On May 31, 1977, 29-year-old David John Woodhurst was shot dead during a robbery at a jeweler’s shop in Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah. A Vietnam veteran and a postal worker, Woodhurst was married and left two young sons. The robbers took a quantity of jewelry and fled after one of them, identified as career criminal Viva Leroy Nash, shot Woodhurst in the back; an accomplice was also involved.

Investigators quickly identified Nash as the shooter. He was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for Woodhurst’s murder. Nash later escaped from prison, committed further crimes including another murder, was recaptured, and convicted again; he received a death sentence and remained incarcerated until his death in 2010 at age 94.

Woodhurst was buried at Bountiful Memorial Park in Davis County. If anyone knew David Woodhurst or has information about the Sandy robbery in 1977, please come forward.