Utah domestic violence killings are spiking in 2023

SALT LAKE CITY — A California man who drove to Utah to shoot and kill his brother. A Layton man accused of killing his wife and her parents. An Enoch man who shot and killed his wife, children and mother-in-law to death. A Salt Lake man who killed his teenage son before taking his own life.

During the first six months of 2023, Utah has investigated more domestic violence-related deaths than it did the previous five years during the same period.

According to statistics compiled by KSL.com, 22 people were killed in Utah from Jan. 1 through June 30 in domestic violence incidents. All but two of those deaths were from guns. In 18 of those 22 killings a direct family member is accused, while the others were allegedly committed by a boyfriend.

In comparison, there were 14 people who were killed in domestic violence incidents during the first six months of 2022; six in 2021; 14 in 2020; 11 in 2019; and nine in 2019, according to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification. Utah counts domestic violence-related "murder, non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter" in compiling its statistics.

The 22 domestic violence deaths during the first six months are more than all of 2021 domestic violence deaths, according to state's statistics, and just two shy of all of 2022.

Elizabeth Sollis, a domestic violence victim advocate and former longtime spokeswoman for the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, says the primary reasons for domestic violence are power and control. And the abuse doesn't always start with physical assaults.

"The majority of physically abusive relationships start with emotional abuse. A lot of people want to discount the unhealthy, abusive behaviors they see or experience because they may not rise to the level of physical violence," she said. "I truly believe the denial of progressive emotional and verbal abuse, which frequently escalates to physical violence, is part of why we're seeing more severe and fatal cases of domestic violence."

Sollis says she will often hear excuses such as, "But they've never been physically abusive." She says the community cannot dismiss controlling and manipulative actions or comments made by a perpetrator, or pass off other abusive behaviors as proof of a "loving" relationship.

The year got off to a tragic start when eight members of an Enoch family were found dead in their home in January:

• Tausha Haight, 40; Haight's mother, Gail Earl, 78; and Haight's children — three daughters ages 17, 12, and 7, and two sons, ages 7 and 4 — were shot to death by the children's father and Haight's husband, Michael Orwin Haight, 42, who then took his own life.
• In March, Timothy Parker, 58, and his wife, Jeannie Parker, 50, were found deceased in their Spanish Fork home after officers were called to conduct a welfare check. Both were shot to death. Their son, Tryston Robert Erickson, 26, was arrested in Colorado following a chase with police.
• In April, Scott Roberts was shot and killed at his North Ogden home by his brother, Jeffrey Roberts, of Long Beach, California, who police say drove to Utah and shot his brother shortly after Scott answered the door. Jeffrey Roberts then set fire to the home and was killed in a shootout with responding officers. Scott Roberts' wife, Jodi Roberts, survived.
• In May, 16-year-old Om Moses Gandhi was shot and killed by his father, Parth Gandhi, 49, at his neuropsychology clinic at 2936 S. Highland Drive. Parth Gandhi and his wife divorced in 2009 and had been involved in a bitter child custody battle ever since.
• Six days later in Layton, Anastasia Stevens, 36, and her father and stepmother — Becky Stevens, 61, and Donald Stevens, 73 — were found shot to death inside Anastasia Stevens' home. Jeremy Bailey, 34, her husband, was charged with three counts of aggravated murder, a capital offense, and could potentially face the death penalty if convicted.
• On June 29, police say Dallas Wade Martineau, 40, was "lying in wait" in his brother-in-law's West Haven backyard and when Russell Allen Evans, 50, came outside on the back porch, he was shot multiple times.

The total number of domestic violence-related killings could have been even higher if not for the medical attention given by doctors and first responders in several other Utah incidents, as well as just good luck for the victims. For example:

• John Christian Barlow, 25, allegedly shot his father three times with a small-caliber gun, including once in the face, and was charged with attempted murder. His father is expected to make a full recovery.
• In June, Alec Paul Davis, 26, allegedly slit his 53-year-old mother's throat and nearly killed her after taking drugs in Midvale. He was charged with attempted aggravated murder.

Sonia Salari says research has found that women are more likely to be murdered in the United States by a current or former intimate partner, while men are more likely to be killed by an acquaintance or complete stranger. The types of men who kill their significant others can typically be broken down into two categories — "homicidal-intent" and "suicidal-intent."

Salari is a professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies. She has a doctorate of philosophy in sociology with an expertise in family violence. She has published several articles and books about her research on intimate partner violence and guns.

Suicidal men, or men who kill their partner and then themselves, sometimes don't show any red flags.

"People don't think of them as a domestic violence offender," Salari said. "They think the person is an upstanding individual — quiet, but seeming to be functioning well.

"The perpetrators were often reported to be kind or good parents. Neither the victims nor family members previously reported fear of danger from the perpetrator," she also said in a 2021 article.

A homicidal-intent man, however, may have already exhibited abuse toward his partner, who is in fear and may be trying to get away from the perpetrator, she said.

"Most instances of intimate partner violence are difficult to detect, because neither victims nor perpetrators are likely to report family violence," she said in the article.

Salari further noted in a 2018 article, "While not all (intimate partner violence) leads to murder, unresolved and ongoing abuse can escalate, increasing the risk of a male abuser killing his female victims.

"Male-on-female homicide, particularly in young (intimate partner) relationships, are associated with motives of isolation, competition, jealousy and entitlement," she saids.

Salari has also done extensive research on gun violence and domestic shootings.

"Firearms make domestic violence deadlier, with women five times more likely to die if their abuser owns a gun," according to an article she co-authored in 2021. "And 20 times higher mortality if they have been previously threatened with a firearm."

She also points out that gun sales in the United State rose dramatically between 2018 and 2021.

Salari says many victims of domestic violence do not call police. But when someone does, she says those victims need to be believed.

"Victims are the experts in their own case and should be believed when they show concern about their safety, or when they seek help from police, a victim's advocate, or court services," she said.

A victim's survival rate is 68% better if an expert, such as police or a victim's advocate, get involved, Salari said. She says tools such as the lethality assessment protocol that police are required to conduct on domestic violence calls, are important and she hopes tools like that will continue to evolve.

"Our research suggests that (lethality assessment protocol) screening tools should be modified for older women, who are more likely to die by a husband with suicidal ideation, and perhaps no history of domestic violence. Under the cover of normalcy, most elder adult women do not realize they are endangered and do not appear to be fleeing in fear. While some in the media may falsely perceive this to be agreement with the violence, there is little evidence to suggest this is true.

"Most were ambushed while going about the business of the day, or while sleeping in bed," she wrote in her 2021 article. "These women were cut down without warning in such a way that they didn't seek protective orders."

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