Salt Lake man sentenced for killing friend of his ex-girlfriend

Estimated read time: 2-3 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man will serve at least 41 years and up to life in prison for trying to kidnap his ex-girlfriend and murdering her friend.

A jury found William Henry Clark, 35, guilty in March of the 2021 aggravated murder of Ryan Prendergast, 21, and aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies. He was also found guilty of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony.

Third District Judge Paul Parker sentenced Clark to 25 years up to life in prison for aggravated murder, and from 15 years up to life for aggravated kidnapping. He will also serve between one and 15 years for possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. Each sentence is to be served consecutively, meaning he will spend a minimum of 41 years in prison.

At the time of the incident, Prendergast was living in a tent near 900 South and 500 West in Salt Lake City, and Clark's ex-girlfriend was staying with him, according to charging documents. On April 26, 2021, Clark drove to the tent, charges state.

He "began yelling for (his ex-girlfriend) to come out or he would start shooting people," the charges state. When the woman came out of the tent, Clark allegedly "put a gun to her cheek, said, 'I should shoot you right now,' and then told her to get in his car."

The woman refused to get in the car; Prendergast then came out of the tent and Clark shot him before driving off, according to charging documents.

Police said Clark had previously left voicemails on his ex-girlfriend's phone, saying that "he was going to hurt her and her friends." In one message, Clark said, "I'm gonna start shooting your (stuff) up." He also sent her a Facebook message saying, "I'm gonna smash ur new man," charges state.

Police tracked Clark to a house in Magna where he was taken into custody after a 12-hour standoff with SWAT teams from Salt Lake and Unified police agencies.

Prosecutors believe one of Clark's ex-girlfriends bought the gun used to kill Prendergast at a pawn shop Feb. 13, 2021, because Clark was unable to buy one himself as a convicted felon, according to charging documents.

At the time, Clark was on felony probation for drugs and weapons charges. He has a "significant criminal history in Utah," prosecutors said.

A restitution hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 11.