Saratoga Springs - Eagle Mountain - Lehi - Fairfield - Cedar Fort - Cedar Hills - American Fork - Highland - Alpine
The Crossroads Journal

Eagle Mountain bench holds dark history

By Mike Kieffer
EAGLE MOUNTAIN -- Eagle Mountain is located in the Cedar Valley in Northern Utah. The city only has an official history of twenty years, but the area has a long history and has been witness to good and bad events.

The Cedar Valley is usually associated with the Pony Express trail that runs trough it, but the Pony Express is not the only history the valley has seen. As the Eagle Mountain benches are developed, the cedar trees are cleared and open space is covered with buildings and pavement. During that development, the history of Cedar Valley will also be paved, and cleared for new experiences and events. Some of that history needs to be remembered and preserved for the sake of those who were involved, so their memories will not be lost to development.

The names of Alonzo Daniels (age 4), Kim Peterson (age 11), Danny Davis (age 4), Troy Ward (age 6), and Graeme Cunningham (age 13) should not be lost in the development of Lake Mountain's western slopes. These five boys were the victims of the serial killer Arthur Gary Bishop. Alonzo Daniels was the first boy that was killed by Bishop. He was also the first boy that bishop buried on the cedar covered slopes of what is now known as the Eagle Mountain benches. He was only 4 years old and was buried in a shallow grave on October 14, 1979, surrounded by the cedar trees on the west side of Lake Mountain.

Kim Peterson was the second boy killed by Bishop. On November 9th, 1980, a year after Bishop buried Alonzo, he convinced Kim Peterson to go rabbit hunting with him. Bishop shot Kim in the back as they walked back to the vehicle. He then hid him behind some bushes until he could return with a shovel. When Bishop returned, he then buried Kim within 40 feet of where he buried Alonzo.

Danny Davis was the third boy killed by Bishop. He was lured by Bishop from a store bishop was living by that Danny was visiting with his Grandfather. On October 20, 1981, Bishop killed Danny, put his little body in a box, and the next day took him to the Eagle Mountain benches, where he buried him next to the graves of Alonzo and Kim. "After he had buried the boy, he noticed a truck parked on the road not far from where he was and was aware that the men in the truck could have seen him. He walked up and talked to them and found out that they were hunting deer and hadn't been aware of him. He told them he came out there to bury his favorite dog." [1] Danny was the last body that Bishop would bury on the slopes of Lake Mountain.

Troy Ward was killed by Bishop on June 22, 1983, and his body was put in the creek up Big Cottonwood Canyon. His final victim was Graeme Cunningham who was killed on July 14, 1983, and was put in the creek with Tony.

After the murder of Graeme, Bishop was questioned by the police and confessed to the murder of all five boys. He then led the police to the location on the Eagle Mountain benches where he had buried Alonzo, Kim and Danny.

In July 1983, Marc Haddock the managing editor of the American Fork Citizen, the Lehi Free Press and the Pleasant Grove Review wrote a column entitled "Against some danger there's little protection." The column talks about when he was taken to the scene by a Sheriff deputy.

"The three graves lay secluded in a clump of small cedar trees at the base of Lake Mountain - just over a mile off the main dirt road that runs along the mountain's foothills...The graves aren't next to each other; they are about 40 feet apart and placed in a triangular configuration. All that's left now are four holes - three for the actual graves, and a fourth, much smaller, near one of the graves where officers had started to dig and then had to move their shovels a foot or two before they found the actual site...Littered around the area are the evidences of the investigation carried out by the law officers - paper scraps, photographic film wrappers and an occasional plastic bag...Two of the graves were dug in soft clay, the third in rockier soil…," wrote Haddock.

Haddock then made the following editorial comments, "How can we help but have our perspective changed when we look at the lives that are shattered when children become the victims of the most degrading type of human behavior…When children become the victims of these kinds of crimes, it brings home to us the knowledge that our world is not safe, and it will never be."

Bishop was brought to trial on February 27, 1984. On March 19, 1984, he was found guilty of five counts of aggravated murder, five counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of abusing a minor. He was then sentenced to death, and the sentence was carried out on June 10, 1988, by lethal injection at the Utah State Prison, only miles away from the graves he led officers to four years earlier. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that there were hundreds of other victims, but these five boys were the only ones that were murdered by Bishop. Bishop left pain and sorrow in his wake, let's not forget those who lost their innocence and were laid in shallow graves on the slopes of Lake Mountain.

I contacted Haddock about his column in the American Fork Citizen and asked him if he could verify the location of the grave sites. He identified the location on the western slopes of Lake Mountain on the east side of Lake Mountain Road. Haddock said that after 30 years, the area has changed so much that he could not "swear to the veracity of" the site. The area he identified is currently owned by the US Government as BLM land, it is still covered by Cedar trees, and continues to be untouched by development.

Haddock closed his 1983 column with these words, "That's something we cannot afford to forget, but it's something we don't like to think about...So those three shallow graves haunt me - they bring home to me some of my deepest fears. And while I know that 10 years from now I could make the trip to that site unerringly, despite the ordinary nature of the location, I won't."

Haddock has a long history in journalism and has written articles and editorial columns for many newspapers, but he told me, "I don't remember a lot of the things I wrote, but I remember that column."

Maybe as development moves onto the slopes of Lake Mountain in the Eagle Mountain bench area we should name parks after Alonzo, Kim, and Danny to remember them, and their original resting places.

Note: I want to thank Marc Haddock for his help with this article. When I contacted him, I am sure it brought back some memories that he wished would stay buried. Despite the nature of the inquiry, he was very helpful, and I appreciate his help.
The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2024 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 


Login

Sign in with your Facebook account
      
Sign in with your Crossroads Journal account


Don't have an account?
Register using Facebook Login | Register w/ The Crossroads Journal