SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — After 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury in Summit County found a man accused of beating a woman, bounding her with duct tape and telling her he was going to bury her body in the Salt Flats guilty four of five charges this weekend.

In 2021, Michael Lee Curwick was arrested after police found a 27-year-old woman beaten and bound by duct tape in his Murray home during a drug search.

At the time, the woman told police she had been staying with Curwick when he accused her of stealing from him. Curwick forbade the woman from leaving the residence or else he would kill her with a “hot shot,” which police describe as a syringe full of drugs that would cause her to overdose.

According to court documents, police found multiple syringes and other drug paraphernalia during a search of Curwick’s home. Curwick threatened to kill the woman several times and that her body would be buried along with three other girls at the Salt Flats. The woman told police her heart had sank and her stomach turned as he thought he was genuinely about to die.

When the woman started to scream, that was when Curwick wrapped the duct tape around her head and covered her mouth.

Police arrested Curwick in July 2021. He was charged with first-degree felony kidnapping second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon, third-degree felony aggravated assault, and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Only the aggravated assault charge was dismissed without prejudice. A jury in a Summit County court found him guilty of the remaining charges on Friday, Oct. 20.

A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled. Under the Utah State Code, Curwick faces a life sentence in prison, with a minimum of five years.