Mackenzie Lueck Update: Alleged Killer Of Utah College Student Had A History Of Violence

As investigators continue their probe into the death of 23-year-old University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck, more information has been revealed about the man arrested on murder and kidnapping charges.

Lueck’s charred remains were found Friday in the yard of 31-year-old Nigerian immigrant Ayoola Ajayi. He was later arrested on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping. Ajayi is being held without bail at a Salt Lake County jail. Salt Lake City Police have said that there is no other person of interest in the case, but the investigation is pending.

Ajayi, whose LinkedIn profile is not available, reportedly worked in IT and claimed he served in the U.S. Army National Guard and the Utah National Guard. However, Officer D.J. Gibb of the Utah National Guard revealed to KSL, an NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, that Ajayi had only been a member of the National Guard for six months. He was discharged after failing to meet "medical procurement standards" and, subsequently, did not go through basic training or receive any certificates or awards.

Recent reports suggest that Ajayi has a history of violence and behavior issues.

Ajayi’s ex-wife, Tenisha Ajayi, claims he made threats against her life after they married in 2011 and after being a "sweet person" when she first met him. She revealed their history during an interview that aired Monday on KUTV, a CBS affiliate in Salt Lake City.

Despite having married in Dallas, the couple never lived together as she continued to live in Dallas while he was in Utah. Tenisha Ajayi said he would send money for their two children.

But he began showing more possessive and threatening behavior. They would separate in 2017 and she would file for divorce in October and has not talked to him "in years."

“I just stopped talking to him because I was fearing for my life,” Tenisha Ajayi said in the interview. “He didn’t want me to do nothing. He didn’t want me to talk to nobody or nothing.”

Tenisha Ajayi said the relationship with her husband was "scary" and also expressed concern that what had allegedly happened to Lueck could have happened to her and her kids. She paraphrased Ayoola Ajayi as saying that "I have somebody to come kidnap you and kill you."

Tenisha Ajayi stated that she would be willing to cooperate with investigators and testify in court.

Beyond his estranged wife, Ayoola Ajayi had also been investigated for accusations of rape by a co-worker from November 2014, according to court files released Monday.

The unidentified woman filed the complaint against Ayoola Ajayi in North Logan, Utah. North Park police investigated the accusations but the woman did not press charges and Ajayi was not interviewed.

Citing the report, the Salt Lake City Tribune noted that the woman had immediately told police that she did not want charges filed but wanted the incident reported, "in case he did the same thing to someone else."

The woman told police she avoided him at work after the alleged assault. After texting him "not to contact her ever again," he responded with "a not-so-nice text," the Tribune referenced from the report.

His former roommate told the Tribune that Ayoola Ajayi was intelligent and affable, and got along well with clients as an Airbnb host but that he also had "some anger issues" and would be "irate and disruptive" about minor issues. The behavior prompted the roommate to move out after a few months.

While the roommate didn't see any acts of violence he noted that Ayoola Ajayi "snaps or loses his temper, [then] he comes back to his sweet self," according to the Tribune.

The Tribune also noted that Utah State University, where he attended classes off and on between 2009 and 2016, barred him from campus in 2012 after a theft investigation and the school had notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a Nigerian consulate.

Meanwhile, Amazon recently pulled a crime novel written by Ayoola Ajayi, entitled "Forge Identity." On Goodreads, a book database owned by Amazon, the book has a 2.56 rating from 27 ratings and 13 reviews. Users flooded the page for the book to be pulled.

The biography for the book states that "[Ajayi] has survived a tyrannical dictatorship [and] escaped a real life crime." The book cover shows a smiling black youth with a woman in the background holding a machine gun.

The Bookreads summary for "Forge Identity" includes a "gruesome murder" and a person being "burned alive." It reads:

"Ezekiel was almost 15 when he witnessed a gruesome murder. An angry mob burned his neighbor alive in the street and the man died at his feet. Sadly, it was not the last time he witnessed such horror. With his well respected father as guide and mentor, Ezekiel saw this death, then a death much closer to home when a loved one was killed in the same brutal, terrifying way 50 feet from him, and he could do nothing to stop it. Staggering to recover from these severe traumas, he finds relief and joy in meeting his first love, becomes embroiled in grand theft, and experiences heartbreaking betrayal. Ezekiel must decide if he will join the ranks of a criminal mastermind, or fight to escape the tyranny that has surrounded his young life. Or even beat them at their own game. When trust is lost, can he even trust himself?"