Utahn pleads guilty to lighting woman on fire, hiding from police in hole

A Utah man has pleaded guilty to lighting a woman on fire in 2021 and then hiding in a 10-foot hole.

A Utah man has pleaded guilty to lighting a woman on fire in 2021 and then hiding in a 10-foot hole. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)


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FARMINGTON — A Utah man has pleaded guilty to lighting a woman on fire in 2021 and then hiding in a 10-foot hole.

Marc Allen Davis, 50, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault, a first-degree felony, and no contest to possession with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony.

Four other charges were dropped in exchange for his pleas, including possession of a dangerous weapon and possession or use of a controlled substance.

He is set to be sentenced on Oct. 19.

In September 2021, Clinton police were called to the area of 930 West and 2300 North on a report of a woman who had been burned by a road flare. When officers found the woman, she told them Davis had "poured gasoline on her and lit it on fire with a road flare," which caused "severe scars," according to court documents.

The woman's shirt and some skin on her chest were burned, according to Clinton police.

Witnesses saw Davis run into a nearby yard after assaulting the woman. Davis "was found hiding inside of an approximately 10-foot deep hole under a blanket," a police affidavit states, although at least one witness claimed the hole was much shallower than that. After multiple commands by police, Davis crawled out of the hole and was arrested.

Police said they found a red cooler in the hole Davis had been in and reported discovering drugs, drug paraphernalia and a knife inside the cooler.

In March 2021, Davis was charged in 2nd District Court with drug possession with intent to distribute, possession of a weapon by a restricted person and driving on a denied license. At the time of his arrest in that case, prosecutors noted in court documents that Davis had "multiple prior felony convictions in California, including possession of a weapon by restricted person and an assault by prisoner for which he was sentenced to prison," in addition to having a warrant for his arrest in California at the time.

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