The McDonald's worker who murdered a newlywed lesbian co-worker and her wife in Utah's Moab desert confessed to the brutal slayings to his gay lover months before police found out.
Adam Pinkusiewicz, 45, murdered Crystal Turner, 38, and Kylen Schulte, 24, who were found shot to death at a campsite outside Moab on August 18, 2021 before taking his own life at a motel on September 24, 2021.
Pinkusiewicz was unmasked as the killer in May, and police said he had confessed to a 'third party' before his death.
At a press briefing on Thursday this third party was confirmed to be his gay partner, who he had traveled to Waterloo, Iowa, to see after the murders, where he confessed. He had also texted the unidentified partner in March 2021 to say: 'I'm afraid I have an ongoing impulse in me to kill the right people.'
Pinkusiewicz had revealed his motive to his partner too - claiming he shot the pair because Schulte had been 'bossy' when he was working with her at McDonald's in Moab.
Despite this, the partner never came forward to cops and was tracked down earlier this year.
Cops said Thursday that evidence on his phone showed 'extreme signs of racism' and anger problems, as well as fantasies about rape and murder.
Adam Pinkusiewicz told his partner about the murders of Crystal Turner, 38, and Kylen Schulte, 24. The couple was last seen alive on August 13, 2021, and were found shot to death four days later - August 18, 2021. A family friend made the gruesome discovery
The couple Kylen Schulte, 24 (pictured right) and Crystal Turner, 38 (pictured left) had wed nine months earlier in Arkansas before the brutal murder. A friend said they were 'devoted' to one another
A family friend discovered the bodies of Turner and Schulte four days after the couple was last seen alive on August 13, 2021.
On Thursday, during a press briefing investigators revealed that Pinkusiewicz was in a same-sex relationship with a man who knew about the murders. The man did not come forward until police tracked him down earlier this year.
Authorities did not identify the 'significant other' but said he was not in Utah at the time of the murders and the two had split up several months earlier. When investigators traveled to speak with the suspect's former gay lover and that is when they learned of Pinkusiweicz's detailed confession.
The suspect's former gay lover told police that he knew Utah detectives were there because 'Adam had killed two people.'
He said 'Adam had told him the two people he killed were women and that he shot the women while they were in the tent.' He said Pinkusiewicz 'threw the gun somewhere but, he didn't know where.'
He also said his lover told him 'he shot them because the one woman was bossy when he was working.'
He then proceeded to tell investigators that when he attempted to look up any information on what his former partner just revealed, Pinkusiewicz took away his phone. He told police, 'he didn't say anything because he was scared of Adam and what he would do.' He also told police that he did not know Pinkusiewicz had committed suicide.
Investigators revealed for the first time during Thursday's briefing that gunshots and screams were heard on surveillance August 14, and at 12:54 p.m. on the day of the slayings, a Toyota Yaris resembling Pinkusiewicz’s was seen driving away from the campground.
On March 18, 2021 - five months before the murders of Turner and Schulte Pinkusiewicz wrote about the 'constant thoughts in his mind.'
'I'm afraid I have an ongoing impulse in me to kill or rape people,' his notes revealed. 'I overworked myself and that's cause me to feel bad and think negative evil thoughts and this doesn't define me or say who I am. And I can say it another way redundantly if I wish, I'm a free person.'
His notes also showed him making racist and threatening remarks and a paranoia that would prompt him to track people's license plates numbers for no reason.
Before his death, Pinkusiewicz had deleted most of the content of him living in Moab on August 26, 2021, downloaded an encryption app.
Investigators said he deleted all photographs of him camping - some were recovered by investigators, memos and screenshots.
He had also deleted his Google history and Facebook account.
His encrypted email was not able to be recovered due to the time elapsed. But, his notes mention the area where the homicide occurred months prior.
Police did not realize Pinkusiewicz had killed himself until March 2022, six months after he'd done it in September.
At the Thursday briefing, Grand County Sheriff's department showed surveillance footage of the Toyota Yaris leaving the area with a time stamp of 12:54pm
The bodies of Schulte and Turner, 38 were found on August 18 at a campsite in the South Mesa area of the La Sal Mountains. A friend of the couple made the gruesome discovery. Both women were found partially undressed with multiple gunshot wounds, according to unsealed search warrants, officials said
The couple's wedding photo that was taken nine months before their death
Surveillance video shows the couple were seen at Woody’s Tavern in downtown Moab on August 13, 2021, before they were shot to death.
A nearby surveillance camera at the Whispering Oaks Ranch picked up the sounds of gunshots and screams at 11:48 a.m. on Aug. 14. Authorities previously declined to release the recording, saying it was integral to the ongoing investigation, and made it public for the first time Thursday.
Investigators said that they determined Critical Defense rounds found in the victims helped had likely been fired from a Glock 9mm.
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