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HEBER CITY — A Utah man suspected of faking his own death shortly after prosecutors accused him of raping a child in 2016 turned himself in Saturday at the Wasatch County Jail.
Ted Lee Whitehead, 37, walked into the lobby of the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office about 10:30 a.m. and told deputies he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, Chief Deputy Jared Rigby said. A quick records check confirmed the no-bail warrant for a first-degree felony offense and Whitehead was taken into custody without incident, Rigby said.
"It is something that isn't common," the deputy chief said, referring to someone self-surrendering on such a serious offense, "but it does happen from time to time."
The warrant for Whitehead's arrest was issued for his failure to appear last year in two Duchesne County cases where he is charged with rape and rape of a child, both first-degree felonies. The cases were filed in April 2016, according to court records.
Whitehead was arrested at the time the charges were filed, but quickly posted bail and was released from the Duchesne County Jail. A short time later, he told his mother he intended to kill himself by jumping off a bridge into the runoff-swollen Green River in neighboring Uintah County, court records show.
Investigators found Whitehead's vehicle, a pair of sandals and an empty bottle of whiskey at the river's edge, Duchesne County sheriff's detective Darrin Yates wrote in a search warrant affidavit. An extensive search of the river using boats, specially trained dogs and underwater cameras, however, failed to turn up Whitehead's body, Yates wrote.
The victim and her mother told investigators they did not believe Whitehead was "the type to take his own life" and expressed ongoing fear that he was still alive and "capable of raping other young kids," court records show.
Their doubts about Whitehead's apparent death appeared to be substantiated in November when a laptop computer was mailed to the victim's house, Yates wrote in court papers. A letter included with the computer stated the laptop was a gift from Google; however, the letter was filled with grammatical errors, the detective wrote.
"The victim along with her mother believe the letter to be a fake and they believe (Whitehead) wrote the letter," Yates told an 8th District Court judge in a sworn statement. "They stated they did not use the computer and did not write anything on the computer."
A forensic analysis of the laptop revealed dozens of images and videos containing child pornography, as well as an apparent journal, Yates wrote.
"The journal entries contain very graphic sexual writing stating how the victim was in love with (Whitehead) and how she always wanted to have sex with the suspect and how she misses him," the detective wrote.
"It is believed (Whitehead) wrote the journal entries and downloaded the child porn to frame the victim," Yates added.
Authorities in Wasatch County were largely unaware Saturday of "the substance of the case" in Duchesne County, Rigby said, and Whitehead made no statements to investigators at the time of his surrender about where he has been. Whitehead is being held without bail, Rigby said.
"We will hold Mr. Whitehead until Duchesne County comes to transport him," he said.
