BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — A judge on Thursday ordered Ryan Michael Bate to stand trial for the fatal shootings of two Tremonton-Garland police officers during an alleged ambush last year.
First District Judge Spencer D. Walsh ruled that sufficient evidence exists to bind the 33-year-old Tremonton man over on 18 criminal charges, including two counts of aggravated murder, a capital offense. Bate faces the death penalty in the deaths of Officer Eric Estrada, 32, and Sgt. Lee Sorensen, 56.
The charges stem from an Aug. 17, 2025, domestic violence call at Bate’s residence. Prosecutors contend Bate terrorized his family before ambushing the responding law enforcement officers. Box Elder County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Allred and his police K-9, Azula, were also injured during the incident.
During closing arguments, Chief Deputy Attorney Blair T. Wardle argued that Bate planned the attack and made his intentions clear to his wife prior to the officers’ arrival.
Wardle replayed audio recordings captured by Bate’s wife that night, in which Bate repeatedly threatened to murder law enforcement. In the recordings, Bate stated he would “send them away in caskets” and proclaimed, “If they show up, then I’ll kill them. Every single one of them.”
“This case is about a planned and premeditated ambush that began with the defendant terrorizing his family and ended with him terrorizing the community,” Wardle said, noting Bate expressed a clear intent to kill to avoid going to jail.
Defense attorney Jonathan Nish argued that prosecutors relied on a “lattice of hearsay, video and investigative conjecture” without producing eyewitnesses. The defense suggested Bate’s initial gunshots were “more consistent with drunken bravado” than a conscious objective to kill.
Judge Walsh bound Bate over on all 18 charges, which also include three counts of attempted aggravated murder, possession of explosives, endangering a police service dog, and multiple domestic violence-related charges. However, Walsh noted that evidence for certain aggravating factors was insufficient and should be reconsidered.
Bate sat hunched over with his head low throughout the hearing, which was attended by family and supporters of the slain officers.
A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 20. The defense requested a trial date in late summer or early fall of next year to allow adequate preparation time, while the prosecution urged for the trial to begin as soon as possible.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.