Two men indicted in woman’s death

Two men accused of slaying a 27-year-old aspiring model were indicted on Wednesday.

Nicholas Navarrette, 23, and Geoffrey Grove, 25, will face 27 felony counts in District Court. They are accused of strangling Shpresa Hamzaj on Sept. 7.

Grove, a former boyfriend of Hamzaj, told police he was upset she had ended their relationship and went to her home with his roommate, Navarrette, to steal her vehicles and guns.

Hamzaj, who knew Navarrette, let him into her house when he asked to use her bathroom. When Grove entered the house a short time later, he handcuffed Hamzaj and then the men tied her legs together, the police report stated.

The two men then placed a white garbage bag over Hamzaj's head and strangled her with a dog leash, the report stated.

Afterward, Navarrette and Grove loaded Hamzaj's body into a vehicle, and Grove took it into the desert near Grand Teton Drive and Grand Canyon Road in the northwest part of the valley, the report stated.

Grove thought the woman still might be alive when he dumped her body, so he shot her twice in the head with a .38 caliber handgun, according to the report.

When Grove returned to Hamzaj's house, he and Navarrette loaded up her Lincoln with her jewelry and guns and drove it and her Ford to their house near Russell Road and Boulder Highway.

Navarrette told police a similar story. He told police they went to Hamzaj's house to "rough her up a bit" but "things got out of hand," according to a police report.

Navarrette admitted to helping Grove strangle Hamzaj but said he didn't shoot her, the report stated.

The pair will be arraigned Oct. 3.