This Day In Gay Utah History May 22nd

22 May

1951 Ken Doe booked at the Ogden police station as Kenneth Bell, 27. Of Ogden was sentenced to the state mental institution for life or until such time as a cure is effected after pleading guilty to a sodomy charge. Ogden Standard Examiner

1952 Brigham Young University’s first security police is established with Captain Leonard E. Christensen a retired, LDS, Los Angeles police detective who was hired to solve a series of thefts from the new George Albert Smith Fieldhouse after grounds personnel fished 25 wallets from the botany pond.. Security would eventually use undercover agents, lie detectors, wire tapping, and informants against those suspected of violating BYU’s Honor Code.

1957 Harold Virgil Field, 39, of 100 35^th Street and Gerald Monroe Swecker, 27, of Longacre, West Virginia pleaded guilty in Second District Court to a sodomy charge. They were placed on probation until June 3. Judge Parley E Norseth also ordered the defendants to consult a psychiatrist. Ogden Standard Examiner

1970-The Gay Student's Union at the University of California at Berkeley held a "People's Dance" which was described by some members of the organization as the most significant event of the year. Both Gay and straight students attended.

Paul Harvey

1977 Gays Take the Rap for Criminals wrote syndicated commentator Paul Harvey. He wrote: The recent row in Dade County, Florida had to do with residential zoning. Some of those opposed protested that a ‘gay’ couple moving next door would menace neighborhood children. So once again the gays have taken the rap for criminal molesters who are almost always straight with wives and children and a sickness symptomized by sadism. Ogden Standard Examiner

1980-Anita Bryant, who led the campaign to repeal a Gay rights law in Dade County Florida and once said that divorce was one of the worst sins a person could commit, filed for divorce.

Joe Conti

1980 The 5^th Coronation of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike

Dusty LeManns

Empire was held with Joe Conti and Dusty LeManns stepping down. The new elected officers were The Universal Emperor, Emperor V Krazy Pete and The Universal Empress Empress V Joanie Lynn. Prince Royale V was Bob Stevens and Princess Royale V was Clariss Cartier. The 5th reign was the first to start after the break up of the Imperial Court of Utah and Joanie and Pete decided that in-town was very important to take care of.  They only attended two out-of-town coronations which included Denver and Portland. They also initiated the new voting

system that required the punch vote which is still in place to this day.  It ensured a fair result and the Police Department was asked to count the ballots and they accepted the job whole heartedly.  It was also decided that instead of Krazy Pete and Joanie Lynn becoming Emperor and Empress I of the new court, they would be known as Emperor and Empress 5, and the past would be honored and the previous four reigns would be acknowledged as they had been.

1983-A Day in the Park organized to revitalize the sense of Gay Pride by members of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire.  The event was held at Fairmont Park in Salt Lake City. A small committee including Tim Leming, Marshall Brunner, and Mel Roland obtained a permit to

Marshall Brunner

use Fairmont Park for speeches, music and games. Larry Pacheco of the Sun and Radio City emceed speakers from the National Gay Task Force, Utah ACLU. The bars contributed to prizes and the Royal Court donated $300 to the National Gay Task Force. Doug Ownby designed the first SLC Gay Pride Day T-shirt. The Tavern Guild sponsored a “Basket Social” in Fairmont Park.

• Chuck Whyte attended and remembered  that there was a folded up Pride Flag on one table but no real visible signs were at the park for fear of reprisals. A wind came up and scattered some brochures and people ran to get them fearing outsiders might see them.

1987- The Aardvark Café operated by Beau Chaine opened. Ken Francis, Donald Steward, and Ken Bruck were volunteers who staffed the cafe. 

1988-- Olivia Recording Artists,  Cris Williamson and Tret Fure appeared in concert at Kingsbury Hall. Event was a  benefit for AIDS Project Utah.  The Salt Lake Men’s Choir opened the concert. 

1988- At Memory Grove two Youth Group members. Randy Wangreen, and Becky Smith came up to me and asked if I knew of a place for Becky to stay.  She said her mom threw her out and she’s been on the street for three days.  I said she could come to stay with me until she finds a place.  I hope I know what I am doing but I can’t see a 15 year old Lesbian being on the streets. (Journel of Ben Williams)

1988 In the evening I took some time out to do Concerning Gays and Lesbians for KRCL.  We talked about the Mountain and Desert States Conference among other things.

1988 FEMINISTS WINNING, LEADER TELLS UTAH GROUP  By JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells, Staff Writer Women have been "pushed back" during the Reagan years, but feminists in the United States nevertheless keep winning, the president of National Organization for Women said Saturday. Keynoting the annual Utah State NOW conference in the Marriott Hotel, Molly Yard said the rumors that the women's movement is passe - that women are no longer feminists and are staying home and again having children - is false. "No one ever said we couldn't have children and still be feminists," said Yard, who expounded on the progress and success of the movement over the past few years. It was during Yard's term as president that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rotary International and similar men's clubs could no longer bar women from becoming members. She said that just in the past few years the Episcopal Church named its first female dean; San Francisco got its first female city/county attorney; Baltimore hired its first woman firefighter in the 128-year history of the force; and for the first time during its 110-year history, the New York State Bar elected a woman president.   The American Society of Newspaper Editors also selected its first woman president, as did the Vietnam Veterans of America. And many women entered politics, with several being elected mayors of large cities. "Some of it is a result of work that some of us did 10 years ago, and it's finally coming to fruition and we are seeing the results of what the women's movement has accomplished," said Yard, who's had a half-century of leadership experience as a feminist and civil rights, trade union and political activist.  But the national president told the small Utah gathering that NOW members still have a lot of work to accomplish, including achieving for women equal pay for work of comparable worth. "There is no shortage of nurses in the United States," she stressed. "There's a shortage of nurses willing to work for the kind of pay and treatment they receive." Yard, a Pennsylvania resident, reported that funding for a federal fair pay equity study has passed the House of Representatives twice, "but it gets nowhere in the Senate because some of our friends like (Utah GOP Sen. Orrin) Hatch andcompany." "Because the federal government is the largest employer of women in the country, it's very important for us to get this billthrough," she told the group. "Maybe if you put the pressure on Hatch, he may be persuaded to support it." NOW members throughout the country this year will also be concentrating their efforts on getting a federally funded child care bill, increasing the national minimum wage and launching an aggressive campaign to re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment, without any deadline attached to its passage, she said. Those issues, plus lesbian rights, surrogate mothering and AIDS were also discussed by members of the Utah NOW chapter during their daylong meeting. New officers were also elected. They are Chris Burdick, a Salt Lake attorney, president; Char Roth, a special education teacher, action coordinator; Jane Leen, past Utah NOW coordinator, treasurer; and Mary Eatchel, a banker, secretary. Awards for "Women of Courageous Action" were presented to Dr. Kristen M. Ries, the leading physician in Utah working with AIDS patients, and Elizabeth Wright, a local writer who has fought for the rights of the Downwinders, people suffering from the impacts of radiation caused by government nuclear testing in the Nevada desert.

1990- Michael L. Elliott our loving son, brother and friend, passed away at his Salt Lake City

home. He was born March 13, 1955, in Reed City, Michigan, to LeRoy and Glendora Elliott. He received his Masters at the University of Eastern Kentucky, and a B.A. at Ohio Northern University, before moving on to BYU where he received his PhD in Psychology. He had a thriving practice at the Salt Lake Center for Transpersonal Therapies. Michael was a kind and gentle man who touched and enriched so many lives during his lifetime. He brought out and looked for the best in everyone he met. Many remarked about how much Michael has taught them. He is survived by his very special friend Joe [Pitti]. Memorial services will be held at Holy Cross Chapel, Friday, May 25th, 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers please make donations to your favorite charity. Your struggle is over, we love you sweetheart.

Jeff Smith

1992 The 16^th Coronation of the Royal Court of the Golden

Stephanie THomas

Spike was held with Jeff Smith and Stephanie Thomas stepping down. The new elected officers were The White Lion Emperor. Emperor XVII Jeff Freedman and The Diamond Empress, Empress XVII Keisha Diamante'. Prince Royale XVII was Wop and Princess Royale XVII was Marci Malloy. With 3 candidates running for the office of Emperor that year, Guy Larsen was elected emperor and yet, due to a job transfer 3 days later, resigned as Emperor. The board immediately confirmed Jeff Freedman as Emperor with the next highest tally of votes.  Jeff went on to create the Barony of Northern Utah, which 7 years later became The Imperial Rainbow Court of Northern Utah. By proclamation, Keisha instituted regulations limiting one pageant title per reign per person. This helped distribute titles more evenly though the court and encouraged more people to run for Pageant titles.

Kathy Worthington

1992 RULING A BLOW AGAINST INTOLERANCE  The May 20 Supreme Court decision on Colorado's Amendment 2 is a profound victory for all who believe in basic rights and the fundamental principle that all Americans deserve to live free of discrimination. Amendment 2 would have created special barriers to basic rights. It would have blocked the open and free participation in the democratic process for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Those justices who defended basic civil rights and stood up to the anti-democratic agenda of religious political extremists are to be commended. This case was not just about gay, lesbian and bisexual people. At stake are the very principles of democracy: justice, freedom, personal liberty and the right to be different and still live free of the tyranny of the majority. Let this be a message to the sponsors and supporters of Utah's anti-gay bills: Many American people do not support your campaigns of intolerance and bigotry. Many don't support discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and we don't want you tying up the courts in costly, prolonged legal battles. Kathy Worthington Salt Lake City 

1994  New draft based on court decision, but foes will fight bill's `special treatment.' PIGNANELLI HOPES TO REPLACE NEVER-USEDHATE-CRIMES LAW By Bob Bernick Jr., Political Editor There's not much to like about Utah's hate-crimes law: It just doesn't work, prosecutors say. But bumping up against a proposed change in the law are feelings left over from the 1992 fight that saw a "weak, compromise" law passed: the feelings of some conservative legislators that homosexuals and other minorities shouldn't get special t

Frank Pignanelli

reatment. House Minority Leader Frank Pignanelli, D-Salt Lake, is introducing a new hate-crimes bill at the Legislature this year. Last week, he presented the bill to the Legislature's Judiciary Interim Study Committee. He sponsored the original bill in 1992 but saw much of the strength of that measure removed after conservative legislators balked at treating homosexuals differently. This time Pignanelli and supporters are armed with a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision that upholds a Wisconsin hate-crimes law. That law was a model for Pignanelli's new draft. It doesn't setup hate crimes as a separate category of crime but allows longer sentences if existing crimes – like trespass or assault - are committed against a person for a variety of bias-related reasons. The key, Pignanelli says, is that the victim is "selected" because the perpetrator perceives that he is a member of a certain group, defined by race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry. Simply put, if a person is beaten up because he is black, and that can be persuasively established, then the perpetrator can get a longer sentence. Paul Boyden, executive director of the Statewide Association of Public Attorneys, said no one has ever been prosecuted under Utah's current hate-crimes law. That law says it's a hate crime to terrorize someone during a crime. But, says Boyden, no one knows what that means. With the Wisconsin "penalty enhancement" law - upheld by the high court - judges can hear testimony about what the criminal said or did during the attack, what groups he belongs to, etc. Perpetrators of hate crimes "often don't keep their reasons or identities secret," said Boyden. Racists who beat blacks call them names during the attack; anti-Semites even leave anti-Jewish material at the homes or synagogues they burglarize and gay-bashers taunt homosexuals as they beat them. Last year, Utah police identified 76 crimes (out of 76,000 crimes in the state) as "hate crimes." None of those 76 crimes was prosecuted under the hate-crimes law. David Nelson, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Utah

David Nelson

Democrats, said national statistics show that homosexuals are hate mongers' most-often targeted group. A number of gay men have been beaten in Utah since passage of the 1992 hate-crimes law, but never have their attackers been prosecuted under the law. Gayle Ruzicka of Utah Eagle Forum spoke out against special treatment for homosexuals in 1992. "I had a lot of concerns in 1992 and they remain today," she told committee members. "Many legislators wanted everyone protected under our hate-crimes law. Why now are some special people included," others left out? she asked. Ruzicka, who is prominent in the state on behalf of conservative family values, says she's received threatening midnight telephone calls because of her political views. Yet she wouldn't be protected under the proposed law. Some conservative legislators don't want to do anything that they believe advances the so-called "homosexual agenda." They believe that laws which set homosexuals apart or treat people differently because of their sexual orientation is part of that so-called agenda. But Pignanelli hopes that the uselessness of the current hate-crimes law, combined with the constitutionality of the Wisconsin law, will help his cause. © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

1994 A fundraiser for Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah and Pride Day was held with performances by Nelson Ramsey, the Saliva Sisters, and the Lesbian and Gay Chorus. 

1998- Prince and Princess Royale XXII, Franke Holt and Amanda hosted PR Ball 1998 The Seven Deadly Sins at The Sun Tavern.

David Ferguson

2003 David Ferguson Subject Invenio Thanks everyone for pitching in.  This is what community is all about.  On another positive note, in the last two days, I have been able to secure some significant funding for the Summit.  We received a commitment for $1,000 from Boehringer-Ingelheim (a pharmaceutical company) and a significant commitment from the Bastian Foundation.  This means with everything in place right now--including Planned Parenthood, we have raised enough to pay for the hotel.  Cool!!  More details later.

2004 Protesting the Failure of the State Legislature of Utah to pass

Josh Nowitz

an effective Hate Crimes Bill increasing penalties of any crime if the defendant selects the victims because of bias or prejudice due to the race, color, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, or gender of any individual or group of persons. Rally against Rage Joshua Nowitz, an eighteen year old high school senior who was one of two Utah students to represent the US at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships is organizing this event. While doing research for his senior thesis project at school, he became aware of the history of hate crimes legislation in Utah. Determined to do something about hate crimes legislation in Utah, Josh decided to organize a rally outside of the State Capitol Building in Salt Lake City at 1:00 PM, Saturday May 22nd. State Legislators, Jackie Biskupski and David Litvack have committed to attending and speaking at the rally. The Stonewall Democrats of Utah have also committed their organizations? support to the rally. Representative David Litvack and others have tried unsuccessfully for years to pass a meaningful hate crimes bill, but have never succeeded. The people of Utah must rally for hate crimes legislation and remind our government that we demand a fair hate crimes statute. In 1993, a gay Salt Lake City businessman, Douglas Koehler, was targeted by David Thacker due to Koehler?s sexual orientation. Due to the lack of a meaningful hate crimes statute, Judge David Young, was able to allow Thacker to accept a plea deal resulting in Thacker?s release April 9th, 2004. Between the years of 1999 to 2002 over 200 cases of Bias-Motivated crimes were reported in Utah. None were successfully prosecuted as hate crimes.     I hope that your organization will support the rally against rage in utah. Please contact me with any questions you might have, Joshua Nowitz

Ron Richardson & Lynn Nilsen

2004 Episcopal Diocese of Utah sanctions same-sex blessings Ron Richardson, left, and his partner, Rex Lynn Nilsen, pose outside  St. Paul's Episcopal Church. By Alexandria Sage The Associated Press A church known for its colorful history in Utah is taking a stand as a progressive voice on one society's most divisive issues --same-sex unions -- ruling that Episcopal priests will be allowed to bless those partnerships. The Episcopal Diocese of Utah has a history of open-mindedness --one former bishop was an avowed socialist, while another was an avowed pacifist -- and dedication to community. After the church became the first major Protestant denomination to organize in the state in 1867, it opened the first hospital and Utah's first private school. And now, in a state known for its religious conservatism, the diocese has jumped into an issue that has threatened to fracture the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, with its 100 dioceses domestically and 10 abroad. "A priest said, 'Until death do us part,' and held us up to the congregation and to the community to say 'Look, we approve, this is all right, we love them and we're here to give them our support and to protect them,' " said Ron Richardson. Last month, the 64-year-old piano teacher and his partner, 50-something Rex Lynn Nilsen, held a blessing ceremony at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City to celebrate their 25th anniversary. The 10th bishop of Utah, the Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, announced in March her sanction of same-sex blessings in the diocese. In a statement,

Carolyn Tanner Irish

Bishop Irish wrote, "I believe it will be a blessing for the Church to embrace the full participation of all her people without discrimination." The bishop is currently reviewing three rituals to be offered to couples for use in their ceremonies. Priests may decline to perform the ceremonies if they wish. Irish declined to be interviewed for this story, citing time constraints, but a diocese spokesman, the Rev. Daniel Webster, said Irish's decision has received "overwhelming" support statewide. During a national convention last summer, the church acknowledged that same-sex blessings were already being performed in some dioceses and allowed for the development of such rites on the local level by individual bishops. It is unknown how many same-sex blessings have been performed within the Utah diocese, made up of over 6,000 members in 22 parishes. In past years, blessings were performed quietly to deflect attention, Webster said. "My own opinion is I think what a lot of people in the Episcopal Church wanted to do was to do this with integrity to come out and say, 'We've been blessing people in their covenant relationships for several years, [now] we need to do this in an open and public manner,' " Webster said. Not everyone in the diocese agrees, said the Rev. Caryl Marsh, rector at St. Paul's who performed the blessing. "People are not of one mind about same-sex unions," Marsh said. "Some are theologically comfortable with this, others have some difficulty, and still others are neutral." Blessing the union "was a pastoral response to two people we cared about as a congregation," she said. "I did not want it to become part of somebody's political agenda. We want to offer hospitality to all people." When other gay couples outside St. Paul's have asked her to bless their unions, Marsh has declined. The Unitarian Universalist church began performing "gay and lesbian services of union" nationally and in Utah in the mid-1980s. Rabbi Tracee Rosen of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, a lesbian, said she is "certainly comfortable" performing same-sex blessings, but no couples have come forward to request them. Many of the Utah couples receiving same-sex blessings, including Richardson and Nilsen, are former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which rejects homosexuality and same-sex unions. The Catholic Church also frowns upon same-sex unions and does not perform same-sex blessings. But the issue still invites controversy even among Episcopalians. A former bishop of Utah, Rev. Otis Charles, became the first bishop in the world to wed his same-sex partner in church last month in San Francisco. Charles was subsequently stripped of his license to officiate by the Episcopal Diocese of California. And the decision to confirm an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire was hotly debated at last year's national convention. Conservative factions within the church have threatened that the election of Gene Robinson will lead to a split within the church.-- Salt Lake Tribune reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack contributed to this report. [USHS Note: Ron Richardson is one of the founding members of the Salt Lake Men's Choir and his partner Lynn Nilsen operates a Gay cruise business Spartacus. Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish is a direct descendant of Brigham Young. The Salt Lake Metropolitan Community Church has been blessing same sex unions since the early 1970's but was not mentioned in the article.]

2004 Voting Today  hey everyone, This I just a reminder that today from noon until midnight, is voting time for your new monarchs for the RCGSE. come out and cast your vote as to the persons that you feel will do the best job for the community. You may cast your vote at: Hilton City Center 255 S West Temple Salon 3 (III) And again the times are 12pm until 12am Please come out and support your community. Your vote is your voice, so let it be heard. With and Open Heart Candidate for Empress 29 Kyra Faye Prespentte

2005 GLBT Tennis Social Round Robin Doubles Format Tennis enthusiasts from the GLBT community are invited to join a Social on Sunday afternoons from 4:00pm to 7pm at Coach Mikes Tennis Academy starting on May 21.  There are 8 courts available so up to 32 players can participate.  Cost is $4.00 per player.  All levels are welcome.  Please mention your rating if you have one. Coach Mike's Tennis Academy is located at 1216 South Wasatch Drive, above Foothill Drive and 13th South

2005 Fabulous Fun Bus to Wendover Bus Leaves MoDiggity's Parking lot at 1pm Street: 3424 S State Street City, This is our last Fabulous Fun Bus of the season - until September. Bus Leaves the MoDiggity's parking lot at 3424 S. State Street at 1pm and returns there by 11pm. $15 gets you $7 cash back (yes - cash!) and a Grand Buffet, not to mention the other goodies. Cyber Sluts run bingo on the bus for great prizes! All of this will benefit getting the Center's new 24-hour crisis line up and running. Call 323-9500 or go to slmetro.com/funbus for tickets. April's bus sold out well before the trip, so get your tickets early.

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2005 Multi-Purpose room sWerve’s Talent-No Talent night Ladies, now’s your chance!  Anything you can do, that you think people ought to see, you can do!  With those kinds of loose boundaries, this should be an aamazing night!!  Special performance of the “D” word by  the sWerve board!! sWerve (yes, the W is capitalized) began in 2000 as “a small group of women that started sWerve, and they started it to provide social opportunities for the queer female community as well as some civic things. 

Gary Herbert

2014 Utah governor: States that don’t defend gay marriage bans drifting toward ‘anarchy’

Gary Herbert • Says sexual orientation is a choice, but then backs away from assertion. BY ROBERT GEHRKE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday that he is disappointed in governors and attorneys general in states like Pennsylvania and Oregon who choose not to defend their state’s same-sex marriage bans, calling that “the next step toward anarchy.” “My job is to represent the people of Utah and follow the law on the books,” Herbert said during his monthly KUED news conference. “It’s very clear to me. I’ve sworn allegiance to the Constitution of Utah and the Constitution of the United States.” Utah’s governor should not “pick and choose” which laws he will enforce and neither should elected officials in other states, Herbert said. “I find it very disappointing,” he said of decisions by officials to not defend their states’ same-sex marriage bans. “Voices here in our community, media and others, ought to, in fact, call them on the carpet and say, ‘You have a responsibility to defend the law that’s been put on the books by the people.’” “For elected officials, governors and attorneys general, to say pick and choose which laws they will enforce, I think, is a tragedy and the next step toward anarchy,” Herbert said. Herbert reiterated his belief that Utah has the right to define marriage as it sees fit, as states have done for generations. But, he said, the final answer to the issue won’t be resolved until the challenges to the law in Utah and other states go to the Supreme Court. In recent months, a flurry of federal judges have knocked down same-sex marriage bans in numerous states. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia, although marriages are on hold in Utah and other states pending appeals. Clifford Rosky, a law

Cliff Rosky

professor at the University of Utah and board member for Equality Utah, said the governor is wrong in his analysis. As Herbert notes, Rosky said, he swore to uphold both the Utah Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, and therefore must decide if any state law violates the U.S. Constitution. “I understand that the governor and attorney general think that Amendment 3 [banning same-sex marriage] is constitutional, but there is increasing evidence across the United States that their view is incorrect,” Rosky said. “Every single judge in the country who has been asked the question in the past year has held that state laws against same-sex marriage are unconstitutional and that everyone has the right to marry in this country.” Herbert praised U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball for issuing a stay on a recent ruling that ordered Utah to honor the marriages of more than 1,000 same-sex couples that took place after U.S. District Judge

Dale Kimball

Robert Shelby struck down Utah’s law Dec. 20 and before the Supreme Court halted further marriages pending an appeal. Kimball gave the state 21 days to respond to his decision, which Herbert said recognizes the ramifications of such an order. He said he plans to meet with Attorney General Sean Reyes soon and discuss how the state will proceed. Judges in several cases have likened the ban on same-sex marriages to states that banned interracial marriage, which were deemed unconstitutional. Herbert differentiated between those, initially, saying people choose their sexual orientation. “What you choose to do with your sexual orientation is different than what you’re born with as your race,” Herbert said. When pressed on the issue, Herbert backed from that assertion, saying he didn’t know if people are born gay. “I think it’s unclear. I expect there may be different gradations,” he said. “Clearly the actions involved in sexual activity ultimately end up being choices. What your attraction may be is something else, but how you act upon those impulses is a choice. But that’s not for me to make that decision.”

2016 Police suspect homicide, arson after businessman found dead in burning Salt Lake Home  by Daryl Lindsey  (KUTV) Police are investigating the death of a prominent Utah businessman as a possible homicide after his body was found inside a burning home early Sunday morning. Fire crews arrived at the home of John Williams, 72, around 1:18 a.m. at 574 N. East Capitol St. in Salt Lake City. Approximately one hour later, a fire fighter found Williams' body inside. Williams is well known in Utah as a co-founder of Gastronomy, Inc., the company that operates Market Street Grill, which has three locations across the Wasatch Front. The death is considered suspicious and will be investigated as a possible homicide and arson, according to Sale Lake City Police. Arson investigators are working with Salt Lake City homicide detectives to determine the exact cause of the fire and learn further details. Police hope to learn more about the cause and manner of Williams' death after a medical examiner completes an autopsy. Police have a suspect in custody and say they have no other suspects in the case. 2016 Man arrested in connection with death of Gastronomy Inc.’s John Williams in early 

John Williams

morning fire By Mariah Noble and Brennan Smith The Salt Lake Tribune  Crime • John Williams’ estranged husband booked on homicide, arson charges. A man has been booked into jail in connection with the death of prominent Utah restaurateur John Williams, 72, who died in a fire early Sunday morning in an apparent homicide and arson. Craig Crawford, 47, Williams’ estranged husband, was booked on suspicion of aggravated homicide and arson, according to Salt Lake City police. Williams’ body was found by the Salt Lake City Fire Department when they responded to a two-alarm fire at Williams’ home near 600 North and East Capitol Street (200 East) at about 1:20 a.m. Paramedics pronounced Williams dead at the scene. Williams had been a partner in Gastronomy Inc., a business which owns Market Street Grill, the New Yorker and other restaurants and property in the Salt Lake City area. Court records show Williams filed for divorce from Crawford on May 4, and that Williams filed for a temporary restraining order against Crawford on May 6, which was denied by the court. 

Craig Crawford

Crawford then filed a temporary protective order against Williams on May 13, which also was denied, according to court documents. Gastronomy spokesman John Becker said Sunday that Williams had been retired from day-to-day operations for several years, but he had previously directed the company’s property acquisitions for at least 40 years. “We are all completely saddened and struggling with the loss,” Becker said. “John Williams was a leader in the hospitality industry and will be deeply missed. He was a great contributor to our civic arts, economics, humanities and the hospitality sectors of Utah.” No other injuries were reported in the home, which stood several stories high. Detectives were looking into the case to determine the exact cause of the fire. The state medical examiner is planning to perform an autopsy on Williams’ body.