Jury convicts man of negligent homicide, not manslaughter, in crash that killed Utah CEO

OGDEN — A jury has convicted the tow truck driver charged in the death of a Utah business executive and his daughter, but on lesser charges than prosecutors sought.

The eight-person jury on Friday found Michael Love, 53, guilty of two counts of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, in the deaths of Richard Hendrickson, 57, and his daughter Sally Hendrickson, 16, in a July 6, 2024, crash in Ogden Canyon Road east of Ogden. Weber County prosecutors had sought convictions for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the deaths.

The jurors found Love guilty of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, stemming from nonfatal injuries suffered in the crash by Mollie Hendrickson, also a daughter of Richard Hendrickson. They also found him guilty of two counts of obstruction of justice, one of them a third-degree felony, the other a class A misdemeanor, stemming from his actions after the crash to cover up the missteps that led to the incident.

He's been jailed since October 2024 and is to be sentenced on April 21.

Love was hauling a 31,000-pound bulldozer when the piece of machinery, improperly secured, slid off his tow truck as he negotiated a curve in the narrow canyon road, falling onto the oncoming vehicle driven by Richard Hendrickson. The force of the bulldozer sheared off the top of the Hendrickson vehicle, causing the two deaths and injuring the younger Hendrickson.

Richard Hendrickson had served as chief executive officer of Clearfield-based Lifetime Products since 2013. He, his wife and three of the couple's four children had spent the morning boating at Pineview Reservoir and were on their way home when the tragedy occurred.

Love took the stand on Thursday, the last day of testimony, taking responsibility for his role in the matter. The bulldozer had been secured to the bed of the tow truck, but an employee unhooked it to clean it, not properly securing it afterward, according to Love. He thought it was secured, Love said, but acknowledged he didn't check before heading on the trip that would take him along Ogden Canyon Road.

"I should've done my job. It's my fault," Love said. He went on: "I ruined people's lives because I didn't check it."

Love's lawyer, Greg Skordas, had pressed for a conviction on the lesser charge, negligent homicide, in closing arguments on Thursday. "We're not asking for him to be excused. I'm asking you to put this in perspective," he said.

Manslaughter involves acting "recklessly" in causing the death of another while negligent homicide involves "criminal negligence" that leads to a death. In arguing for the lesser charge, Skordas said Love didn't travel along the Ogden Canyon Road thinking he could kill somebody. "Michael wanted nothing more than to get that (bulldozer) up there safely," he said.

Branden Miles, a deputy attorney in the Weber County Attorney's Office, however, said the tragedy was foreseeable in pressing for a manslaughter conviction in his closing arguments, also on Thursday. "It was totally foreseeable, totally avoidable ... and totally in Michael Love's control," he said.

Miles noted the many shortcomings in how the bulldozer was loaded despite Love's experience as a tow truck driver. It was too heavy by more than 4,000 pounds for the trailer it sat on, and the trailer was too high for the bulldozer, creating balance issues. Notably, it should have been secured at four points, not one point plus the winch, which he said doesn't count as an attachment point, per tow truck guidelines. Moreover, the metal tracks of the bulldozer on the metal top of the trailer, he added, allowed for slippage.

That the tow truck came off is no one's fault but Love's, he said, "and it goes against all of the training." Love had been in the tow truck business for 17 years.

The obstruction of justice convictions stem from Love's actions and comments after the crash. He placed chains on the bed of his truck in the immediate aftermath of the crash as if to make it appear the bulldozer had been secured at several points, prompting the felony obstruction count. He misled law enforcement officials about how the bulldozer had been secured, leading to the misdemeanor obstruction count.

The trial started on March 6, and jurors started deliberating Friday morning. Judge Craig Hall had instructed jurors to consider both manslaughter and negligent homicide charges as part of their deliberations.

Related topics