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Homicide Mystery in Ogden / Last ride
By SCOTT SCHWEBKE and SAM COOPEROGDEN -- Time was slowly ticking away for Jeffrey Bancroft as he pulled his car into the drive-through at Rancherito's, a Mexican fast food restaurant at the corner of 36th Street and Washington Boulevard.
The surveillance video above the cashier recorded the scene as he ordered a breakfast burrito. It was 3:10 a.m on Oct. 24.
Even at that early hour, Rancherito's was bustling with customers. Ahead of Bancroft in the line, a couple in a small black car smoked cigarettes while waiting for their food.
At 3:17 a.m. it was Bancroft's turn.
He drove up to the take-out window, paid $4.27 in cash for the steak, egg and potato burrito and then drove off into the darkness.
Just four minutes later Bancroft, 47, was dead, in what Ogden police are describing as a bizarre murder mystery.
"It's very rare that you have a victim that doesn't know his assailant," said Detective John Thomas. "Some people say that's the best kind of crime to commit because there is no connection between the victim and the suspect."
But random killings happen more often than one might think. Of the 16,921 reported homicides in the United States in 2007, 1,924 were committed by strangers and 6,848 by unknown assailants, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
Police initially thought Bancroft was killed when his 1996 beige-colored Honda Accord crashed into the Praxair building at 1903 Wall Ave., but further investigation revealed he had been shot in the back.
Melissa Bancroft, who was separated from her husband and living in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., when the homicide occurred, can't comprehend why he was killed.
"He was a good man," she said during an interview last week with Thomas by her side at Ogden police headquarters. "He was there for anyone at any given moment. I can't imagine anybody hating him that would want to do it."
Marilyn Fett, of Roy, who is Melissa Bancroft's mother, said the slaying has devastated her daughter.
"I want people to know what Jeffrey left behind," Fett said. "Now Melissa is on her own because of some idiot."
Bancroft is also survived by a stepson and two daughters from his current marriage. He has three sons from a previous marriage.
Melissa Bancroft met her husband in 1998 when they both worked at Berry Enterprises, a machine shop in Clearfield She was a receptionist and he was a machinist. They married in 2003.
Melissa Bancroft said her husband's passions included fishing, riding his 750 Yamaha motorcycle, restoring his 1969 Chevrolet truck and fixing vehicles for friends.
He was also respected by co-workers at Williams International where he had been employed since late last year, she said.
Williams International officials said in a prepared statement they are stunned by Bancroft's slaying.
"Williams International was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of employee Jeffrey Bancroft, and is cooperating fully with law enforcement personnel investigating this tragic event," the company said.
Williams International designs and produces gas turbine engines at its facility at 3450 Sam Williams Drive.
Devoted to family
Bancroft was devoted to his family, often taking his daughters bike riding and fishing, and was intellectually gifted, Fett said.
"He was a brilliant man," she said. "He often came up with computer programs in his head for his work ... and had to write them down."
Fett said Bancroft was a generous man and once stopped his sons from accepting payment for installing wooden flooring at her home.
"You don't take money from family," she said recalling what Bancroft told the boys.
Ray Christiansen, of Clinton, Bancroft's next-door neighbor for about 15 years, admired Bancroft's mechanical ability but said he sometimes took his skills to the extreme.
"He would get carried away and would work on cars after 11:30 at night. If it failed to work, he would start pounding on something," Christiansen said. Whenever that happened, Christiansen said, he would politely ask Bancroft to knock off the racket.
Like police, Christiansen is puzzled why anyone would want to kill Bancroft. "He could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time," Christiansen speculated.
Few clues
Police found a pile of glass in the inside northbound lane of Wall Avenue near the 21st Street intersection which is where they believe the shooting occurred, Thomas said.
After he was shot, Bancroft drove north another two blocks, veered across oncoming traffic lanes and smashed his car into the sign in front of the Praxair building, setting off a burglar alarm and alerting authorities.
Police said Bancroft was cut out of the mangled Honda and transported to McKay-Dee Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The car was severely damaged and much of the physical evidence was destroyed on impact. But inside the vehicle, investigators uncovered one clue about Bancroft's final moments.
A small container of salsa and a portion of the breakfast burrito from Rancherito's was found amid the twisted wreckage.
Police are puzzled by what happened to Bancroft between the time he left the restaurant and the car crashed into the Praxair sign.
"He met up with someone," Thomas said. "We don't know if it was a robbery or what."
Bancroft usually took a break from his job as a machinist at Williams International, located near Ogden-Hinckley Airport, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Police said during breaks he would often visit a female friend who lives in the vicinity of 18th Street and Grant Avenue.
Police declined to identify the woman and a Standard-Examiner reporter who canvassed the neighborhood was unable to locate her.
Thomas said he has tried to re-create Bancroft's route between Rancherito's and the Praxair building to determine if anyone could have witnessed the crime.
"(Detectives) have gone out ... driven up and down the area at that same time of night (when the shooting occurred)," Thomas said. "There's a lot of traffic out (between Rancherito's and the Praxair building). There are a lot of people going to and from work, making deliveries, things like that."
A surveillance camera on a nearby building caught Bancroft driving north on Wall Avenue near 23rd Street, just two blocks from where police believe he was shot.
Police Lt. Tony Fox said he doesn't believe Bancroft was the victim of an errant bullet, but refused to speculate on how the shooting may have occurred.
"Our physical evidence suggests that more than one round was fired," Fox said. "That would dismiss any possibility that this bullet came astray from somewhere else."
Close range?
Police are pretty confident the shots were fired at close range, from outside the car, Fox said.
"We have some theories, but until we can back up our theories with evidence, we should keep those theories to ourselves," he said.
Thomas said he has a good witness who saw something that might be related to the slaying but so far hasn't been able to get a bead on a suspect.
"I know it's someone that's evil enough to shoot another human being," he said regarding the killer. "At this point that's all I can really say about the person."
Still, Thomas remains resolute that the homicide will be solved.
"I just need that one tip to push it over the edge and bring it all together," he said.
Memorial
In the days following Bancroft's death, a makeshift memorial of flowers was set up at 19th Street and Wall Avenue near the spot where the car crashed.
The flowers have since withered and died, but Thomas' steely resolve to catch Bancroft's killer is very much alive.
"We're just hoping that with the help of the family and the public we can develop some more leads," Thomas said. "We're just trying to keep the story out there. Don't let the people forget about Mr. Bancroft."
Anyone with information about Jeffrey Bancroft's slaying is asked to contact Thomas at 629-8272.
Add Your Comment
What's so confusing? They were separated, some couples do that. She still wants to know who murdered the father of her children. Unfortunately the part about how the family is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to an arrest was left out of this online article. it only made it into the printed version. That was the whole reason anyone from the family made any kind of statement at all. So to everyone out there, if you know anything please let Ogden police know!!! Now maybe some of you will be a little less confused.
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