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BLUFFDALE — The husband of Bluffdale Mayor Natalie Hall was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges accusing him of threatening her political opponent during the 2021 election.
Third District Judge Paul B. Parker said he heard enough evidence to send the case to a jury concerning allegations that Jason Christopher Hall physically assaulted Bluffdale City Councilman Jeffrey Gaston at a park, sent at least three threatening letters to him and attempted to influence the councilman's actions.
Gaston dropped out of the race for Bluffdale mayor in 2021 because of those threats, prosecutors say.
Hall, 48, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to threatening elected officials — assault, a third-degree felony, plus stalking and threatening to influence an official action, class A misdemeanors.
Thomas Russell, a special agent with the Utah Attorney General's Office assigned to the case, testified there were threatening contents in anonymous letters sent by Hall, who is charged with sending emails to Gaston anonymously and also hiring an employee to deliver letters and packages to him. Russell said they were able to learn Hall sent the emails by working with Google to identify the IP address, and later Hall admitted to sending the emails.
Russell said they concluded the letters and packages were connected to each other, and to Hall, through a consistent missing "W" for west in the address and some similar language, like "paper thin skin."
He said the letters contained either threats or veiled threats asking Gaston to leave Bluffdale and to pull out of the race. A return address to Salt Lake Axe Throwing Club could be considered a threat, Russell said, because it shows whoever sent the package throws axes.
Russell also said at one point, gag gifts were sent to members of the City Council, but not to Gaston. The gifts were labeled as a "City Council Meeting Survival Kit" and were given with instructions on how and when to use the gifts to deal with Gaston during council meetings, charging documents state.
Gaston considered those to be threats and reported them to police, Russell said.
Defense attorneys argued Hall has a protected right to criticize elected officials, and he was only defending his wife during a conversation and altercation overheard by multiple witnesses.
Natalie Hall defended her husband shortly after he was charged, and said she was threatened and bullied first, although she did not mention Gaston by name, and said her husband denies involvement in any violent threats.
One email sent to Gaston said, "Should we not see an apology to the mayor AND to the city for your temper tantrum, there will be significant efforts made to replace you when you are up for reelection" and "you should know that the wheels are in motion to render you irrelevant," charging documents state.
Four days later, Gaston received a package at his house containing a children's book on anger management along with two notes.
"The first printed note read, 'I hope this helps with your issues buddy.' A second computer-printed note included in the package read, 'Hey Imbecile !!!!!! Move out of Bluffdale, apologize or kill yourself. It's time for you to start watching your back. This is your final warning. We are moving to the next phase. Do what we ask, or we will do what must be done,'" according to the charges.
Gaston's attorney said his client started receiving letters and packages as soon as Natalie Hall learned that he intended to oppose her in the mayoral race. Gaston eventually dropped out of the race out of concern for the safety of his family. Investigators in court documents noted Gaston was "significantly ahead in the polls" when he started receiving the alleged threats.
In August 2021, investigators say Jason Hall rented a political booth in the same area as one rented by Gaston. He got upset at Gaston and threw political signs at him, "striking him, causing piercing of the skin and bruising, and persisted in a long discourse of berating, insulting and demeaning" Gaston, according to charging documents.
