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Show 215 t: - The Salt Lake Tribune Saturday, November Antitrust Violation Alleged Slayings i i Prison T erm Youth Accused Agencies Given to Murderer By Anne Mathews And Carol Sisco i , Tribune Staff Writers Two agencies that provide services for troubled youth are alleged to have entered an agreement that violates antitrust laws, a former competitor charged before the state Board of Youth Corrections. - . PROVO (AP) Ricky Martin Knapp, one of four men charged with he slayings of Brenda Wright Lafferty. and her infant daughter, was Sentenced Friday to three consecutive terms of five years to life in pris-p- n Layne R. Meacham appeared be- fore the board claiming that two agencies entered a sweetheart deal where they shared a state contract rather than bidding for it competitively. Fourth District Judge J. Robert pullock handed down the sentence, which was the result of a arrangement. ; Knapp, 24, of Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder and two counts of Aggravated burglary in the murders of Brenda Lafferty, 24, and her daughter, Erica. J The victims were found with their throats cut in their American Fork pome July 24. I Knapp, Dan and Ron Lafferty and plea-bargai- n Mr. Meacham also charged the state with discouraging competition by keeping contract details confidential. The contracts are being audited at the request of Youth Corrections Director Russell K. VanVleet by the legislative auditor general The State Division of Youth Corrections grants $3.4 million yearly to agencies which act as providers who arrange housing, counseling, and education for young offenders placed in division custody by juvenile courts, Mr. VanVleet said. fharles Carnes originally were e fharged with two counts of murder, two counts of criminal conspiracy and two counts of aggravated burglary. J Knapp and Carnes, 23, of Belen, N.M., both agreed to testify for the state. Carnes pleaded guilty to two founts of criminal conspiracy and one count of aggravated robbery but lias yet to be sentenced. e ! Knapp agreed to be sentenced the state Adult Probation and arole Divisions presentencing report had been submitted to Bullock. However, the judge reserved the ight to change the sentences to run :oDCurrently once he receives the t, which is expected to be submit-e- d in about two weeks. ! bullock said the report had been felayed because Knapps previous criminal record is in his home state &f Kansas. ! Re said a preliminary report JhQwed Knapp had been on his own since the age of 13, and that he had ieived previous prison terms in Kan-a- l Bullock did not say what convictions led to the previous prison terms. Knapp earlier pleaded innocent to e murder and inf count of wo counts of conspiracy to commit ionicide. The prosecution agreed to Laf-eiter$p those counts following the condon the upcoming trial ign Knapp testify against the brothfirst-decre- The state contracts with 20 providers, including the YWCA, LDS Hospital and Odyssey House, said Susan R. Marquardt, division program coordinator. They are responsible for finding proctors or adults that young offenders live with, offering counseling when needed, and teaching special school classes. The providers include county and privately-owne- d agencies, Mr. VanVleet noted. Submits a Bid Each agency submits a new bid to the state every three years that describes services and the amount needed to run programs. Last Febru-a- r all agencies submitted new bids, Mr. VanVleet said. Mr. Meacham, a former provider, appeared before the Legislatures Judiciary Study Committee in September where he argued that the contract process lends itself to abuse. Mr. Meacham refused to tell the youth corrections board which agencies abuse their powers because he feared they would go into closed session. Later, he said they are American Community Youth Services and Intermountain Youth Care. The two agencies entered a merger agreement in 1982 where American Community Youth Services continued to provide certain services to Intermountain Youth Care, Mr. Meacham said. American Community Youth Services agreed it would "not compete with Intermountain Youth Care for any State of Utah Division of acYouth Corrections contracts, to the agreement. cording of Sweetheart Deal The agreement violates anti-trulaws, Mr. Meacham charges, because the agencies agreed to cease competing for contracts. Thomas Burton, youth corrections board chairman, assured Mr. Meacham that if there is a problem with letting contracts, we want to know about it. Want to Know There is nothing in (the law) preventing this type of agreement except if (the agencies) fail to provide the services, said Carlie Christensen, assistant attorney general. Its a standard business practice. I think (youth corrections) has one of the cleanest contracting processes in state government. Robert Huber, Intermountain Youth Care executive director, said the agreement resulted because Community Youth Services' parent company wanted to get out of the youth care field. Although Intermountain Youth Care won two bids this year without competition, they lost two other bids, Mr. Huber said. When Intermountain Youth Care was the only bidder, the Division of Youth Corrections reduced the bids they submitted, he said. The division can reduce any bid when there is only one bidder. first-degre- By Mike Gorrell Tribune Staff Writer The first month of the new water year doesnt provide much reason to believe the end of the current wet cycle is near. With 3.7 inches of precipitation at Salt Lake City International Airport, October was the second wettest October on record, thus initiating the 1984-8- 5 water year in a fluid fashion consistent with the wet pattern of the past two years, said William Alder and Dean Jack-ma- n of the National Weather Ser- state was vice. The impact of the excessive pre- snowfall that deposited 18.4 inches of snow at the airport in an 8 contributed period on Oct. to the significantly array of records set during the month. The storm established new records for: snow during a period in October, exceeding the previous total of 8.5 inches on Oct. 31, 1971; snow during a period, which had been 18.1 inches on Dec. 1972; and snow from a single storm, which had been 18.2 inches on March 1944, the Weather Service officials said. cipitation was reflected almost immediately in the level of the Great Salt Lake, which rose of a foot in just two weeks. "Its kinda scary, Mr. Alder said. He said the lakes elevation was measured Thursday at 4,208.10 feet above mean sea level, up from 4,207.90 feet on Oct. 15. The lowest point the lake reached was 4,207.85 - Knapps attorney, Kent Willis, said be!will petition the court to reconsid- Jhe sentence once the Adult Proba-jo- n and Parole report has been two-tent- sub-fnijte- d. J prosecutors allege the Laffertys Instigated the murders and a conspiracy to murder two other American fork residents, Mormon Church $take president Richard Stowe and oJal Mormon Relief Society presi-fle- feet. Mr. Alder al: o noted that, in gen- eral, precipitation throughout the at Chloe Low. 150 to 250 percent of normal during October, with areas along the Wasatch Front receiving up to 300 percent of the average rainfall. At the Salt Lake airport, the 3.7 inches of precipitation was 325 average of percent of the 1.14 inches. The wettest October on record was a recent one, recorded about the time this wet scenario began with 3.91 inches in the Weather Service offi1981, cials said. Naturally, the record-settin- g 17-1- 28-2- 13-1- 4, For the month, the airport recorded 20.4 inches of snow, almost d of what is expected during an entire year. October generally receives just 1.1 inches of snow per month, and the previous record total was 16.6 inches in 1971. This Octobers snow total also surpassed the record for November, which was 19.5 inches in 1973, they added. Besides being wet, the month was cold. The average high temperature was 7.3 degrees below normal; the average low was 6.4 degrees below normal. The month also was much cloudier than usual and the mean wind speed topped the average by a half mile per hour, Mssrs. Alder and Jack-ma- n said. Around the state, all but two Wendover measuring stations and Kanab recorded above normal precipitation. The largest departures above normal were recorded at Alta, Spanish Fork, Holladay and Tooele. The report said reservoir storage as of Oct. 1 was 157 percent of the average one-thir- ar t their names appear along with Brfnda and Erica Laffertys in a n revelation which Ron Lafferty said he received from God, him to remove all four. directing i j fter the brothers released a copy f the document to a local newspaper, Bullock decided not to allow (hem to represent themselves in tourt and appointed two public However, both lawyers since have asked permission to withdraw the case, saying the brothers Srcim to be defended. J State Board Votes to Policy On Morals and Values in Utah Education Re-Exam- ine Jaad-writte- A 1978 position paper on values and morals in education should be and rewritten to give it the force of policy, the Utah State Board of Education decided Friday. The decision to have the Utah State Office of Education staff take another look at the position paper and provide a recommendation for future board action came after a lengthy discussion. Vere McHenry and Nancy Mathews, both with the state school office, told board members values and morals education efforts conform with Section a state law specifycoming that teachers emphasize mon honesty, morality, courtesy, obedience to law, respect for the Constitution of the United States and Constitution of the state of Utah, respect for parents and home, the dignity and necessity of honest labor and other skills, habits and qualities of character which will promote an upright and desirable citizenry and which will better prepare our youth for a richer, happier life." Qn Thursday, the commander of (he Utah County Jail filed a complaint alleging Ron Lafferty, 42, assaulted him in the jail. Sheriffs Lt. Jerry Scott also filed a petition requesting a second competency hearin 4th District Court. ing for Lafferty ; No date for the hearing has been jet Doctors Fear Twin May iHave Infection i t i The condition of one of the twin (iris joined at the tops of their heads and separated in an operation at the tniversity of Utah Medical Center fias been downgraded from satisfactory to serious. ! It is possible the infant, Patricia." who has been running a fever since Thursday, has developed spinal meningitis, a nursing official said Friday childs right. Ashley, the (win sister, remained in satisfactory condition. ; Ashley developed bacterial spinal meningitis a week after the 31 hour operation to sever them. She recov-r$a few weeks later after being treated with antibiotics. d Spfhal meningitis is an infection of (he spinal fluid and membrane surrounding the brain and spinal col limn. Without treatment, it can be fa! tal. Physicians determined the twins vision has not developed normally, it was reported Thursday. At that time, hiedical center spokesman John I'wan told The Tribune that doctors probably wont know until the girls . fre older if this disability is perma-lentI The twins were born March 9 to a pative Utah couple stationed at an Air Force base in southern Califor- J' 1 t Mr. Meacham said as a provider he lost contracts despite submitting the low bid. The reason is criteria other than dollar amounts are used in selecting bids that involve services an agency will provide, Mr. Meacham said. Details of these services are confidential by state law so bids cannot be compared. Lost Contracts Confidentiality leads to abuses and favoritism, Mr. Meacham said. The public interest demands true competitive bidding, said former Attorney General Robert Hansen who represents Mr. Meacham. Competitive bidding replaced negotiated bids in 1982, Mr. VanVleet said. Bids are evaluated by a selection committee composed of representatives from related organizations such as the juvenile court, the State Division of Alcohol and Drugs and the Division of Family Services, he said. five-memb- The committee listens to presentations and read the bids before making recommendations to youth corrections which awards the bid, Mr. VanVleet said. Second Wettest October on Record Council OKs Revisions in Portends Another Soggy Water Year Liquor Laws re-of- ! "Weve lost our share of contracts, he said. "I think the system is fair. By Rodd Wagner Tribune Staff Writer Prison inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner, in custody after eluding police for three months, was arraigned Friday on nine felony charges connected with his escape while at the University of Utah Medical Center for an examination. Salt Lake City police said Gardner also is a suspect in the Oct. 9 robbery and murder of a bartender. He is also being investigated for several other armed robberies which occurred while he as an escapee. Eight state and city officers stopped Gardner fleeing from the back door of a west side house on Thursday night. Gardner had been at large since he knocked a prison guard unconscious Aug. 6, taking the his gun and forcing the guard under threat of death to unshackle him. Outside the hospital, Gardner forced hospital employee Mike Lynch to drive him away on a motorcycle, then switched clothes with the man at a nearby apartment building. Gardner was arraigned Friday on two counts of armed robbery, one of aggravated kidnapping, escape and aggravated assault by a prisoner. He was also charged with being a habite ual criminal, a felony charged when a criminal allegedly commits another first-degre- twice-convicte- d be-or- ers Prisoner Is Arraigned On 9 Counts 3, 1984 Incorporated Ms. Mathews said values education is incorporated throughout the public school curriculum. "Id like a simple document which all new teachers have to fill out acknowledging their knowledge about our programs in this area. That way we'd be aware that they knew about our programs and what they require," said board member Darlene Hutchison. "Id hate to personally administer it and wouldnt like something where we had to make moral judgments, responded Bruce Griffin, an associate state superintendent of public instruction. There is a difference between asking someone about their ethical values, which I oppose, and a paper asking if they've been exposed to study of the U.S Constitution and the democratic system," said Margaret Nelson, a board member. Valerie Kelson, also a board member, said new teachers should know what is expected of them. "We get that in classes." responded board member Don Christensen, a public school teacher. Board member Jay Monson said no elementary school teacher graduates from Utah State University without knowledge about values education and that the situation is probably the same for secondary teachers. e I think you could ask everyone who graduated last year and every one of them would say they knew about it," said Dr. Monson. Identified Issues M. Richard Maxfield, the boards vice chairman, identified issues involved in the values education question that he would like to see the board address. I think we have a duty to teach those values that help define the American Republic, said Dr. Max-fiel- Dr. Monson said the board would be inundated with all sorts of groups,, each with its own ax to grind, if the board opened the matter up. What we have works, he said, pointing out Utahns vote in larger numbers than citizens in other states and that a recently released survey shows Utah students use drugs and alcohol much less than their counterparts in other areas of the country. vote. VotApproval came on a the 1978 paing against per were Dr. Monson, Neola Brown, Linn Baker and Mr. Christensen. Favoring a new examination of values 4 Two of the board members ex- pressed support for the 1978 position paper and argued against reopening the matter., The staff has to use it. If they think its fine, why should we change in 30 days whats existed for six years," said Mr. Christensen. education and the position paper were Ms. Nelson, Mrs. Hutchison, Valerie Kelson, Dr. Maxfield and Mr. McConkie. Bank Sues Telephone Firm And Chairman for Loans Zions First National Bank has filed two suits against a financially troubled telecommunications firm and its founder in an attempt to recoup two past-duloans totaling more than e $70,000. Filed in 3rd District Court, the suits are part of a mounting tide of litigation against Select Telephone Technologies Inc. (STT), a telephone-refurbishin- g company being investigated for allegedly misusing some $3.2 million of a federal grant obtained for the company by Salt Lake City. Borrowed $40,000 One suit, filed against STT founder, chairman and chief executive officer Robert E. Gyemant, charges Mr. borrowed $40,000 from Zions in June 1983 with a promise to repay the loan a year later. Last April, the bank granted Mr. Gyemant a renewal on the loan. When the renewal promissory note became due, Zions demanded that Gyemant pay the full amount due, but he has refused," the suit says. The second suit, filed against both STT and Mr. Gyemant, alleges that of a $50,000 loan approved for the company in November 1983, $31,636.52 plus interest is still owed. Since the city and the FBI announced their investigations a month ago, STT also has been sucl by Mur- Gyemant Travel, a creditor seeking $30,000 in airfare charges, and Jeffrey W. Nicoll, a former STT employee who contends the company misdoeft represented its financial position. Further, a partnership associated with STT, 3880 West Associates, faces foreclosure by State Savings & Loan Association on the westside industrial building that housed STTs plant. Awaiting Results Salt Lake City officials are awaiting the results of an independent management audit that should determine whether city employees were negligent in monitoring the loan to STT. But, even if city officials are partially at fault, its unlikely the federal government will require the city to repay whatever part of the loan isnt recovered. The $4.2 million federal Urban Development Action Grant was made to the city in September 1983 for STT's use. In return, the company promised to provide some 2,200 manufacturing jobs. When the company failed to meet the payroll at its Centennial Industrial Park plant in early October, however, there only 23 people to lay off. Investigations into the matter by the City Attorney and the FBI could result in civil and criminal charges, but they wont be complete for several months. The Utah Citizens Council on Li- quor Control gave enthusiastic approval Friday to revisions of the states liquor laws being proposed by the Liquor Control Commission. The revisions, under consideration for several months, will produce a more compact and better organized liquor law, said Assistant Attorney General Earl F. Dorius. But while making some important for instance, changes in statutes allowing 750 milliliter bottles of wine to be sold in restaurants the changes will stay away from some philosophical questions surrounding liquor availability that are out of the commissions scope to propose, he said. These include, most notably, whether to abandon the minibottle requirement in restaurants, whether to allow metered liquor dispensing guns, and whether to alter the status for clubs. now-requir- non-prof- it These issues, citizens council members agreed, are best left for a special task force to study. Mr. Dorius said the present liquor laws are disjointed partly because they were, in effect, grafted on the states original 1935 statute. They are cumbersome to use and are sometimes fragmented with important sections being found elsewhere in the Utah Code, in illogical places. The draft will organize the statutes such that in one chapter, a restaurant licensee will find all the laws pertinent to his operation. In another chapter, private club laws will be consolidated. In addition, the draft legislation will put into statute some of the liquor commissions recent regulations that seem to have been working fair- ly well. The revision will also embrace the concept that state liquor stores in restaurants are not so much state stores as they are operations of the licensed restaurant. The change in philosophy will help improve regulation, Mr. Dorius said. Its time that the public realized that weve operated as a license state for years, Mr. Dorius said. Some other changes to be proposed by the draft are: Eliminating in statute (to conform to the current practice) the minimum distance requirement, for restaurants, from churches, schools and public parks; Allowing licensed operations (but not state-rustores) to open on after polls close on election days and limiting election day closures to just state and federal elections. Modifying the population formula to allow a few more club and restaurant licenses and granting the liquor commission express authority not to grant all available licenses if it 600-fo- n chooses. The latter provision will help "reduce pressure" on liquor commissioners to keep outstanding licenses at the statutory maximum and will help reduce incidence of clubs buying out others licenses through the ploy of merging with them. The draft is to be finalized in about a month and be prefiled with the Legislature sometime in December, Mr. Dorius said. 94K ELECT II9UARB ST639ARD to Davis County Clerk Nov. 6, 1984 Paid by Committee to El act Howard Stoddard felony. Gardner now faces a possible life sentence upon conviction. One week after his escape, the prison guards gun and Mr. Lynchs wallet were found in a Salt Lake City mailbox, along with a note, believed to have been written by the escapee. The note read, Sorry. Heres the gun and wallet taken from the guard at the hospital. I dont want to hurt no one else. I just want to be free. Police are investigating Gardner in the Oct. 9 robbery and murder of night bartender Melvyn J. Otter-stroat Cheers Tavern, 551 S. 300 m West. Gardners name came up Oct. a discussion among detectives 12 in be- cause he was at large and fit the description of the last man seen in the bar before closing, said Sgt. Steve Diamond. On Oct. 29, a source gave detectives information that Gardner had He committed the robbery-murdehas been identified by at least one witness as having been at the bar that night, said the sergeant, adding that certain evidence not being released publicly also implicates the inmate. Among the evidence seized Thursday were two loaded handguns, 9mm and which are currently being compared with a slug retrieved from the murder scene. Sgt. Diamond said Gardner probably will not be charged with the other robberies, as he already faces a possible life sentence on the other charges. But if charged and convicted with the homicide, which is a capital offense because it was committed during a robbery, the inmate could face a death sentence. Gardner has a record of four felony convictions. In 1980 he was convicted of robbery. During 1981 he was convicted of attempted escape, robbery and home burglary. r. Victim Still Critical In Shooting A Salt Lake City man remained in critical condition at University Hospital Friday night after being shot at close range with a shotgun during the robbery of his home Thursday night. A. William Kelson, 58, 965 S. 2200 East, was under intensive care while police sought the three men responsi- ble. Mr. Kelsons son and grandson, Martin Kelson Sr. and Martin Kelson Jr., told police the three masked men entered the home at about 7:30 with sawed-of- f shotguns, apparently following the victims son in. The youngest and eldest Kelson were seated at a kitchen counter near the door, and Mr. Kelson Sr. was forced to lie down near them. The eldest Kelson was shot when he took a step toward the telephone, the lines of which had been cut before the robbers entered. The men, whose masks were described as like the legs of thermal underwear, then fled the scene. We Support DISTRICT JUDGE BALDWIN FOR 3RD DISTRICT JUDGE Former Governor, Calvin L. Raxnpton Former Governor, J. Bracken Lee This ad paid lor by the Re-ele- ct District Judge Baldwin Committee, D. Frank Wilkins, Chrmn. |
