A preliminary hearing in the Veterans Park homicide case lasted most of Friday as three Cortez police officers took the stand and described a gruesome, bloody scene from last August, when they discovered three men badly beaten in the public park.
One later died from his injuries.
Much of Robert Salt’s hearing focused on witness testimony and legal arguments from attorneys. The purpose of the early‑stage hearing was to determine whether the district attorney’s office had sufficient probable cause to move the case to trial. Different legal standards guide a preliminary hearing compared with a trial.
Salt faces nine counts, including allegations of first‑degree murder, two counts of first‑degree assault, second‑degree murder and other substantive charges.
After deliberation, District Court Judge William Furse delivered a judgment finding enough evidence for charges with heightened legal standards – terms like “universal malice” and “extreme indifference” – used to describe conduct so reckless and brutal that it shows extreme indifference to the value of human life and creates a grave risk of death.
“On Aug. 20, Mr. Salt – for reasons unknown to the court – he offered to Miss Holiday he would do the assaults,” Furse said. The judge pointed to testimony about “stomping and standing on someone’s head,” calling that sufficient evidence to allege aggravated malice.
The prosecution’s theory accuses Salt of committing a series of escalating assaults at Veterans Park that left Curtis Benally dead and two others severely injured. The state believes his 20‑year‑old co‑defendant, Nykhona Holiday, was present and involved throughout the day.
Prosecutors pointed to Holiday’s statements to police alleging Salt’s conduct, witness accounts that he told her, “this is what we do,” and video showing the pair together before and after the assaults, arguing the pattern supported the charges.
After ruling, the judge ordered the case to move to arraignment in six weeks.
Families of the victims were present Friday for a case involving allegations of significant violence, two highly intoxicated individuals and park witnesses who allegedly fled out of fear.
The prosecution presented testimony from responding officers to outline the events of the day, while Salt’s defense argued the evidence did not satisfy the legal standards for malice and extreme indifference.
Two Cortez Police Department patrol officers and a detective testified about what they encountered Aug. 20, 2025, near the Cortez Welcome Center at Veterans Park, where Benally, 40, was later pronounced dead and two other men, 61‑year‑old Bilbert Tsosie and 56‑year‑old Anthony Hill, were seriously injured.
Officer Jerry Sam, who has worked for the department for more than 17 years, said he was dispatched to a welfare check and found Tsosie lying on his back with “quite a bit of blood” and “significant injuries to the face.” Tsosie was unconscious and transported by ambulance.
Sam testified that after Tsosie was loaded into the ambulance, he and another officer identified Benally and Hill, both of whom had “quite a bit of injury.” He said officers began taping off the area as a crime scene and searching for evidence. Sam described “significant amounts of blood” at the park.
Sam also testified that Holiday approached officers near where Benally lay, saying she needed to look for her phone. He noticed blood on Holiday’s shoes and said it appeared dried.
Detective Charles Osborn testified Holiday told him Salt said he would punch the “Cheii” (pronounced “Chay”), a Navajo word for grandfather, and began assaulting people. Osborn said Holiday told him “Robert wanted to punch Curtis because he was a snitch.”
Osborn testified that when he told Holiday one of the men had died, she appeared surprised and said, “Robert gets angry, aggressive and a bully when he drinks,” and told him she wanted to tell him everything from the start. Osborn said Holiday walked him through the events and drew a diagram of the park.
The coroner ruled Benally’s cause of death was blunt‑force trauma to the head and determined a homicide.
Assistant District Attorney Justin Pierce told the court the state had offered Salt a plea to second‑degree murder for 45 years in prison, which Salt and his attorneys did not accept.
Public defender Benjamin Krumpelman argued the state did not establish probable cause for universal malice, saying other people in the park were not hurt. He said universal malice is typically argued in cases where, for example, a gunman fires into a crowd.
“We lack those facts that he was putting the general public in danger,” he said.
Public defender Scott Van Zandt argued Salt’s intoxication meant deliberation was not possible, saying his behavior showed the opposite of forethought.
“Testimony does not dispute Mr. Salt was incredibly intoxicated, all the people there were heavily intoxicated,” Van Zandt said. “He walked into the grocery store with the same clothes and shoes he allegedly wore to murder someone.”
Furse returned to the bench at about 3:15 p.m.
“The court has had the opportunity to gather its thoughts,” he said.
He said hearsay is admissible in a preliminary hearing and may form the bulk of the evidence. The judge added the rules do not require the prosecution to present all its witnesses.
“After considering the evidence … and the court’s obligation, the prosecution has demonstrated counts one through seven, and we will move forward with the arraignment,” Furse said.
Salt’s arraignment is scheduled for March 19 at 3 p.m.
Holiday, also charged with murder and assault, waived her right to a preliminary hearing. Her arraignment is scheduled for March 12 at 9 a.m.
