Suspect in killings of men in Utah, Colo., lived much of youth in Minnesota

A 24-year-old man arrested Tuesday in connection with a fatal carjacking in Utah and a killing in Colorado spent many years of his youth in Minnesota and lost a younger brother in a highly publicized lake death two years ago.

Austin Boutain was spotted by a librarian at the downtown Salt Lake City library. Police were alerted, and he was arrested without incident.

The former Alexandria resident's arrest came after a manhunt following the death of 23-year-old University of Utah freshman and Beijing resident ChenWei Guo, who was killed Monday during an attempted carjacking near the University of Utah.

Also, police in Golden, Colo., have said they want to question Boutain about the killing in an RV park of Mitchell Ingle, 63, whose body was found in a trailer and whose truck had been driven by Boutain in Utah.

His wife, Kathleen Elizabeth Boutain, is also a person of interest in the Colorado case. She's in the Salt Lake County jail on unrelated drug and theft charges. She told police she and her husband drove in a stolen vehicle to the Salt Lake City area, according to arrest documents.

University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy called the student's killing "very random" and added that the student had "no relationship to the suspect whatsoever. It appears to be a carjacking that went awry."

Boutain's mother, Roseanne Boutain, said that she and others in the family "prayed for a peaceful outcome [and] are grateful for the quick resolution."

Referring to her other son's death two years ago, Roseanne Boutain said, "We thought we knew what loss was about when we lost Hunter, but this enters into a whole new realm of heartbreak. There are just no words."

Austin Boutain lived in Minnesota from age 11 to 19, received a high school equivalency degree and also lived for a time afterward in St. Louis Park, his mother said.

Hunter Boutain died at age 14 in July 2015 after swimming in Lake Minnewaska, roughly 18 miles south of Alexandria.

State health officials initially suspected a lake amoeba killed Hunter. But tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that he died from bacterial meningitis and not from contact with the rare but deadly Naegleria fowleri amoeba.

The initial state announcement had caused alarm, particularly in the area around Minnewaska. Swimming lessons were moved from the lake to a nearby hotel pool. Planners considered delaying or altering the annual Waterama festival in the lakeside community of Glenwood, but they chose to proceed.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482