SALT LAKE CITY (Court TV/Scripps News Salt Lake City) — 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.”
Booking photo of Steven Chance Brinkerhoff (Unified Police Dept.)
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.