Jealousy-fueled man killed 2 in Logan apartment, police say

Jealousy-fueled man killed 2 in Logan apartment, police say

(Michelle Tessier, Deseret News)


16 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LOGAN — A Logan man forced his way into an apartment shortly after midnight Monday, killing a former girlfriend and another man before breaking into an apartment of a second man and killing himself, police said.

Investigators say Jared Jay Tolman, a member of the Utah National Guard, was apparently jealous over two men who liked his ex-girlfriend.

Tolman, 23, of Logan, kicked in the door of an apartment at 636 E. 500 North and shot MacKenzie Madden, 19, and Johnathon Jacob Sadler, 25, multiple times with a rifle, police said. About 45 minutes later he broke into an apartment at 1693 N. 400 West, where he took his own life.

"Basically there were three boys all interested in the same girl," said Logan Police Lt. Rod Peterson. "Mr. Tolman is one of the three men that is interested in MacKenzie, and I'm not sure he was particularly fond of whatever relationship Johnathon had with MacKenzie."

After shooting the two, Tolman then went to the second apartment looking for another man who also had spent time with Madden. "Whether it was romantic or just whatever it was, (Tolman) didn't approve of that," Peterson said.

Tolman kicked in the bedroom door of the second apartment, but the man was not there.

"When he did not find him at home, as I suspect he thought he would, he turned the gun on himself and shot himself," Peterson said.

Two other people were in the second apartment at the time of the shooting and called 911.

Stephanie Powers — who was Madden's roommate for a year and a half during last school year in the same apartment where her friend was shot and killed — said Tolman and Madden at one point had a serious relationship.

Vigil

"They were dating. I don't know if they were still dating when this happened. He seemed like a nice guy. He seemed to have his head on straight. So it's kind of shocking," she told KSL News. "I think they were pretty serious. But that's just from an outsider's perspective."

Detectives believe Tolman went to the first apartment looking for Madden. The two had been texting prior to the shooting and there was some contention. Tolman, Peterson said, "made a poor choice" in dealing with it.

"We suspect his initial intended target was MacKenzie. But we have no idea whether or not Mr. Tolman knew Jonathan was over there or not. Maybe he did know he was over there and maybe that was part of his concern. There's no way to really know for sure," the lieutenant said.

Logan police officers were called to the apartment at 12:16 a.m. Some tenants called 911 believing there had been an explosion. Some witnesses reported that a vehicle was spotted fleeing from the area shortly after the shootings.

MacKenzie Madden

Madden was a student at Utah State University, working toward a bachelor's degree in both sociology and psychology with a minor in criminal justice and a certificate in law and society area studies, according to her LinkedIn page.

Logan police confirmed that Madden interned with them during 2013 and compiled research on active shooter situations. She graduated from Hillcrest High School in 2011.

"She knew what she wanted to do. She was smart and knew what she was talking about. She was fun to be around," Powers said. "She spent a lot of time studying. But on the side, her and her sister, they were always crafting or cooking. They were always cooking."

Quote

Madden and her sister made Christmas ornaments last winter for their mother, Powers recalled. Madden's sister lives in the same apartment complex and Powers believes she heard the shots. Powers said it was "hard to wrap my head around" the tragic incident.

Tolman and Madden met while working at Wal-Mart in Logan. They dated, but Powers believes that by the end of last school year she wanted to break it off.

"She was talking about ending the relationship, but she never did as far as I know," Powers said. "She just wasn't into it, I think. Wanted to be able to date other guys."

When asked whether Tolman was a controlling person, Powers said: "I think he kind of seemed controlling, in a way, and he did get a little jealous. He was always wanting to know where she was and what she was doing."

Jared Tolman

Tolman recently graduated from USU and was serving in the Utah Army National Guard. This was his initial enlistment. He was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Unit, General Support Battalion, said National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Stephen Fairbourn. Tolman had duties of laundry and equipment handler at the time of his death. Tolman was in the process of getting out of the National Guard, he said, but the paperwork had not been completed.

The weapon used in the killings was a personal one that Tolman owned and not a government or military-issued weapon, according to police.

"Our hearts go out to those affected," Fairbourn said.

The Utah Army National Guard will be cooperating with Logan authorities in their investigation, he said, and will also conduct its own internal investigation.

Johnathon Sadler

Sadler attended Logan High School and USU, according to his Facebook page. He was working at Todd Sadler Construction at the time of his death. Several friends left messages of remembrance on Sadler's Facebook wall on Monday.

"You were a great friend and the only thing i could think of when I heard the horrible news is how I will miss stayin up all night playin video games with you or partyin all night and being way too loud a 3 in the morning," wrote Jacob Shepherd. "The main thing I will never forget though is how big of a teddy bear you were and you would hug everybody. You will be missed big guy. R.I.P."

"Jonathan was a good guy and a good friend. My heart hurts for the family's loss. This is unimaginable ...," wrote Richard Jacques.

Contributing: Mike Anderson and McKenzie Romero

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Pat Reavy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast