Man facing murder charge after burned body found near Milton-Freewater

A Milton-Freewater man allegedly killed a man and then burned him to hide the evidence.

Umatilla County authorities announced Wednesday that Conor M. Dayton, 24, is charged with murdering Marcos J. Gutierrez-Rodriguez, 29.

Gutierrez-Rodriguez’s badly burned body was found in late May under the Eastside Road Bridge near Milton-Freewater.

The investigation led to Dayton, who admitted to setting the body on fire, but said it was only after he found him dead. He claimed he wanted to spare the man’s family from knowing he died from drug use.

The district attorney’s office will present the case to a grand jury in the near future.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Man facing murder charge after burned body found near Milton-Freewater."