FARMINGTON -- An Idaho man well-known for his threats and bizarre conspiracy theories has been charged with trying to ram down the door of his sister's Centerville home with a horse.
Ronald Marshall was booked into the Davis County Jail Saturday after his sister called police saying Marshall had been drinking and was attacking her front door while riding a horse. Marshall has a history of mental problems, police said.Marshall had been in an argument with his sister and her husband.
"Our understanding was that he tried to run his horse through her front door," Major said.
Marshall has been charged with attempted burglary, criminal mischief, simple assault and DUI for riding a horse while intoxicated.
Davis County Sheriff's dispatch supervisor Karen Wright first started hearing from Marshall in March. Within two months, dispatchers logged 143 calls from the 49-year-old man from Challis, Idaho, and on another occasion, he sent a 67-page fax to the dispatch center.
Officials said Marshall sent letters accusing dispatchers, officers and attorneys of participating in conspiracies and committing vulgar sex acts. The letters also included racist and anti-homosexual comments.
The Davis County Attorney's Office took out a protective order against Marshall after he harassed a receptionist.
Deputy County Attorney Steven Major said Marshall's fixation on Northern Utah began when a Kaysville woman who is Marshall's biological daughter located him in a search for her parents.
The woman had been given up for adoption as a child, but what she hoped would be an emotional reunion has turned into a nightmare. According to court documents, Marshall began harassing the woman and her family to the point where she filed a protective order against him.
Major said Marshall then spread his threats around, writing letters or making phone calls to Zions Bank, ZCMI, Ricks College, Brigham Young University, newspapers and even the offices of the LDS Church.
"We had LDS security calling us asking us what to do with this guy," Major said, "We even had (people from) Plymouth, Mass., calling."
Marshall also claimed to be a prophet. He was arrested last September when he appeared in Kaysville to visit his daughter, violating the protective order.
Custer County Sheriff Ros Kelley in Idaho said Marshall's phone calls and letters have plagued people in his area as well.
"He's one of those type of people you just don't know how to deal with," Kelley said.