Goshen woman accused of orchestrating kidnapping plot sentenced to prison

GOSHEN, Utah County — A woman accused of harassing a mayor, obstructing police and extorting a woman in Arizona was sentenced this week to one to 15 years in prison for her role in orchestrating a kidnapping plot in Goshen.

Amanda Kaye Bachman, 53, of Goshen, pleaded guilty on Jan. 15 to aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies, and forgery, a third-degree felony. The plea was an "Alford plea," meaning the defendant pleads guilty for the benefits of a plea bargain, but maintains their innocence by not admitting guilt.

In April, however, Bachman motioned to withdraw her plea, citing that she "was confused as to the violent classification of some of her charges and would not have gone forward with the plea had she known the nature and impact" of them, and she "never saw or read the written plea statement," court documents state.

After several hearings, the court denied her motion on Dec. 2. "There was no indication to the court that defendant was under any misapprehensions about what she was doing," the court ruling states.

On Dec. 16, Bachman was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for the kidnapping and obstruction, and a term of zero to five years for the forgery. The terms were ordered to be served concurrently.

Harassment

An investigation started when Utah County sheriff's deputies served a court-ordered "Writ of Assistance to Remove a Child" on Jan. 10 at Bachman's Goshen residence. Deputies had two warrants to remove a 3-year-old girl from the home and return her to the girl's father, who had been granted full custody five months prior. The child was "taken from Bachman through lawful courts order" and returned to her father, according to charging documents.

The girl's mother was living with Bachman at the time. When deputies went to the home, however, Bachman claimed the girl wasn't there and would not allow deputies to serve their warrant, according to the charges. Bachman was then charged with obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor.

Shortly after, Bachman posted on her Facebook page and other social media apps that the 3-year-old had been kidnapped by the Utah County Sheriff's Office and sold into human trafficking. The social media attacks later focused on two local church leaders in Goshen. One of those men, Steven Staheli, is also the mayor of Goshen.

On Feb. 12, 2024, Staheli filed a report with the Utah County Sheriff's Office against Bachman and Beth Marilyn Schardine, 34, of Spanish Fork, saying he was the victim of "ongoing harassment" from the women and that he and the second man were being subject to "lies and distortions" and that the women were "demanding payment for $1 million," charging documents state.

For the alleged harassment, Bachman and Schardine were charged in March 2024 with theft by extortion, bribery and other charges.

The kidnapping

Schardine, Ty Lucero Whetten, 38, and Kaitlyn Anne Bachman, 25, traveled to Vernal in May 2024 with the intention of taking that young girl from the child's biological father and then transporting the girl "to the child's biological mother in another city," according to charging documents.

Whetten and Kaitlyn Bachman entered the father's residence without permission, resulting in the father — an officer at the Uintah County Jail — firing a shot inside the house, according to police who arrived shortly after. No injuries were reported.

Those three were each subsequently charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies. After the trio's arrests in Vernal, Amanda Bachman advocated for their release.

Police say Amanda Bachman "posted numerous videos" on social media discussing the incident. A video posted on June 7 "depicts Amanda being interviewed by an unknown person and is 36 minutes and 55 seconds long. The information in the video is significant because Amanda admits that she was part of the planning process to go to Vernal and kidnap the child," according to a police booking affidavit.

In August 2024, an arrest warrant was issued, charging Amanda Bachman in 8th District Court with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; theft by extortion and forgery, third-degree felonies; and impersonating an officer, a class B misdemeanor. These charges stemmed from her involvement in the attempted kidnapping by the other three, court documents show.

A month later, the biological mother of the 3-year-old was arrested for allegedly conspiring with the others to kidnap her daughter, who police say she has no custodial rights over. Evidence from Bachman's cellphone indicated the mother was also involved in the planning of the attempted kidnapping.

Lindsey Colleen Morrell, 32, of Goshen, was charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; forgery, a third-degree felony; and impersonating an officer and emergency reporting abuse, class B misdemeanors.

In February this year, Amanda Bachman pleaded no contest to two counts of stalking for the mayoral harassment case and to obstruction of justice for when she tried to prevent police from entering the home to get the girl. For those misdemeanors, she was sentenced to 364 days in jail, but the term was suspended in favor of two years of probation. She was also given credit for the 253 days she served prior.

The same day she pleaded guilty to charges related to the kidnapping, Amanda Bachman was charged with attempting to extort $2 million from an Arizona woman. That case is ongoing.

'Manipulated'

Schardine pleaded guilty to reduced kidnapping and burglary charges, and the extortion and bribery charges from the mayor harassment case, in September 2024. She was released from custody in exchange for testifying against the others. Her prison and jail terms in both cases were suspended, she was given credit for the 132 days she had served in jail, and she was ordered to serve three years on probation.

During a preliminary hearing for Amanda Bachman in November 2024, Schardine testified for more than an hour, stating Bachman manipulated her and the others into thinking the girl needed to be "rescued."

"She plays these kinds of mind games … she's very manipulative. She knows how to say just the right things to get you to do what she wants you to do," Schardine testified in a recording of the hearing.

Schardine said after being incarcerated for a few months and away from Amanda Bachman, "I started to get a more clear understanding once I was (moved to the Wasatch County Jail) ... I feel that I was extremely misled with the situation."

Whetten pleaded no contest to burglary and assault of an officer, second-degree felonies, in December 2024. He was sentenced in January to concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison.

Kaitlyn Bachman pleaded no contest to burglary and kidnapping, second-degree felonies, in December 2024. She was sentenced to serve a year in jail with no credit given for time already served, followed by four years of probation.

In January, Morrell pleaded guilty to a reduced obstruction of justice charge, a third-degree felony, and the other charges were dismissed. She admitted in a plea statement to making false statement to law enforcement about her child being missing, when she knew the child was not missing but was in custody with her father.

Her jail and prison terms were suspended during sentencing, and she was ordered to serve three years of probation. Her plea agreement stated if she successfully completes probation, she can petition for her felony conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor.

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