 Chief Deputy Dean Carr told the Park Record that the office had reopened the case because it believed someone in the county knew what happened, and he called the original investigation inadequate. In early 2015 the sheriff's Cold Case Team found what Bridge called a reliable source. According to Bridge, the source, together with evidence collected at the scene in 1976, was able to confirm information related to that evidence and could talk about events that happened after the murder. The sheriff's office granted the source complete anonymity and declined to say how the source was found or how the source was connected to the suspect. The information let investigators narrow their persons of interest to one man, George B. Toone, of San Bernardino, California, who the sheriff's office said had ties to Summit County. Investigators presented the case to the Summit County Attorney's Office, and prosecutor Matt Bates determined that charges could be filed. Toone had died of natural causes in San Bernardino on September 11, 2001, so there was no one to charge, and no court has tested the evidence. On July 28, 2015, the sheriff's and county attorney's offices announced that there would be enough evidence to charge him if he were alive. Investigators said the motive was a land dispute, and Bridge said the exact details may never be known because the key people are dead. In May 2022 Salt Lake City police announced that two latent fingerprints from the 1974 shooting of James Bednarik matched Toone, after detectives learned that Toone had allegedly confessed in 2001 to killing two men in Salt Lake County. That finding was a separate case, and it did not change the basis of the Ercanbrack finding, which rests on the informant.
Sources
- Cops work to solve cold 'murder' case (November 26, 2010)
“"We had witnesses who passed him both ways in Parleys Canyon. They saw his truck going down to Salt Lake and they saw his truck coming back," Carr said.”
- North Summit rancher's 1976 death solved (July 28, 2015)
“Recently, the Summit County Sheriff’s Cold Case Team took a look into the Ercanbrack homicide and in early 2015, investigators received information from a reliable source, sparking a major breakthrough. The information obtained allowed investigators to focus on one of several persons of interest.”
- 39-year-old case solved in Summit County (July 28, 2015)
“The sheriff office's cold case team found what they're calling "a reliable source," who, along with evidence collected from the crime scene in 1976, "was able to confirm information related to the evidence collected" and "could talk about events that transpired after the murder," Bridge said.”
- Summit County Sheriff's Office solves 39-year-old cold case (July 28, 2015)
“The Summit County Sheriff's Office, along with the Summit County Attorney's Office, announced Tuesday that there would now be enough evidence to charge George B. Toone, of San Bernardino, California, with the crime, if he were still alive.”
- Cold case homicide from 1976 reported solved in Summit County (July 28, 2015)
“The suspect in the case, George B. Toone, born in 1926, died in September 2001. He had ties to Summit County and details from the cooperating source confirmed Toone was the shooter in the homicide of Ercanbrack on October 28, 1976.”
- Summit County Sheriff's Office solves 40-year-old cold case of murdered rancher (July 28, 2015)
““In early 2015, investigators received information from a reliable source, which sparked a major break in the cold case,” the release states.”
- Man named in 1976 murder in Summit County now linked to 1974 murder in Salt Lake City (May 26, 2022)
“In 2015, the Summit County Sheriff's Office announced that they believed Toone was responsible for the killing of William Ercanbrack, 47, on Oct. 28, 1976 , near his ranch in Clarks Canyon, 7 miles east of Coalville.”
- SLCPD Announces Closure of Cold Case Homicide (May 26, 2022)
“With this new information, detectives requested the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Crime Lab to conduct forensic testing on two latent fingerprints collected at the scene from 1974. Those fingerprints came back to Toone.”
- Salt Lake City police solve cold case murder 48 years later (May 26, 2022)
“The Salt Lake City police crime lab conducted forensic testing on two latent fingerprints collected at the scene of the 1974 shooting and found those matched with Toone.”