Duane Etsitty tells police he stabbed a man in an apartment
by: David Charns
Posted: Aug 24, 2021 / 2:39 PM PDT
Updated: Aug. 24, 2021 / 2:39 PM PDT
Duane wanted (CLASS)
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A suspect who, according to police, admitted killing a 73-year-old man in 2003 has returned to Las Vegas to face murder charges, court documents show.
Duane Etsitty, 41, accused of Paul Makula Jr.
Makula was found dead in his apartment on South 11th Street in November 2003, court documents say. The police said he died of several stab wounds.
No suspect was named in the case until January of this year, police said.
Etsitty, who was in a Salt Lake City jail in January, had told staff he wanted to confess to Makula’s murder, according to an arrest warrant. Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Etsitty had sent a message to a detective about setting up a meeting to “get some of my chest,” the warrant states.
Etsitty told detectives that he had known Makula for about three years before the murder. He also told the detectives that he knew that Makula had been convicted of bank robbery earlier in his life, which the detectives confirmed. Makula was convicted of armed robbery in Michigan in 1949, detectives wrote.
Etsitty told investigators that the two were in Makula’s apartment when “he suddenly snatched a jackknife”. The knife used in the murder and another knife were thrown on the roof of a nearby shop that has since been demolished, police wrote.
Detectives had Etsitty Makula describe before showing him a picture.
“This is Paul Makula,” said the detectives Etsitty told them. “After a moment, Etsitty took the photo, cried loudly and got very emotional. He started to apologize at the photo and said loudly and emotionally, ‘I’m so sorry Paul, please forgive me,’ ”detectives said.
The prison records indicate that Etsitty was taken into custody on August 22 under the arrest warrant.
A preliminary hearing on the open murder charge was scheduled for September 27th.
