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Retreat caretaker arrested on six assault charges

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Retreat caretaker arrested on six assault charges

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Caretaker arrested on assault charges for his part in armed standoff at St. Anne’s Retreat involving 38 trespassing high school students.
Retreat caretaker arrested on six assault charges
By Ryan Robb Oliver
Staff writer

A watchman accused of terrorizing 38 trespassers at the former St. Anne’s Retreat in Logan Canyon was arrested Monday afternoon by a Cache county lieutenant sheriff.

John Jeppson, 50, of Pocatello, Idaho, was arrested at his parents’ home in Providence by Lt. Von Williamson, the lead investigator.

Warrants for the arrest of two other watchmen suspected of assisting Jeppson have been forwarded to Tooele County. The other men have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr, Jeppson’s son-in-law, both of Tooele County.

The suspects in the case have each been charged with six counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in jail for each count.

Cache County Attorney Scott Wyatt said he chose to file six counts because it was a “representative sample” of what happened Oct. 10. He said the number was also agreed upon by a group of parents of the alleged victims he met with last week.

Six charges, he said, “was sufficient for every aspect of the trial.”

Wyatt said he will also name only six alleged victims to testify for the state during trial. He said he didn’t want to needlessly stack dozens of charges and witness testimonials against the men.

The trespassers have accused the three watchmen of tying them together by their necks, handcuffing them and holding them at gunpoint in a swimming pool in two separate episodes Oct. 10. The mostly teen-aged victims said their lives were threatened, shotguns were fired near them, and one female said Jeppson felt her up.

“If these gentlemen had handcuffed them and secured them and stopped there, we probably wouldn’t be filing charges,” Wyatt said. “You’re entitled to use a reasonable amount of force to protect property.” But Wyatt said the men acted beyond what the law allows.

The sheriff’s office originally cited all 38 trespassers, but the trespassing charges were not filed. Property owners who allowed Jeppson to tend the St. Anne’s property were sympathetic to the treatment they received at the hands of the watchmen, Wyatt said.

Jeppson was released from the Cache County Jail on Monday on a $5,000 bail.

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Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, FOLK COLL 32

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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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http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16944coll20/id/15
SCAFOLK032Bx003Fd07Item0006.pdf

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Retreat caretaker arrested on six assault charges
By Ryan Robb Oliver
Staff writer

A watchman accused of terrorizing 38 trespassers at the former St. Anne’s Retreat in Logan Canyon was arrested Monday afternoon by a Cache county lieutenant sheriff.

John Jeppson, 50, of Pocatello, Idaho, was arrested at his parents’ home in Providence by Lt. Von Williamson, the lead investigator.

Warrants for the arrest of two other watchmen suspected of assisting Jeppson have been forwarded to Tooele County. The other men have been identified as Arthur Peasnall and Christopher Doerr, Jeppson’s son-in-law, both of Tooele County.

The suspects in the case have each been charged with six counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in jail for each count.

Cache County Attorney Scott Wyatt said he chose to file six counts because it was a “representative sample” of what happened Oct. 10. He said the number was also agreed upon by a group of parents of the alleged victims he met with last week.

Six charges, he said, “was sufficient for every aspect of the trial.”

Wyatt said he will also name only six alleged victims to testify for the state during trial. He said he didn’t want to needlessly stack dozens of charges and witness testimonials against the men.

The trespassers have accused the three watchmen of tying them together by their necks, handcuffing them and holding them at gunpoint in a swimming pool in two separate episodes Oct. 10. The mostly teen-aged victims said their lives were threatened, shotguns were fired near them, and one female said Jeppson felt her up.

“If these gentlemen had handcuffed them and secured them and stopped there, we probably wouldn’t be filing charges,” Wyatt said. “You’re entitled to use a reasonable amount of force to protect property.” But Wyatt said the men acted beyond what the law allows.

The sheriff’s office originally cited all 38 trespassers, but the trespassing charges were not filed. Property owners who allowed Jeppson to tend the St. Anne’s property were sympathetic to the treatment they received at the hands of the watchmen, Wyatt said.

Jeppson was released from the Cache County Jail on Monday on a $5,000 bail.

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