A Secret Sexu4l Torture Room… What Did He Do Next? | True Crime Documentary

23-year-old McKenzie Lick was originally from the city of Elsagundo, California. She was the second of four children in her family and the only daughter of her parents. Sports were her greatest passion. She loved long bike rides along the coast, competed as part of a swim team, played water polo, and regularly supported her team at football games.
When it was time to choose a university, McKenzie, who was deeply in love with California, still wanted to see more of the world and experience the independence that she believed she could not gain by staying close to home. In the end, she chose University of Utah, located nearly 700 m away from her hometown.
There she studied kinesiology and prepared to enter nursing school while also earning an additional specialization in the healthcare field. McKenzie joined the Alpha Kappa Omega sorority, which quickly began taking up almost all of her free time. Its members were required to maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and participate in charity and volunteer projects.
Combined with the two jobs McKenzie worked, this meant she was practically always busy with little time to rest. During her junior year, she decided to reduce her academic workload by taking fewer classes and finishing her degree as a part-time student. She lived off campus in a small townhouse with her pets, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, and cats, including one named Nova.
Her friends remembered that McKenzie never did anything halfway, and always found a reason to laugh. On one occasion, she even threw a birthday party for her cat, Nova. She treated her friends to champagne, ordered a cake made of cat food for her pet, made everyone wear hats, and had them watch as Nova opened her presents. One of her sorority sisters, Kennedy, described McKenzie as an incredibly caring and deeply devoted person.
She was almost always smiling so often that when she had braces, they even injured her lips because of how much she smiled and laughed. According to Kennedy, McKenzie always wanted to take care of others. She was constantly cooking something for her friends, making sure everyone had eaten, and if someone was thirsty, she would immediately offer them a drink.
Caring for people was what truly made her happy. As the summer of 2019 approached, McKenzie, who was already living at a relentless pace, faced a difficult challenge. She lost someone very close to her, her grandmother. In midJune, McKenzie flew to Los Angeles for the funeral. On June 17th, at 1:00 in the morning, her plane landed at Salt Lake City International Airport.
At around 2:00 in the morning, she sent her mother a message. Landed: Love you, Mom. Just a few minutes later, she began searching for a ride through Uber or Lyft. When her mother, Diana, replied to the message, she noticed something strange. Instead of the usual blue iPhone message, it appeared green. She assumed her daughter’s phone might have died or that she was having connection issues in the crowded airport.
However, she never received a response from McKenzie. Over the next several hours and throughout the following day, more and more people sent McKenzie their condolences and words of support after the death of her grandmother. But all of those messages also went unanswered. At first, it did not seem especially unusual.
It seemed completely natural that after losing someone close to her, she would want some time alone and might not feel like responding to messages. However, her longtime friend Kennedy could not shake the uneasy feeling she had. According to her, this behavior was completely unlike McKenzie. She did not open messages on Snapchat, did not post anything on social media, and did not contact anyone at all.
Kennedy was certain that even in a situation like this, McKenzie would have posted something or replied to at least one message because she knew the people close to her would be worried. On June 20th, McKenzie’s father, Greg, contacted police and requested a welfare check. Friends, I’ll interrupt you for just a moment.
I’m really curious where my audience is watching from. So, I’d love for you to tell me what city you’re watching this video from and what time it is where you are. Thank you for your attention. Leave it in the comments and I’ll continue. >> Yeah, I’d like to get if it’s possible have a wellness check done on my daughter and I’ve been trying to get a hold of her and her phone just tends to go to voicemail.
I was just wondering if I could have somebody maybe go by her house and check on her. >> Law enforcement arrived at Mackenzie’s home. Her car was parked outside the house, but no one answered the door and nothing could be seen through the windows. They then began contacting her friends, employer, and University of Utah.
It was soon discovered that McKenzie had missed an extremely important exam, failed to show up for her work shifts, and had not even attended a wedding in California where she was supposed to be present. Nearly a week had passed since McKenzie had flown back to Salt Lake City, but there had still been no word from her. Only then did a full-scale search begin.
First, police went to the airport and reviewed surveillance footage. The footage showed that McKenzie had walked off the plane by herself, collected her luggage, and did not stop to speak with anyone. There were also no signs that anyone had been following her. Approximately 40 minutes after landing, McKenzie requested a ride through the lift service to Hatch Park, which was located about 9 miles from her townhouse.
>> There’s a lot of mysteries here. 23-year-old McKenzie Luick had just returned to Utah after coming to Southern California for her grandmother’s funeral. Her parents said they last heard from her when she texted them after her flight landed safely last Monday. After that, she ordered a lift to an address in North Salt Lake, but friends say Luick didn’t live there, and they don’t know why she went there.
Luick has been absent on social media, and her friends and sorority sisters have been passing out flyers, hoping someone will come forward with information. Lyft told CBS News they are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation and that there were no irregularities with the ride. She was dropped off and the driver continued taking other customers immediately.
The family is from Southern California and they’re now working to get subpoenas for her phone records to hopefully try to piece some of this together. >> Police located the lift driver who had given Mackenzie a ride. During the interview, he confirmed that he had safely dropped her off near Hatch Park. According to him, she said she was meeting someone there.
The driver admitted that the destination seemed quite unusual to him, but there was nothing suspicious about McKenzie’s behavior. She did not appear upset or frightened. In fact, McKenzie herself commented that it was a strange place to be dropped off, but she did not explain why and continued texting someone on her phone.
When the lift vehicle arrived at the park, the driver noticed another car already parked nearby. While helping McKenzie get her luggage out, he caught a glimpse of a person getting out of that vehicle. However, it was too dark and the distance was too great for him to make out any details. All he remembered was a dark, blurry silhouette.
After returning to his vehicle, the driver heard voices. He got the impression that the stranger knew McKenzie. He did not remember any specific words from their conversation, but he said he did not hear raised voices or an argument. Everything appeared as though this person had simply arrived to pick her up. After that, the driver continued on to complete his next rides.
His account was fully confirmed by phone data and the ride route. Police concluded that the driver had no involvement whatsoever in Mckenzie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, McKenzie’s friends became increasingly concerned because police continued to state that there was no reason to suspect a violent crime at that time. Large groups of volunteers joined the search efforts.
They handed out flyers to every vehicle passing by, spoke with journalists from all local media outlets, and went out searching every day, refusing to give up hope of finding McKenzie. Missing posters continue to pepper Salt Lake City streets, hoping to find an answer to the question, “What happened to Mackenzie Luick?” >> We encourage the public to help us answer these lingering questions, such as, “Who is the person she met in Hatch Park?” “Does McKenzie have an alternate phone that she has used in the past or is using? Does she have social media
accounts that we don’t know about? Is anyone in contact with McKenzie online currently or within the last week?” Now, the SLCPD says that they don’t even know the make or the model of that car or even whether it was a man or a woman behind the wheel that morning. They say they have a tip line established.
If anyone knows anything, they should call 8017994420. And so far, about 125 tips have come in on that line. They have also asked the FBI for their assistance in this investigation. After seeing a photo of 23-year-old McKenzie on television, a man named Rob suddenly remembered that he had met her by chance a few weeks before she disappeared.
According to Rob, he and a friend had randomly met McKenzie at a bar. He described her as a very outgoing and friendly young woman. They talked for about an hour over drinks, and during their conversation, McKenzie mentioned that she had recently signed up for the dating website Seeking Arrangement. At the time, the platform, which had nearly 50 million users worldwide, promoted itself as the largest service for elite dating between beautiful, wealthy, and successful people.
At the same time, the website was widely known as a place where so-called sugar daddies met sugar babies. Rob explained that McKenzie did not go into details about what exactly she was looking for on the site. According to him, she had previously been in two fairly serious relationships, but at that time, she was single and simply enjoying life.
For investigators, this information became a very important lead, and for many of her friends, it came as a complete shock. No one had even suspected that McKenzie was using seeking arrangement. It appeared that she had kept a significant part of her personal life hidden, even from those closest to her.
Because of this, her friends had little doubt that the person McKenzie met that night at Hatch Park was most likely connected to seeking arrangement. After that, Rob Joseph found McKenzie’s profile on the website. It turned out that her last activity there had been recorded on June 16th, just a few hours before she disappeared without a trace.
>> Police say there’s been no activity on her phone and her bank accounts have been untouched. >> A review of Mackenzie’s financial activity revealed new details for investigators. They discovered that the plane tickets for her trip had been paid for by men she had met through seeking arrangement.
In addition, authorities found a bank account into which an unknown person had transferred $300. McKenzie’s father, Greg, also told police that after her disappearance, he discovered another bank account opened in her name. No one in the family knew it existed. Using information from social media profiles, investigators began moving from one account to another, gradually tracking McKenzie’s possible connections.
They noticed that shortly before her disappearance, she had followed an Instagram page called Fatherless. It was this lead combined with an analysis of phone records from her mobile carrier that allowed them to identify the number she had been communicating with. The phone was registered to an address in Salt Lake City where 31-year-old Ayula Aayi, better known as AJ, lived.
The recently divorced man lived near Hatch Park. According to his online profiles, he worked as a technical support specialist at Dell and also worked part-time as a model. At first, AJ appeared to be an ordinary person. He had no criminal record, lived in a house with several roommates, and rented out the basement through Airbnb.
He spent most of his time focused on work. However, facts soon began to emerge that completely changed the investigator’s perception of him. Eventually, police became almost certain that AJ was directly connected to the disappearance of McKenzie Lick. AJ attended Utah State University on a student visa, but he did not regularly attend classes.
Later, he received a green card, allowing him to remain living and working in the state of Utah. In addition to his main job, he wrote a novel about a young man who witnesses two murders and must decide whether he should enter a life of crime himself. The book also included references to burning bodies. In the description of his author profile, AJ wrote that he had lived under a tyrannical regime, escaped a real crime, and traveled extensively around the world.
His former wife was living separately in Dallas at the time. She said she had completely cut off all communication with AJ because she was terrified of him. According to her, he had repeatedly threatened to hire people who would kidnap and kill her. Because of this, she had to change her phone number, block him everywhere, and eventually file for divorce.
It also became known that in 2014, AJ had been investigated in a rape case. And in 2018, he had been investigated over an assault on a woman. However, he was never formally charged in either case. During his first conversation with police, AJ claimed that he had never communicated with McKenzie and did not even know who she was.
When investigators asked why his phone number was connected to her messages, he explained that someone living in his house could have been sending them. Later, detectives spoke with a local contractor named Brian. He told them that AJ had approached him with a very unusual request. He wanted to build a hidden soundproof room inside his house with a fingerprint activated lock concealed behind a secret door.
According to Brian, AJ did not negotiate the price and emphasized that money was not an issue for him. His only condition was that the work be completed as quickly as possible before his girlfriend arrived. When Brian asked why such an unusual room was needed, AJ said he wanted to hide alcohol there because his girlfriend was Mormon and did not know that he drank.
Although McKenzie had been raised in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she openly said that she no longer practiced that faith, it remained unknown who exactly AJ was referring to when he spoke about his girlfriend. Brian said that AJ’s explanation immediately seemed unbelievable to him. According to Brian, something about the situation caused such a strong feeling of unease that he decided to refuse the job.
He and his nephew spent only about 30 minutes inside the house. After getting into the car, Brian asked his nephew whether the entire situation had seemed strange to him. His nephew agreed. Both decided they would not take the project. Construction never began, although AJ continued sending Brian messages for some time, trying to convince him to agree.
Later, AJ voluntarily went to the police station and had already changed his version of events. This time, he admitted that after meeting through seeking arrangement, he had briefly communicated with McKenzie. However, according to him, she stopped messaging him shortly after their first contact. >> So, she stopped responding once I sent out my pictures.
I thought maybe she just doesn’t want my type of race, so I just stop responding to her. >> Despite his previous denials, AJ eventually admitted that he had in fact communicated with McKenzie. That admission alone was enough for investigators to obtain a search warrant for his home in the Fair Park area. Is there anyone else in there? >> Let’s make sure.
>> During the search of the home, investigators immediately noticed several disturbing details. There was no mattress in the house. The rooms had a strong smell of bleach and security cameras had been installed in almost every room. AJ rented out part of the basement level to several tenants. At the time the search was conducted, all of the tenants were asked to temporarily leave the house so authorities could carry out a thorough search without interruption.
>> Hi, it’s the police department. >> Um, are you renting this room? >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, we are going to be serving a warrant on this house. >> Is there anyone else in this room? back in my No, nobody’s here. Just me. >> Just you? >> Am I going to be able to come back in here? >> Um, it may be a while. >> While police continued searching the house, AJ stood outside watching what was happening.
One of the officers asked him not to move around near the entrance or touch anything close to the doors. Later, AJ asked if he could go somewhere else, explaining that he did not want the neighbors staring at him. Police told him that he was not under arrest and was free to go wherever he wanted. At the same time, they asked him to provide a location where he could be reached if they needed to speak with him again.
AJ said he would stay nearby, then left the scene. Shortly afterward, one of the neighbors approached investigators. He said that around the time McKenzie disappeared, there had been a very unpleasant smell coming from around the house. When he went outside, the neighbor saw AJ pouring gasoline on his property.
The neighbor showed police the location where it had happened. During the inspection, officers discovered evidence of a recent fire and nearby, a large, freshly dug hole. A service dog trained to detect the scent of human remains was brought in to assist. The animal reacted almost immediately. The dog rushed toward the freshly disturbed patch of ground and lay directly on top of it, clearly indicating the possible presence of human remains beneath the soil.
Highway 64. >> And then here’s some more. Well, that’s >> 1102. >> Does that look like a bone or >> During the continued examination of the area, investigators discovered a human bone. Experts soon confirmed that it did in fact belong to a person. Nearby, they also found a piece of scalp with hair still attached.
Not far away, there was a burned iPhone as well as partially burned clothing. Without touching the evidence, one officer suggested that it was likely a newer model of a black Apple smartphone. During the search, police seized all of AJ’s electronic devices. Further analysis revealed a large amount of material involving the sexual abuse of children.
Some of the victims shown in those recordings were children as young as four years old. >> What’s going on, man? So detectives are ready to talk to you about everything that’s going on real fast. So if you want to come, I’ll give you right back to the house real quick. >> [ __ ] this. [ __ ] new day. >> I know.
I’m going to drive you back in my car. It’s the camera. So >> we’ll stay We’ll stay away from the news. >> Yeah, we’re not going to go by the news. >> I don’t want my face on the news. >> I will do that so it doesn’t Okay. So stand up real quick. >> We’re just going to Are you rescuing me or something? >> No. No. No. Stand up. >> No.
Why? You >> You’re going to be detained for a little bit. >> You’re being detained, but just for a second. Okay. I got to put you in handcuffs just while we’re driving. >> Her policy, we’re going to >> I’m just going to go talk to detectives for a little bit. >> Why is it detaining? >> Because you need to talk to the detectives and I need to transport you back.
So my policy says every time someone’s in my car, they will wear handcuffs. >> So that’s why they’re >> But there’s a news about they can come right back. >> We’re not going to take We’ll take you to another spot so you’re not by the >> Okay. How did the news find out? >> We were wondering the same thing. >> AJ was found in a nearby park.
He was taken into custody and brought back to the police station for another interview. By that point, investigators already had a significant amount of evidence pointing to his involvement, although the results of several key forensic examinations were still pending. Over the following days, authorities analyzed phone data.
They determined that McKenzie’s and AJ’s phones both connected in the Hatch Park area at nearly the exact same time with less than a 1 minute difference between their arrivals. In addition, surveillance cameras captured AJ’s vehicle entering the park at 2:48 a.m. Approximately 10 minutes later, McKenzie sent him her final text message.
At 2:59 a.m., her phone suddenly went offline and it never connected to a network again. >> So, think about that for a second and put yourself in their shoes and then start being honest with me. We have had a week and a half now to prepare and we have been very busy because I care about McKenzie >> and I want her.
I think you did care about her. I agree and I I know that there’s more for you to tell me and you’re holding back and I don’t understand why. AJ, I just told you that your phone records and the location put you up at the meet. Do you think honestly and expect me to believe that you ended that conversation and somehow you and her and her location end up in the exact same spot? >> Oh, I’m not doubting you.
If I see that too, if I’m in your case, I would be asking myself, what are you asking me right now? >> It’s not a miraculous question. Yeah, I I agree with you. Okay. >> Stuff doesn’t just happen. >> No. >> Yes, I agree with you. >> I’m telling you to explain that. And so far you have not. >> How do I explain something I don’t know? Are you saying you don’t know or you don’t remember? Because those are two different things.
AJ, >> data from AJ’s phone showed that by 3:7 a.m. he was already back at his home. During questioning, AJ insisted that police were wasting their time by focusing on him. He assured investigators that they would soon realize they were following the wrong lead. However, the circle around him continued to tighten.
The confidence he had displayed at the beginning slowly began to disappear. Ultimately, it was data from his phone that gave investigators the crucial lead. They discovered that the day after McKenzie got into his vehicle, AJ had traveled to the Logan Canyon area, approximately 85 mi from his home. That was where search teams were sent.
The area was enormous and authorities understood that the search could take a long time. Fortunately, they did not have to search the entire area. In the river, they found Mackenzie’s burned purse, her identification, bank cards, and several other burned pieces of clothing. At the same time, forensic testing confirmed that the evidence recovered during the search of AJ’s home also belonged to McKenzie.
In Utah, a tragic conclusion in the search for a missing college student. Police found the charred remains of 23-year-old Mackenzie Luick in the yard of the man accused of killing her. >> Several charred items that were consistent with personal items of Mackenzie Luick. Other charred material was located, which has now been forensically has been determined to be female human tissue.
>> Near the location where McKenzie’s identification was found, the search team made the most devastating discovery. Her remains were found in a shallow grave in a wooded area. Experts immediately determined that McKenzie’s hands had been bound behind her back with a plastic zip tie. A piece of rope was also found near the body.
There was a hole in her skull, and part of her scalp was missing the exact fragment that had previously been discovered during the search of AJ’s home. A forensic examination confirmed that the cause of death was severe blunt force trauma to the head. After receiving the autopsy results, prosecutors officially charged AJ with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and desecration of a human body.
For McKenzie’s parents, the news was a devastating blow. When they were informed of the investigation results, Greg and his wife Diana were completely overwhelmed by grief. 31-year-old Ayula Ajayi was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering McKenzie Lick. The first court hearing lasted only about 2 minutes. At that time, AJ did not plead guilty.
However, prosecutors already had an enormous amount of evidence. His former wife said she was shocked and disgusted by his actions and was prepared to testify against him in court. When it became clear that prosecutors were considering seeking the death penalty, AJ agreed to a plea deal and admitted guilt to murder.
Under the agreement, he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and desecration of a human body. In exchange, prosecutors dropped several other charges, including aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice. The plea agreement also covered two additional criminal cases that had been investigated against AJ. He admitted guilt in a case involving the forcible sexual assault of a woman he attacked in March of 2018.
In addition, after material involving the sexual abuse of children was discovered on his electronic devices, he had been charged with 19 felony counts of exploiting minors. Under the agreement, those charges were also dismissed. During the court hearing, AJ admitted that he had decided to kill McKenzie before they had even met in person for the first time.
That morning, before leaving his house, he intentionally turned off all of his security cameras. According to him, when they arrived at his home together, he tied Mackenzie’s hands behind her back and began choking her. She desperately fought for her life and begged him to stop, but he forced her face down and continued choking her with a belt.
According to the forensic examination, McKenzie died from severe blunt force trauma to the head, but AJ did not explain exactly how the injury was inflicted. After the murder, he burned her body and buried it in his backyard. Later, he dug up the remains and transported them to the Logan Canyon area where he hid them.
During the court hearing, AJ apologized to Greg and Diana Lick. He said he regretted what he had done, understood that he deserved punishment, and knew that his words could never bring their daughter back. Even today, prosecutors and investigators acknowledge that they were never able to find a logical motive for the crime.
According to the district attorney, most murders have understandable reasons, financial gain, revenge, or a desire to retaliate against a perceived wrongdoing. But in this case, none of those motives existed. Before ever meeting McKenzie in person, AJ had already decided to take her life. After analyzing all the evidence, investigators reached only one possible conclusion.
It appeared that Ayula Aayi simply wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. It was murder for the sake of murder. >> Today, the man who pleaded guilty to murdering 23-year-old Mackenzie Luick, Ayola Aayi, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> There is no sense of perfect justice here.
There’s just an accountability and the one thing that our community can rest assured with and her family can rest assured with is that Mr. Ajai will spend the rest of his life and he will die in prison. >> Though the process is over, the memories and the scars for the Luick family will always remain. >> We are blessed and honored to have McKenzie in our lives for the last 23 years.
>> The judge says Aai plead guilty to the three most severe criminal crimes. He will serve each of those crimes consecutively. >> One of McKenzie’s friends, Katie, emphasized that no one, regardless of their gender or personal life, deserves to die. She stressed that McKenzie was not responsible for her own death.
According to Katie, there is only one person responsible, and that is the person who must be held accountable. Katie also said that if McKenzie had known how that meeting would end, she never would have agreed to meet that person at the park. She emphasized that McKenzie’s death was not her fault and that any claims suggesting otherwise are painful, not only for her family and friends, but also for other victims of similar crimes.
For those who loved her, none of this still feels real. Mckenzie’s friends and family created a nonprofit organization called Mackenzie’s Voice. Her friend Ashley explained that they quickly realized there was no guide, instruction manual, or ready-made plan that could help friends or family members cope when someone they love goes missing.
When Mackenzie went missing, the first thing we said is, “What do we do? What is there to do?” >> Helping other families and friends figure out what to do when their loved one goes missing is the motivation behind McKenzie’s voice. The nonprofit organization started by the same friends who launched the initial search for McKenzie last month wants to provide that toolkit with resources such as media lists and guidelines for statements.
McKenzie’s voice also wants to provide educational opportunities for young men and women about safe online dating practices. >> We were fortunate in a way where this her case has gotten a lot of attention and I don’t know if we would have found her or this person if it didn’t. >> So they’re paying it forward for McKenzie. >> She wanted to be a nurse, very serviceoriented, and that’s why we really want to pursue this nonprofit because we know it’s something that she would have wanted us to do.