SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A long awaited verdict, two deputies killed in cold blood and the death of little boy in Layton were a few of the stories that marked a tumultuous year. ABC 4 looks back at the year 2010 in Utah.
The year began with the senseless death of a Millard County Sheriff’s deputy who was gunned down in the middle of a highway near Delta. Josie Fox’s alleged killer was caught after a manhunt that spanned several counties. Fox was not the only badge-wearing public servant to be shot and killed in the line of duty. In August, police say Scott Curly ambushed and killed Kane County deputy Brian Harris. In November, a Utah State park ranger would also be shot, but thankfully survived. His alleged shooter was still on the loose a month later.
Scandals and controversy would signal big changes in Utah’s political environment. When Utah Senate Majority leader Sheldon Killpack was pulled over just after midnight on January 15th, a typical DUI arrest altered Utah’s Republican leadership. Killpack’s resignation and legal troubles were highlighted by a court battle between the State of Utah and ABC 4 News (along with other media outlets) over whether the state could determine which public records could be kept secret. In March, another shocking political scandal would lead to the resignation of Utah House majority leader Kevin Garn, who confessed to being involved in a naked hot tub encounter with a teenaged girl decades earlier. Stranger still was the standing ovation given to Garn by the Utah Legislature after his tearful confession.
