DNA at ‘brutal’ scene of massage parlor killing leads to man’s arrest, officials say

A 39-year-old California man was arrested after being accused of stabbing a woman to death at a massage parlor in Utah, officials said.

On Jan. 4, Yuping Jiao, 45, was stabbed 56 times while working alone at the massage parlor in Salt Lake County before her brother found her dead later that day, police told KUTV.

While reviewing security footage, police saw a man, later identified as Steven Chance Brinkerhoff arrive at the parlor on the day of the murder and left a short time after, police told KSL.

Officers described the scene as “brutal” and “tragic,” according to a Jan. 5 Facebook post by the Unified Police Department of Great Salt Lake.

Jiao had been stabbed in the neck, shoulders, arms, knees, head and back, according to a district attorney’s documents obtained by KUTV.

During the investigation, DNA samples were taken from blood stains at the scene and came back as a match for Brinkerhoff, police told KTVX.

Investigators also learned from Brinkerhoff’s cellphone data that he was in the area on the day of the murder and had exchanged texts with Jiao, police told KSL.

Brinkerhoff fled to Las Vegas before eventually going home to California, according to a Feb. 1 news release by the U.S. Marshals Service.

After investigators learned Brinkerhoff was in Orange, California, he was arrested inside a sandwich shop by Santa Ana police, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to the Salt Lake City Police Department and the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake for more information on Feb. 2 and was waiting a response.

Brinkerhoff was sent to the Santa Ana Jail, officials said.

Brinkerhoff, who was on probation in California, is being held without bail while officials work to get him extradited back to Utah, KTVX reported.

Orange is about 30 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 3:44 PM with the headline "DNA at ‘brutal’ scene of massage parlor killing leads to man’s arrest, officials say."