This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Prosecutors have charged the man accused of murdering 27-year-old Dustin Hoffman during a brawl at a South Salt Lake strip club.
Isaac Anthony Gallegos, 44, of South Salt Lake, was charged Thursday in state court with first-degree felony murder. The charge carries the possibility of life in prison. Prosecutors also charged Gallegos with two lesser felony counts of obstructing justice and aggravated assault.
Prosecutors allege that Gallegos, armed with a knife, was fighting with several people in the parking lot outside the Southern X-Posure club, 3420 S. State St., on Nov. 11 when a witness saw him hit Hoffman in the chest. The witness "then saw Dustin Hoffman's chest covered in blood, and [he] fell to the ground," according to the charges.
A second witness told police that when security and bouncers intervened in the fight, he saw Gallegos stab one of the bouncers in the side before stabbing Hoffman.
Hoffman, of Bakersfield, Calif., died in the parking lot. The autopsy determined he suffered two stab wounds, one to the chest that punctured his heart and a second to the right side of his rib cage that punctured his lung.
The bouncer was taken to the hospital in with a punctured liver and lung.
Police later found a long sleeve button-up shirt and white undershirt inside two garbage bags in the Dumpsters at Gallegos' apartment at 3687 S. West Temple, the charges state. The torn shirts match the description of what the attacker was wearing, and the long-sleeved shirt had a reddish brown stain consistent with blood, the charges add.
Gallegos, a prison parolee, has a long criminal history, with court records showing convictions including one for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony.
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