Unsealed filings in restaurateur's death detail his fears of estranged husband

Unsealed filings in restaurateur's death detail his fears of estranged husband

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SALT LAKE CITY — In the weeks before he died, prominent Utah restaurateur John Williams sought legal protection for himself and his property as he claimed his estranged husband became increasingly volatile and violent.

He didn't think it would do much good.

According to recently unsealed court documents obtained by the Deseret News and KSL, Williams claimed Craig Crawford, 48, was deteriorating mentally and emotionally, becoming a risk to Williams' property and a danger to those around him.

But on the same day he requested a protective order, Williams' lawyer filed another document saying Williams didn't believe the order would help.

"Mr. Williams has informed me that respondent's mental and emotional state is such that it would be futile to give him notice that we are seeking a temporary restraining order," attorney Ellen Maycock wrote. "We are also concerned that attempting to give notice to respondent will induce him to cause additional damage to the residences that Mr. Williams is seeking to protect."

That request was denied, as was a request from Crawford the next week seeking a restraining order against Williams.

Williams, 71, was killed nearly three weeks after he filed his request when police say Crawford went to the home they had shared, 574 N. East Capitol St., early on the morning of May 22, 2016, and set fire to the second-floor foyer.

Unable to escape the burning house, Williams died of smoke inhalation.

Crawford is charged with aggravated arson and aggravated murder, a charge which carries a potential death penalty. He has not yet entered a plea in the case.

Despite those domestic violence attacks that end in tragedy, advocates and attorneys assert that in many cases, a protective order can effectively deter someone from further contacting or harming a victim.

However, they warn that court orders are less effective when they aren't coupled with additional victim services and safety planning, and no piece of paper is guaranteed to serve as a shield.

Seeking protection

A protective order, issued by a court, does not cost any money and is meant to keep a victim of domestic violence safe by prohibiting a cohabitant — such as a current or former spouse, romantic partner or relative — from contacting, harassing or hurting the victim and any of the victim's children.

It differs from other orders, such as a criminal protective order, a stalking injunction, a restraining order or a no contact order.

Stewart Ralphs, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake, explains that a protective order is helpful in many situations, offering a petitioner peace of mind, placing court and police authority behind instructions not to contact a victim, and laying out documented grounds for criminal consequences if the order is violated.

But simply obtaining a protective order may not be enough, which is why Ralphs and others are urging domestic violence victims to also work with advocates who are prepared to help them stay safe.

"Out in real time, in the real world, it's a piece of paper," Ralphs said. "Our overwhelming experience here at Legal Aid Society is that, when people do get protective orders and then take those acts to help keep themselves safe, it does change their safety."

Based on the office's internal surveys of clients, Ralphs said that as many as 90 percent of people have reported that, after a year of having a protective order in place, they had not experienced further violence.

"I simply think that those statements that these (protective orders) aren't effective is just not correct," Ralphs said. "I think the overwhelming evidence is that it is."

Forms for requesting a protective order are available online on the Utah State Courts website, in local courthouses and police stations, or in locations serving domestic violence victims.

Once filed, the request will be reviewed by a judge within a few days. If sufficient reason is found, the judge will immediately issue a temporary order to be served on the respondent by law enforcement. The temporary order then remains in place until a hearing can be held to argue the issue and a decision is made on whether to make the order permanent.

The temporary order can address issues like property ownership, child custody and whether the respondent can retain weapons.

Violating a protective order carries a class A misdemeanor charge. If someone has already been convicted in a previous domestic violence case, the violation is a third-degree felony.

Along with the order, Jennifer Campbell, executive director of South Valley Services, urges victims in abusive or dangerous relationships to accept services that can help them navigate the legal, personal and safety concerns that arise. In many cases, a protective order is not the finish line, but is a way of documenting the situation so that criminal charges can be filed when the order is violated.

"This becomes part the historical narrative of what (the victim) is trying to do. It doesn't necessarily mean the violence has stopped because of it," Campbell said. "We have to surround individuals in our community with safe places, shelter, case management services, having a good working relationship of knowing who's their police victim advocate, pulling our police departments in, all of those things I think are required for an individual to feel more safe in connection with that protective order."

For Campbell, part of helping someone seek a protective order includes preparing them for the day that order is violated, a day that has to be assumed is inevitable. That could include knowing who to call at the police department and what to report, having important legal documents and medications ready in case they need to flee and talking to their children and their children's schools to let them know what's happening.

Additionally, a victim could just need the knowledge that someone is there to help them, Campbell said.

"We shouldn't expect anyone to have to navigate that alone. There are amazing resources, both in our police department and with our victim service providers, and that's what they're trained to do, they're trained to help someone in that emergency crisis situation," Campbell said.

Holly Johnson, victim services coordinator with the Saratoga Springs and Bluffdale police departments, encourages anyone who is thinking about seeking a protective order to first talk to an advocate. For those who call her, Johnson advises she needs at least an hour to explain how the different orders work and help assess whether seeking one is advisable.

"Every situation definitely is different," Johnson said. "Sometimes, getting a protective order could put you in more danger, it just depends on your situation. … That may sound weird, but it's true."

Others, especially those with a goal of repairing a relationship, are surprised to learn that once a hearing has been held and a protective order put in place, the order is permanent unless a modification or dismissal is later sought, Johnson said.

"There's a lot to think about when you're doing it. How is this going to work for me? Is it going to work for me? Do I really not want to talk to this person ever again?"

The Williams divorce

Williams filed for divorce from Crawford on May 4, 2016, according to court records, and had petitioned for a temporary restraining order against Crawford the next day in an effort to keep Crawford away from residences he owned in Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Court documents in divorce cases are closed under a rule the Utah Judicial Council adopted in 2012 and the Utah Supreme Court then approved. The Deseret News and KSL petitioned the 3rd District Court to unseal the case file, arguing that the public's constitutional right of access to court records is not subservient to a judicial rule.

Court Commissioner Michelle Blomquist recently granted the request and opened the file. Those documents provide additional insight into the tension surrounding Williams and Crawford's relationship before Williams' death.

The unsealed documents do not, however, reveal why Williams' petition for a protective order was denied by Blomquist.

Included in the court filings is a declaration from a housekeeper, Patty Lignell, who knew both men for 15 years. She wrote in a May 18 court declaration that she went to San Francisco on April 28 to take care of the residence there at Williams' request. Crawford was staying at the home.

"Craig was behaving irrationally and was making many paranoid remarks. For example, he seemed to think that the TV remote controls had been programmed to harm him. He was throwing them around and breaking them," she wrote.

Crawford said "obscene things to me, something he would not ordinarily do," according to Lignell's declaration.

The house was a mess with beer bottles and Jack Daniels bottles everywhere, she wrote, adding Crawford was in no condition to maintain it.

Crawford insisted Lignell leave. She wrote that she was "somewhat fearful of his behavior" so she left the next day.

Williams and Crawford were married in July 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, according to Williams' divorce petition. Before their marriage, Williams and Crawford entered into a property agreement. The agreement covered property rights and division, earnings and compensation, debts and obligations, and a deal that neither partner would pay alimony in the event of a divorce.

However, according to charging documents, Crawford made "multiple statements" in the past about "how he would be rich when Mr. Williams died" as well as his desire to "set Mr. Williams' home on fire or how he wished the home would burn down."

Williams was the president of Gastronomy, which operates the popular Market Street Grill, Market Street Oyster Bar and the New Yorker restaurants. He restored and renovated old buildings, founded the Downtown Alliance and championed the local arts, Salt Lake City's Olympic bid and other community organizations.

A previously unsealed search warrant affidavit says Williams met with the Gastronomy information technology manager about May 9 and asked him to "help him with a personal security problem."

All the locks and all the codes to the electronic locks on Williams' house were changed, according to the warrant, as well as the code to the house alarm.

"All this was done because Williams was fearful of Crawford," the affidavit states.

Williams also installed a security camera system that could be accessed by both his cellphone and the IT manager's cellphone.

Who is to blame?

After 25 years serving as a victim advocate, Johnson knows that when a protective order is violated leading to serious injury or death, there is only one person to blame: the perpetrator.

Johnson recalled one client right away, a woman who had done "everything you'd think she could possibly do," including leaving her abuser, obtaining a protective order, cooperating with police as criminal charges were filed, and making a safety plan with victim advocates.

But that didn't stop the man she had been in a relationship with from breaking into her apartment, hiding in her closet, and then shooting and killing her when she came home.

It's an all too familiar story surrounding many Utah homicides.

"If you look at it, what else could she have done? We have to say, really, the responsibility is on the perpetrator," Johnson said. "He's the one who did this."

While Johnson has helped clients through the years obtain protective orders, most have proved helpful and effective, either preventing further problems or leading to criminal consequences if an order is violated.

Johnson believes Utah's system for requesting protective orders and penalties for violating them are sufficient. Where the state could improve, she said, is continuing to educate Utahns about the where, how and why of protective orders, and urging some law enforcement to respond more quickly and seriously when orders are violated.

"I have seen a lot of improvement in laws in my career," Johnson said. "I've been around a long time, from when they were hard to get and they were iffy. … I think currently (the laws) are pretty good."

Ralphs and Campbell agree that the state has a strong system backing protective orders, and what's needed moving forward is continued education for the public and support for victims when they reach for help.

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA's Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465).

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