Urrutia was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He lived in Ecuador until 1968, and has since been a resident of the United States of America, except for the period from May 1974 to July 1977, when he lived in Israel. At Brigham Young University, he studied under Hugh Nibley. Learning from Nibley that the Book of Mormon names Shiblon and Shiblom may be derived from the Arabic root "shibl", "lion cub," Urrutia connected this to the "Jaguar Cub" imagery of the Olmec people.