Another attorney has withdrawn from representing Darrell Eugene Choate, the man charged in the 1972 murder of Gregory Nickell. 76-year-old Darrell Eugene Choate of Tooele was taken into custody on November 26th, 2024, by Uintah County Sheriff Detectives at a Salt Lake City hospital in what had been a 50-year-old cold case. Choate was 22 years old at the time of Nickell’s murder and with recent advancements in DNA testing, Choate was identified as a suspect and brought into custody. Choate entered a Not Guilty plea in court a year ago and remained in custody at the Uintah County Jail. This week on Monday, Choat appeared in 8th District Court with attorney Colleen Coebergh who explained she had accepted a position with the State of Utah and asked to withdraw from the case as a result. The judge explained that prosecutors would need to work with the indigent defense system for a replacement to be appointed.
