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St. Anne's trio not paid guards
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St. Anne's trio not paid guards
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Article discusses former property co-owner , Mark Epstein, stating that the guards at St. Anne's retreat were not paid guards and their actions were not directed by the owners.
St. Anne’s trio not paid guards
By Ryan Robb Olivar
Staff writer
An owner of the former St. Anne’s Convent in Logan Canyon said the [that] the three men accused of terrorizing trespassers on the property were not paid employees.
Part-owner and San Francisco attorney Mark Epstein said one of the accused men, John Jeppson, was allowed to use the property in exchange for tending it. The property was purchased more than three years ago from the Catholic Church by Epstein and three other people intending to use it as a get-away spot, he said.
Jeppson is one of the men accused by two groups of Cache County teen-agers and young adults who trespassed on the property Friday of binding them with cords around their necks and flexible ties around their wrists while he held them at bay with a shotgun. The two other men allegedly wielding shotguns and threatening the trespassers have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr of Tooele County.
Epstein said he did not know Peasnall or Doerr, or why they were with Jeppson on Friay.
“I don’t know exactly what went on that night,” Epstein said. “But no one is going to tell anybody to chase down a bunch of people and tie them around the neck.”
If Jeppson did that, it was not something directed by any of the property owners, he said.
Tim Bradfield of Logan, who was taking care of the property before Jeppson replaced him six weeks ago, said he was told by property owners that if a problem occurred to call the sheriff.
“They never told me to physically detain people,” Bradfield said. “I think these people were acting of their own accord,”
Epstein said one thing that might have been frustrating for Jeppson was the amount of damage caused by vandals. “We’ve incurred in excess of $100,000 in property damage.”
Another thing that may have disturbed him was on early Friday morning, he captured eight people banging on the front doors of the main building who told him they’d come back to get him, Epstein said. Several of the people Jeppson detained in that first incident have told The Herald Journal they were bound with rope around their necks and were forced to sit in a circle until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested them for trespassing.
When an unrelated group of 30 people snuck through the gate’s door on Friday night, the trespassers were this time stopped at the door by Jeppson and his shotgun-wielding companions, according to the sheriff’s department.
Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson said his office is trying to determine if the men were threatened and were acting upon that threat when they violently detained the second group of trespassers. But he said he hasn’t been able to substantiate any threats and that both groups of trespassers were treated with equal force.
The parents of the trespassers and the community ought to know the Sheriff’s Office is taking the allegations made by the trespassers very seriously, said Nelson, who spent much of Monday answering questions from Utah news media and two syndicated television news magazines, including Inside Edition.
The kids were wrong to trespass, he said, but they were just looking to have some fun. “The big issue here is what these other guys did to them.”
Nelson said all indications so far indicate that Jeppson and his two companions went beyond what was appropriate.
Jeppson began tending the property six weeks ago because of his experience as a carpenter, according to several sources.
Morris Pitcher, who attends church with Jeppson, said the man moved to Cache Valley last spring from Pocatello, Idaho to take care of his invalid mother. He sold his home and gave up his job to come here, Pitcher said.
When his mother got a little better and didn’t need his help, Pitcher said Jeppson asked around in the church ward if people knew where he could find work. It was then that he got hooked up with the people at the St. Anne’s property and was allowed a place to stay if he fixed it up and tended it.
“He’s got a good heart that guy,” Pitcher said. “But maybe this job wasn’t particularly suited to him.”
Jeppson couldn’t be reached for comments.
By Ryan Robb Olivar
Staff writer
An owner of the former St. Anne’s Convent in Logan Canyon said the [that] the three men accused of terrorizing trespassers on the property were not paid employees.
Part-owner and San Francisco attorney Mark Epstein said one of the accused men, John Jeppson, was allowed to use the property in exchange for tending it. The property was purchased more than three years ago from the Catholic Church by Epstein and three other people intending to use it as a get-away spot, he said.
Jeppson is one of the men accused by two groups of Cache County teen-agers and young adults who trespassed on the property Friday of binding them with cords around their necks and flexible ties around their wrists while he held them at bay with a shotgun. The two other men allegedly wielding shotguns and threatening the trespassers have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr of Tooele County.
Epstein said he did not know Peasnall or Doerr, or why they were with Jeppson on Friay.
“I don’t know exactly what went on that night,” Epstein said. “But no one is going to tell anybody to chase down a bunch of people and tie them around the neck.”
If Jeppson did that, it was not something directed by any of the property owners, he said.
Tim Bradfield of Logan, who was taking care of the property before Jeppson replaced him six weeks ago, said he was told by property owners that if a problem occurred to call the sheriff.
“They never told me to physically detain people,” Bradfield said. “I think these people were acting of their own accord,”
Epstein said one thing that might have been frustrating for Jeppson was the amount of damage caused by vandals. “We’ve incurred in excess of $100,000 in property damage.”
Another thing that may have disturbed him was on early Friday morning, he captured eight people banging on the front doors of the main building who told him they’d come back to get him, Epstein said. Several of the people Jeppson detained in that first incident have told The Herald Journal they were bound with rope around their necks and were forced to sit in a circle until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested them for trespassing.
When an unrelated group of 30 people snuck through the gate’s door on Friday night, the trespassers were this time stopped at the door by Jeppson and his shotgun-wielding companions, according to the sheriff’s department.
Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson said his office is trying to determine if the men were threatened and were acting upon that threat when they violently detained the second group of trespassers. But he said he hasn’t been able to substantiate any threats and that both groups of trespassers were treated with equal force.
The parents of the trespassers and the community ought to know the Sheriff’s Office is taking the allegations made by the trespassers very seriously, said Nelson, who spent much of Monday answering questions from Utah news media and two syndicated television news magazines, including Inside Edition.
The kids were wrong to trespass, he said, but they were just looking to have some fun. “The big issue here is what these other guys did to them.”
Nelson said all indications so far indicate that Jeppson and his two companions went beyond what was appropriate.
Jeppson began tending the property six weeks ago because of his experience as a carpenter, according to several sources.
Morris Pitcher, who attends church with Jeppson, said the man moved to Cache Valley last spring from Pocatello, Idaho to take care of his invalid mother. He sold his home and gave up his job to come here, Pitcher said.
When his mother got a little better and didn’t need his help, Pitcher said Jeppson asked around in the church ward if people knew where he could find work. It was then that he got hooked up with the people at the St. Anne’s property and was allowed a place to stay if he fixed it up and tended it.
“He’s got a good heart that guy,” Pitcher said. “But maybe this job wasn’t particularly suited to him.”
Jeppson couldn’t be reached for comments.
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Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, FOLK COLL 32
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Rights
Reproduction for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is only permissible with the consent of the USU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, phone (435) 797-2663.
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Utah State University Folklore in the news collection, 1973-2012, FOLK COLL 32
http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv04849
St. Anne's Retreat
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Identifier
http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16944coll20/id/19
SCAFOLK032Bx003Fd07Item0010.pdf
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Text
St. Anne’s trio not paid guards
By Ryan Robb Olivar
Staff writer
An owner of the former St. Anne’s Convent in Logan Canyon said the [that] the three men accused of terrorizing trespassers on the property were not paid employees.
Part-owner and San Francisco attorney Mark Epstein said one of the accused men, John Jeppson, was allowed to use the property in exchange for tending it. The property was purchased more than three years ago from the Catholic Church by Epstein and three other people intending to use it as a get-away spot, he said.
Jeppson is one of the men accused by two groups of Cache County teen-agers and young adults who trespassed on the property Friday of binding them with cords around their necks and flexible ties around their wrists while he held them at bay with a shotgun. The two other men allegedly wielding shotguns and threatening the trespassers have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr of Tooele County.
Epstein said he did not know Peasnall or Doerr, or why they were with Jeppson on Friay.
“I don’t know exactly what went on that night,” Epstein said. “But no one is going to tell anybody to chase down a bunch of people and tie them around the neck.”
If Jeppson did that, it was not something directed by any of the property owners, he said.
Tim Bradfield of Logan, who was taking care of the property before Jeppson replaced him six weeks ago, said he was told by property owners that if a problem occurred to call the sheriff.
“They never told me to physically detain people,” Bradfield said. “I think these people were acting of their own accord,”
Epstein said one thing that might have been frustrating for Jeppson was the amount of damage caused by vandals. “We’ve incurred in excess of $100,000 in property damage.”
Another thing that may have disturbed him was on early Friday morning, he captured eight people banging on the front doors of the main building who told him they’d come back to get him, Epstein said. Several of the people Jeppson detained in that first incident have told The Herald Journal they were bound with rope around their necks and were forced to sit in a circle until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested them for trespassing.
When an unrelated group of 30 people snuck through the gate’s door on Friday night, the trespassers were this time stopped at the door by Jeppson and his shotgun-wielding companions, according to the sheriff’s department.
Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson said his office is trying to determine if the men were threatened and were acting upon that threat when they violently detained the second group of trespassers. But he said he hasn’t been able to substantiate any threats and that both groups of trespassers were treated with equal force.
The parents of the trespassers and the community ought to know the Sheriff’s Office is taking the allegations made by the trespassers very seriously, said Nelson, who spent much of Monday answering questions from Utah news media and two syndicated television news magazines, including Inside Edition.
The kids were wrong to trespass, he said, but they were just looking to have some fun. “The big issue here is what these other guys did to them.”
Nelson said all indications so far indicate that Jeppson and his two companions went beyond what was appropriate.
Jeppson began tending the property six weeks ago because of his experience as a carpenter, according to several sources.
Morris Pitcher, who attends church with Jeppson, said the man moved to Cache Valley last spring from Pocatello, Idaho to take care of his invalid mother. He sold his home and gave up his job to come here, Pitcher said.
When his mother got a little better and didn’t need his help, Pitcher said Jeppson asked around in the church ward if people knew where he could find work. It was then that he got hooked up with the people at the St. Anne’s property and was allowed a place to stay if he fixed it up and tended it.
“He’s got a good heart that guy,” Pitcher said. “But maybe this job wasn’t particularly suited to him.”
Jeppson couldn’t be reached for comments.
By Ryan Robb Olivar
Staff writer
An owner of the former St. Anne’s Convent in Logan Canyon said the [that] the three men accused of terrorizing trespassers on the property were not paid employees.
Part-owner and San Francisco attorney Mark Epstein said one of the accused men, John Jeppson, was allowed to use the property in exchange for tending it. The property was purchased more than three years ago from the Catholic Church by Epstein and three other people intending to use it as a get-away spot, he said.
Jeppson is one of the men accused by two groups of Cache County teen-agers and young adults who trespassed on the property Friday of binding them with cords around their necks and flexible ties around their wrists while he held them at bay with a shotgun. The two other men allegedly wielding shotguns and threatening the trespassers have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr of Tooele County.
Epstein said he did not know Peasnall or Doerr, or why they were with Jeppson on Friay.
“I don’t know exactly what went on that night,” Epstein said. “But no one is going to tell anybody to chase down a bunch of people and tie them around the neck.”
If Jeppson did that, it was not something directed by any of the property owners, he said.
Tim Bradfield of Logan, who was taking care of the property before Jeppson replaced him six weeks ago, said he was told by property owners that if a problem occurred to call the sheriff.
“They never told me to physically detain people,” Bradfield said. “I think these people were acting of their own accord,”
Epstein said one thing that might have been frustrating for Jeppson was the amount of damage caused by vandals. “We’ve incurred in excess of $100,000 in property damage.”
Another thing that may have disturbed him was on early Friday morning, he captured eight people banging on the front doors of the main building who told him they’d come back to get him, Epstein said. Several of the people Jeppson detained in that first incident have told The Herald Journal they were bound with rope around their necks and were forced to sit in a circle until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested them for trespassing.
When an unrelated group of 30 people snuck through the gate’s door on Friday night, the trespassers were this time stopped at the door by Jeppson and his shotgun-wielding companions, according to the sheriff’s department.
Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson said his office is trying to determine if the men were threatened and were acting upon that threat when they violently detained the second group of trespassers. But he said he hasn’t been able to substantiate any threats and that both groups of trespassers were treated with equal force.
The parents of the trespassers and the community ought to know the Sheriff’s Office is taking the allegations made by the trespassers very seriously, said Nelson, who spent much of Monday answering questions from Utah news media and two syndicated television news magazines, including Inside Edition.
The kids were wrong to trespass, he said, but they were just looking to have some fun. “The big issue here is what these other guys did to them.”
Nelson said all indications so far indicate that Jeppson and his two companions went beyond what was appropriate.
Jeppson began tending the property six weeks ago because of his experience as a carpenter, according to several sources.
Morris Pitcher, who attends church with Jeppson, said the man moved to Cache Valley last spring from Pocatello, Idaho to take care of his invalid mother. He sold his home and gave up his job to come here, Pitcher said.
When his mother got a little better and didn’t need his help, Pitcher said Jeppson asked around in the church ward if people knew where he could find work. It was then that he got hooked up with the people at the St. Anne’s property and was allowed a place to stay if he fixed it up and tended it.
“He’s got a good heart that guy,” Pitcher said. “But maybe this job wasn’t particularly suited to him.”
Jeppson couldn’t be reached for comments.
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