Federal indictment alleges Utah man was involved in murder-for-hire plot in eastern Idaho

BLACKFOOT — A Utah man is now facing federal charges in what authorities say was a murder-for-hire plot.

Joaquin Jose Mendoza Gonzalez, 38, was originally charged in April 2025 with one felony count of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement.

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According to court documents, this was after troopers with the Idaho State Police responded to a call of a car with its hazards on near mile marker 85 on Interstate 15, north of Fort Hall.

Once there, troopers found that a man, later identified as Alexander Jose Duran Pirela from Utah, was dead inside the driver’s seat with multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Gonzalez’s state charges were dismissed on March 16 in favor of the two new federal charges.

A federal grand jury has indicted Gonzalez with one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire and one count of kidnapping resulting in death.

The federal indictment alleges that Gonzalez traveled from Clearfield, Utah, with the intent of killing Pirela and was compensated with $5,000. The indictment does not state who paid Gonzales.

Background

According to his court documents of his April arrest, investigators began piecing things together after finding Pirela inside the car.

A search produced three phones, which showed Pirela had messaged and called Gonzalez 24 times before his death.

Gonzalez was interviewed by detectives with the ISP at the Spanish Fork Police Department in Utah.

Investigators found three additional cell phones, which they took from Gonzalez, and they said a search of those devices showed he was in the location of the shooting of Pirela.

Gonzalez was asked how he knew Pirela, and he claimed that the two had delivered groceries and had been in communication for months.

What brought them to Idaho, according to Gonzalez, was the search for more work, but both men did not drive together. Gonzalez took his own vehicle, and while on the road, Gonzalez said he had car troubles and had to stop six times.

The last stop was at the location of the shooting.

Gonzalez claimed that while at this last stop, he was working on his car when a dark-colored vehicle had parked next to his, and he heard multiple gunshots.

Gonzalez told detectives that he ran away after hearing the shots, but a man had come from the rear of his vehicle and pointed a pistol at his head. He alleges that the man, whom he knew, ordered him to get inside his vehicle and drive back to Utah.

Documents state that witnesses who spoke with detectives in March said only two vehicles were at the scene. Additionally, camera footage shows only two vehicles there.

Gonzalez told detectives that the man had ejected a bullet and had given it to him to toss out the vehicle’s window once near exit 89 on I-15. Investigators were unable to find the bullet.

Once in Salt Lake City, the man allegedly took Gonzalez’s phone and began deleting text messages, which detectives confirmed had been deleted.

Court documents do not indicate there is a case against the man Gonzalez claimed killed Pirela.

Since the incident, Gonzalez said that he has received multiple threatening messages and has been followed by multiple Venezuelan men from his work to his home in Mapleton, Utah.

When asked how the man had found them, Gonzalez did not have an answer and denied shooting Pirela.

Gonzalez has no future hearings listed in the federal court database.