The Story Of The Serial Killer Who Terrorized Utah In The 1980s Is Truly Frightening

On October 14, 1979, four-year-old Alonzo Daniels was playing in the yard of his Salt Lake City apartment building when a man asked him if he wanted some candy. He did, and he followed the man into a nearby apartment. He was never seen alive again.

On November 9, 1980, 11-year-old Kim Peterson met a man at a bowling alley who offered to buy some roller skates he was selling. Kim met with the man the next day, and went rabbit hunting with him in the West Desert. He never came home.

Four-year-old Danny Davis disappeared from a Smith's grocery store on October 20, 1981. He had wandered away from his grandfather into the toy aisle, and met a man who offered to give him more toys. Danny followed the man out of the store and was dead an hour later.

Troy Ward was celebrating his sixth birthday when he vanished during his birthday party at a Salt Lake City park on June 22nd, 1983. A stranger asked him for directions to an artesian well nearby, and Troy willingly hopped into the car to show the man. He didn't survive for more than a few hours.

Thirteen-year-old Graeme Cunningham had been hanging out with friends at the home of Gary Bishop for a few years, and was planning to take a trip to California with some of his friends, with Bishop as a chaperone. When Bishop asked him to accompany him into the basement on July 14, 1983 to take some nude photos, the boy initially refused, but when offered $100, he agreed. Graeme never came back out of the basement; Bishop hit him in the head with a hammer, then drowned him in the bathtub.

During his confession, Gary Bishop confided that he had sexually abused and taken nude photos of at least 54 boys over several years. He expressed remorse for his crimes, but also said he was glad that he was caught because he knew that he would keep committing the crimes.

Bishop had been briefly questioned during the search for Alonzo Daniels and Danny Davis, since he lived within a block of where both disappeared. He knew the parents of Graeme Cunningham. All while the families of the five young boys were in anguish over their missing sons, the predator was living in their midst.

While awaiting his execution, he wrote a letter in which he explained his compulsions. He noted that he was a homosexual pedophile who used child pornography to satisfy his urges, but also found it impossible to avoid molesting young boys as well. He stated that while he deeply regretted his crimes, he knew he would molest and kill again if given the opportunity.