Man charged for allegedly stealing two vehicles that belonged to murder suspect

SWAN VALLEY — A 35-year-old man charged for allegedly pistol-whipping another man is now facing new charges after allegedly stealing two vehicles.

Matthew Lee Roberson has been charged with two felony counts of transferring stolen vehicles.

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According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Roberson knowingly without consent, sold two vehicles -— a 1992 blue Ford F250 and a 2009 black Lincoln MKZ — that are owned by Randy Larkin.

Larkin is currently in jail, accused of murdering another man at a rest stop near Ririe in May.

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A woman contacted the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 1 and said she saw a truck towing the two vehicles away from Larkin’s residence in Irwin.

The deputy then spoke to two neighbors about the incident.

One neighbor said he saw three men in the yard and that the dark vehicle was loaded on a trailer. Another neighbor said he observed vehicles being loaded onto trailers. He said it looked liked the people were supposed to be there and one even waved at him, so he didn’t think much of it. Both neighbors confirmed it happened on Nov. 30, documents said.

The deputy went to talk to Larkin at the jail in reference to the case. He said he did not have any idea who took the vehicles but suspected Roberson because of past incidents. Larkin wanted to report the vehicles stolen.

The deputy was tipped off by an informant that Roberson was known to get money for salvaging vehicles. The deputy contacted locals in the Irwin area about salvaging or scrapping vehicles and was directed to a company out of Afton, Wyoming.

The vehicles were found later in Afton.

A man told detectives that he had towed the vehicles for salvage and had been working with Roberson to get them.

“During this time, I was told by Fremont County that Matthew Roberson had just been arrested on a warrant for grand theft of a vehicle,” the deputy wrote in documents.

The deputy contacted the people who paid for the two vehicles from Roberson. One of them told the deputy they paid Roberson $300 for the two vehicles and a van. One of them explained the process that when they are contacted to pickup vehicles for scrapping, they take the vehicles to a scrap company. They don’t worry too much about the ownership because when they take them to the scrapping company, the company will check the VIN and process it. They explained that they have done at least five to ten vehicles for Roberson.

There were text messages from Roberson asking when the vehicles would be picked up. He also says in texts, “the guy doesn’t want anything out of the blue truck, it’s all junk.” They asked for keys, but Roberson said he didn’t know where they were, documents said.

The deputy went to talk to Roberson in jail. He mentioned “stuff” that Larkin’s family had taken from him.

“I asked Matthew why he thought he could sell Randy’s cars. Matthew stated that he didn’t sell them, he just told (the scrappers) to come pick them up. I then asked if he was paid for them and he said no,” documents said.

Roberson said he was “mad” that Larkin’s family had his belongings.

“I asked Matthew if Randy knew he was going to sell these vehicles and Matthew said no…when I mentioned the payment again, he said that the money was for past transactions…” the deputy wrote.

Roberson was given a $40,000 bond. Each felony charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $50,000 fine and restitution. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County courthouse.