There’s new information about the motive that led a man to kill a Mormon bishop in California over the weekend.
Shortly after noon Sunday, Kenneth James Ward walked into a Visalia, California ward house and shot the bishop, 40-year-old Clay Sanner.
Ward was later gunned down by police. The suspect’s brother, Mike Ward, says the two were former members of the L.D.S. church. Mike says his brother felt wronged by an L.D.S. leader in 1988.
"He did feel that the Mormons were out to get him,” Mike Ward says. “But it was more of a spiritual thing than a physical thing. No, he was going to go to hell and they were going to send him there."
The bishop, Sanner, was 40-years-old and leaves behind a wife and six children. Before moving to California, Sanner graduated from BYU.
People who knew Sanner say he was dedicated to his work, his religion, but most of all, his family.
At Brigham Young University, the building where students study earth sciences is a little quieter. A newspaper article taped to the front desk reminds everyone who comes and goes that this community has lost one of their own.
“Lasts night when I saw it on the news I was just in shock," says Richard Terry, a professor at the Y who taught Clay Sanner and his wife in the mid 90s.
"Excellent student. Wife was beautiful. Both very interested in their subjects that they were studying.”
Brad Geary had classes with Sanner and his wife. Even some 16 years later, the three keep in touch. Every year, the Sanner family made a trip to Utah for a BYU football game.
“[Sanner] is a very good guy,” Geary says. “Willing to help anyone out go the extra mile.
“I saw a news clip saying a bishop had been shot and so I just clicked on it to see what the story was and Clay’s picture came up and at that point my stomach just dropped.”
Clay Sanner took his BYU degree and opened a fertilizer business in Visalia. Monday, that business was closed.
And while the people who new Sanner mourn, many who didn't are reaching out.
Connor Boyack has never met the Sanner, but when he heard the news, he says he felt like he needed to do something.
“I was talking to my mom on the phone and said we should try to do something about this,” Boyack says. “So I thought lets start an online fundraiser."
In less than one day, that website has raised well more than $20-thousand.
And while boyack hopes the money will help the family cope, he says, it really isn't about the money.
“For me, more than anything, showing love and support for the family in anyway we can.
