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Show expires 013086 7 t BOOKBINDERY, INC. R j HOG SONS 1S7 RftlLROftD STREET g I SPRINGPORT 7 Vol. 7, No. 2 Wednesday, January 9, 1985 50 cents a single copy Victim's hMsbamd gives testimony Didn't expect slaying of family By MARC HADDOCK Alan Lafferty took the stand Tuesday morning to testify in the first-degre- e murder trial of his brother Dan in Utah's Fourth District Court in Provo. Dan is accused of killing Alan's wife, Brenda, and fifteen-month-ol- d daughter Erica in American Fork on July 24th. When court resumed at 1:30 p.m. prosecutors said they would call two more witnesses and complete the presentation of their case. brother Ron which referred to "six mighty ones fighting side by side." Watson pointed out there were six Lafferty brothers and Alan was the only brother not participating in the activities of the School of the Prophets. Alan said his wife objected to his brothers' activities "I know that was well known because she com-municated with their wives. Cross-examinin- g his brother, Dan Lafferty stressed that he had not "expressed any unkindness towards Brenda Lafferty." Earlier in the day, jurors heard ' . : ; ; V .: ' ' , .; : J : - i, - - i - : : 1? . . ;J ' - U , .' I L I ts i ,: ? , 1 r--f I J jl 1 1 1 1 job in Knapp's hometown of Wichita, Kans., in late June of 1984 and ended when Knapp and Charles Alan Carries were arrested in Cheyenne, Wyo. A few days After meeting Dan, he met Hon Lafferty and watched asLafferly received and wrote down a "revelation" telling Knapp to accompany the two men westward. "It was unique to watch," Knapp testified. "First there was a hesitation in Ron's hand. Then he started beckoning the spirit." The three men traveled in Ron Lafferty's green Chevrolet station wagon from Kansas through Colorado, Wyoming, British Columbia and Washington to Oregon, where they met a woman that Dan "met up with and they took it from there," Knapp said." Traveling in two cars, with Dan and Leoran Monahan and her two daughters in Monahan's station wagon, and Ron, Knapp and Monahan's two sons in Ron's station wagon, the group made their way down the coast to Sacramento, where Ron Lafferty and Knapp became separated from the others. It was in Sacramento, in the middle of July, that Knapp testified they met Chip Carnes in a rest stop, where Knapp said Carnes "was in a spiritual slump." Knapp said the three men headed for Big Water, Utah, where they hoped to find Dan -- - but arrived about 30 minutes after he had left. A few days later, on July 22, they were reunited at the home of Claudine Lafferty, the defendant's mother. Knapp also described the events of July 24, and testified that that morning the brothers had discussed the need for the murders of their sister-in-law and her baby and said Dan told him, "There is no greater sacrifice than that of a first-bor- He told how he and Carnes sat outside Alan and Brenda Lafferty's American Fork residence and watched Dan Lafferty force his way into the home. He said he heard Brenda Lafferty scream from inside her home, saying, "I knew it was going to come to this," and, "Don't hurt my baby, please," four different times. In response to a question from Watson about what he did when the commotion continued, Knapp said quietly: "Well, Lord forgive me, I told Ron he ought to go in and help his brother out." Knapp testified that the noise continued for about 10 minutes, and then "it got quiet -- just quiet." Five minutes after that, Dan and Ron Lafferty came from, the back of the house. "They had blood on their shirts and their pants and their boots, but they didn't have blood on their hands. They had washed them." On the way to the Chloe Low residence in Highland, Knapp-testifie- d further about the con-versations between the defendant and his brother. "It blew my mind," Knapp said. "It came up that their brother would be relieved. They didn't show no grief or nothing." Knapp's testimony included a description of the burglary of the Low home after the brothers found it was deserted, and the subsequent trip to Wendover, Nev., where, lf hours after the visit to the Lafferty residence, the four men were trying to earn more money in a gambling casino. On the way, Knapp said, Dan had told his brother "something about the spirit, 'I felt the spirit' or 'The spirit was with me.' Something to that effect. He said it was no problem doing the baby in." He said he and Carnes left the Laffertys sleeping in a motel room registered to Knapp and took off in Ron's station wagon, throwing out the brothers' belongings along the way, as they made their way through Idaho to Cheyenne, Wyo., to the home of Carnes's sister-in-law- '. There the two men were arrested bj Wyoming police officers. Other individuals testifying Monday included the Lafferty's next . door neighbors, Cory and Christine See Laffortv page 3 Alan Lafferty testified that although he had previously heard about a revelation calling for the "removal" of his wife and daughter he didn't think his brothers would carry out the crime. Alan said although he had never seen the revelation, Dan had told him about it at their mother's Prove home in late March or early April of 1984. "I was informed that this revelation was received and that my wife's life and my daughter's life would be required by the Lord. "Alan said he told his brother that he should be certain the revelation was authentic. He also told the jury that "in a moment of pride I said that much like Isaac that if God required it from me to do it, I would do it,i but he would have to tell me himself. Unless that happened I would defend their lives with my life against . anyone. Alan said he didn't tell his wife abouti the revelation. He said he felt it would not be valid unless it received unanimous approval from the School' of the Prophets, "a religious study group to which his brothers belonged. Alan said his brothers Ron and 1 Dan at one time tried to get hirn involved in the group. He discussed joining the organization with his wife. "She preferred that I not par-ticipate," he said. Deputy Utah County Attorny Wayne Watson referred Alan to a March 9, 1984 revelation given to his testimony from two memebers of the School of the Prophets, Barry Crowther and Bob Crossfield, who is also known as Onias. Both men said that Dan Lafferty had supported a revelation from his brother Ron calling for the "setting apart of a killing instrument" to carry out the revelation calling for the removal of Brenda and Erica Lafferty, as well as Chloe Low and Richard Stowe, both from Highland, Utah. Crowther told Dan "You and Ron had prayed about the revelations and felt they were from the Lord and you wanted to know if we were of the same mind. That was rejected by everyone else and with that you left the meeting. Other individuals testifying Tuesday morning were Mrs. Low and her husband Stewart, Stowe, and seven law enforcement officials who gathered evidence in the case. Opening the trial proceedings Monday, Watson laid out what he called a "scenario or a road map" for the jury, describing what the prosecution would try to prove in the subsequent days of the trial. The statement included a graphic description of the murder scene on Juiy 24, where American Fork Police Detective Gary Caldwell found Brenda Lafferty "lying in a tremendous pool of blood with her hair pulled back," her throat cut from ear to ear and an electrical cord cut from a vacuum cleaner wrapped around her neck. His voice nearly breaking with Dan Lafferty explains his views at brief conference following selection of jury Friday. discovery of the body of the victim's daughter, Erica, who was also found with her throat slashed, lying dead in her crib. Watson said the prosecut ion would call 30 witnesses and present (i7 exhibits in the course of the trial lhat would link Dan Lafferty to the "ii.ai-!ors,-an- would also establish a motive for the killings. The most graphic testimony was delivered by Ricky Martin Knapp, who described a month long Odyssey (hat began when he and Dan Laf-ferty "witnessed - shared our 'testimonies of Jesus Christ", when both were working on a demoliton Lindon City Council mulls local issues By CINDY LLOYD Items discussed at the recent Lindon City Council meeting on Jan. 2, 1985 included the policy on Sewer hookups bordering Pleasant Grove and Orem. It was decided that residents of Lindon City are required to hookup to sewer systems within 500 feet of their property. Residents of Lindon hooking up with Pleasant Grove will be billed by Pleasant Grove. Some Orem residents will also have to hookup with Lindon and other Lindon residents will hookup with Orem. A motion to authorize the signing of a contract with the State Emergency Management Agency was passed. The guidelines of the contract were reviewed for receiving state help for the 1984 flood damage, to Lindon City, in-- . eluding damage to the boat harbor and road damage. The Horseshoe Creek Plat "A" Special Improvement District Bond Sale Resolution was passed, also. Horseshoe Creek property owners will be billed by the city as the city has guaranteed the bond for special improvements of that district. Also discussed at the council meeting was the Boat Harbor sub-lease agreement reviewed with Mr. Castle and the City Hall cleaning contract. Both of these issues will bear further discussion and decision making. Council adopts priorities in Capital Improvements By MARCELLA WALKER Pleasant Grove City Council adopted what Mayor David Holdaway termed a "position paper" on Capital Improvement goals for the next few years at the council meeting held last week. A list of 10 projects was prepared by the city's department heads as goals that should be reached with capital improvement funds. The projects were not listed in order of priority and some of them were earmarked as possible projects for seeking Community Block Grant funds. Among the projects listed were a public library, new city shop, ad-dition to fire station, new city hall, replacement of heat system in Public Safety Building, extention of sewer lines to North Pleasant Grove, implementation of master storm drainage plan, upgrade city vehicles, city computer, rehabilitation of existing low income homes and construction of new homes. Mayor Holdaway noted that the city should also give a high priority to developing a park in the north part of town. The council decided that the city will apply for Community Block Grant Funds to continue the ex-tention of sewer lines into the north section of the community. The city council members in-dicated they would like to apply for funds to be used to rehabilitate some low income housing, perhaps for ramps for the handicapped and parking places. The council went over the items one by one, noting the urgency of some and questioning the pressing nature of others. The enlargement of the present library or a new structure was suggested as the most necessary project at this time. The council discussed the possibility of moving : the city hall offices to the basement of the Public Safety Building and placing the library in the present city hall. The library was actually housed in the upstairs of the city hall at one time. Sec Improvements Page 3 City Engineer fields council questions per' month which the attorney felt was fair until an extremely high number of hours were spent on city work since June. The council decided to keep him on retainer of $1,500 per month for up to 40 hours of work. Everything over that will be paid for at the rate of $50 per hour. Mayor Holdaway cautioned the council to think matters over By MARCELLA WALKER Lee Wimmer, Pleasant Grove City Engineer, told the Pleasant Grove City Council Wednesday that the cost to lay the sewer throughout the rest of the north part of the city would be approximately $1.5 million. Mayor David Holdaway said the city gets complaints all the time about the failing septic systems in hat area. He said that even though it is early in the year yet, there are many problems existing already. The mayor said the city would like 'o seek more possible grants to help finance more sewer extensions into that area. He told the council and engineer that State Representative Don Lebaron will be at the city hall next Tuesday, January 8, to talk with the city council about concerns the city has that the legislature could help with. Councilman John Frampton reported that the city now has three salt spreaders because of fixing up an old one, the present one and acquiring a new one. Councilman David Dickerson said that the scoreboard has been in-stalled in the Community Center. Two scoreboards will be installed at Battlecreek Park. All of the scoreboards have been donated to the city. Mayor Holdaway stated that by the next city council meeting the city's properly in th Gibson In dustrial Park will be cleaned up or else. He said that the city council asked for this to be done a long time ago and it has not been done. Mayor Holdaway told the council that he had talked to Harold Jacklin of the Strawberry Days Committee who said that his group would be willing to purchase new Christmas decorations for the city if the city would store them and see that they were put up. He suggested that the Chamber of Commerce and a committee of volunteers might help. Some council members suggested that the decorations be spread out so that all segments of the business community could benefit from them and not just the Main Street mer-chants. Councilman Lloyd Ash was assigned to check with the Strawberry Days Association to see what they have in mind. The council noted that the assignment to see that the decorations are put up each year could come under the Parks and Recreation Dept. and this would help to see that they were up suf-ficiently early and stored properly. Councilman Dave Faux explained that the decorations had been stored in the basement of the Utah Power and Light Building for years even though it has a dirt floor. Others are now also using this storage area and proper care of the decorations is difficult to maintain there now. Councilman Ash said that he felt that plenty of other storage places were available including a large area in the basement of the Public Safety Building. Mayor Holdaway reported that he had met with the Alpine Superin-tendent of Schools who slated lhat he thought the Central High School student enrollment will be main-tained at its present level. The City Hall and Police Depart-ment personnel have received numerous complaints about the location of the Central High School, Alpine's alternate high school, ' so near to the city park. Supt. Cox said that the district is looking at some alternate sites for the school but he anticipates that it will be several years before a change would be made. The superintendent questioned the safety of putting the fire engines in the shop area since part of the building houses students and a fire hazard would exist with the gasoline in the fire trucks stored there. Mayor Holdaway suggested that a citizens committee be formed to see what options are available in con-sidering moving the city hall, , library and fire station. The city attorney had asked the council to consider a form of reimbursement to him for the extra hours he has recently spent in legal work for the city. Mayor Holdaway noted that the attorney receives a retainer of $1,500 carefully before taking them to the attorney so that some of the time spent on problems could be cut down. The mayor told the council that he had made a thorough study of the revenues and expenditures of the city budget to date. He said that everything was right in line and he was very pleased to report this. Councilman Ash reported that more police cars are needed. The chief wants to purchase ones similar to the other new ones they have acquired. The councilman said the officers liked the smaller vehicles, they moved well in snow, they were economical and they liked the white color. He stated that they planned to stay with the white color and the marking on the side. The city council approved sending a letter to Brigham Young University congratulating the football team for being named the number one team in the country and national champions. Smoke detectors available to low income families The Pleasant Grove Fire Department will be distributing Smoke Detectors at no charge to those who qualify as low income families. Carolyn Smith, president of the Pleasant Grove Firemen's Auxiliary which adminsters the program, said that applications are available at the Pleasant Grove and Lindon City Halls and at the Dave Faux home in the Manila area. This program is being made available through a grant the fire auxiliary received last fall. The $25,000 grant is for a pilot program to provide life safety and educating the citizens of this area about basic fire prevention ideas around the home. Since life safety and education are of prime importance, the battery-operate- d smoke detectors are en-couraged in every home in the area. Five hundred smoke detectors will be distributed in the project. Those who feel that they qualify should apply. Others who do not have a smoke detector and would like one may also apply and they will be considered. As part of the fire prevention program, the members of the auxiliary will be conducting a city survey to determine fire prevention needs. The Fireladies will also be speaking at Relief Societies, schools and clubs about fire prevention. They have a portable display which they take with them. Films, tapes and other visual aids about fire prevention will also be made available to groups in the city. Mrs. Smith noted that fire is a ' prime killer of those age 30 and under. Fire prevention should not be taken lightly. The educational tools being made available through the grant will be of great benefit to the members of the community. Contact Preal Zufelt at 785-254- 5 or Carolyn Smith at 785-474- 4 about the smoke detectors or to arrange for them to speak to your group. |