Both of Utah's major newspapers and three of the state's television stations are defendants in a libel suit filed by a Riverton man who says news reports falsely implied he might have set a house fire that killed his son and two nephews.
Sammuel John Ortega filed the suit in 3rd District Court against the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune, KUTV-TV, KTVX-TV, KSL-TV, 13 reporters or anchors for the media, and Mark and Karen Wilson, identified in the action as Salt Lake County residents.A fire that broke out about 3 a.m. on June 13, 1991, in the Ortegas' home, 1045 N. Oakley, killed their son, Christian, 13, and Christian's cousins Creighton Lawrence, 11, and Andrew Lawrence, 9. June Ortega, 7, survived but was hospitalized in a coma. Her condition later improved.
Police later changed their ratings of the deaths from homicides to "suspicious."
Ortega, his wife, Leslie, and their daughter Roseanna, 8, had escaped the blaze when fire-fighters arrived.
After extensive publicity about the fire, polygraph expert David Raskin of the University of Utah administered a lie detector test, concluding that Ortega told the truth when he denied any involvement in setting the fire.
The possibility that the fire was purposely set was raised by fire and police investigators who said they found "accelerant pour patterns" and burn patterns that appeared to have been started with an accelerant.
Some articles in the Deseret News quoted fire experts as saying it appeared someone entered the home through sliding glass doors and poured a large quantity of accelerant in the family room; and that two neighbors said a loud-sounding van or truck sped from the area as the first fire engine arrived.
The suit says the following statements - published by the Deseret News on June 14, 1991, are false: "Ortega, an unemployed construction worker, was seven months behind on his house payments. Mark Wilson, who sold the home to Ortega on a contract, had given the family notice of eviction three days earlier and was at the sheriff's office preparing for the eviction when he learned of the fire."
The following, from a June 15, 1991, story was also false, the suit says: "Ortega had moved his family into the house nine months ago. But police said he was seven months behind on the payments. The family had received an eviction notice three days earlier."
The suit also alleges a June 17, 1992, story was false in stating: "The owners of a Rose Park home where three children were killed last week said the father of one of the children threatened to destroy the house. . . .
"Samuel Ortega purchased the home at 1045 N. Oakley St. from Mark and Karen Wilson nine months ago but fell behind on some of the payments. The Wilsons had served at least one eviction notice in the past on the Ortegas, Karen Wilson said.
"She told a Salt Lake County deputy sheriff later Thursday that she and Ortega had gotten into an argument and that Ortega had threatened to destroy the house, a sheriff's report says. The woman also told the deputy she felt Ortega was going to `come after her house also,' according to the report."
The suit says Ortega did not make such threats.
The suit also cited the Deseret News for reporting, on July 20, 1991, "To date, there has been no physical evidence developed that would place responsibility on any suspect, including the homeowner, Sam Ortega," according to a statement released Friday by the (Salt Lake Police) department."
The suit says, "Plaintiff was not named as a suspect by the police."