Two men associated with the kidnapping and gruesome murder of a man whose head was crushed by an 87-pound rock were sentenced to prison Monday for their respective roles in the crime.
Don Dorton, 36, was accosted by several members of a white supremacist gang in October 2001. Dorton was kidnapped, beaten, bound heavily with duct tape to the point of near-suffocation, wrapped in a sheet with more fabric around his head, taken to an isolated area in Salt Lake County, struck in the head with the boulder and left to die.
Prosecutors said Dorton somehow survived for a time and from all indications died a painful and horrific death.
Members of the Silent Aryan Warriors gang suspected Dorton had stolen a small amount of methamphetamine and went after him, although the drug later was returned.
Gordon Pattan Graves, 28, was sentenced Monday to zero to five years in prison for third-degree felony criminal homicide by assault and zero to five years for third-degree felony attempted kidnapping. The sentences will run concurrently.
Graves' attorney, Scott Williams, told 3rd District Judge Robin Reese that his client should be treated differently and get probation because he has taken some responsibility for what happened but was one of the least involved of the many people who congregated at a house where Dorton was first taken.
Graves had become a gang member in prison but disassociated himself from the gang after his release. He moved to Idaho and held a job, Williams said. He returned to Salt Lake City for a visit and needed a ride home when he went to this particular house. "Had there been a trial, there would be a question of the level of involvement he had," Williams said.
Instead, Graves accepted a plea agreement. However, prosecutor Vincent Meister said Graves helped hold Dorton while he was being taped, helped carry him up and down stairs and did nothing to stop the crime.
Another man, Kenneth Paul Hunter, 32, was sentenced Monday to five years to life in prison for first-degree felony murder and 10 years to life for first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping. These sentences will run consecutively.
His attorney, Clayton Simms, said Hunter was in "the wrong place at the wrong time" and has maintained his innocence all along. "Nothing he could have done would have made a difference," Simms said.
Simms said later that because Hunter has gang tattoos, he was being treated differently from others who had more involvement in the crime.
But Meister argued that a jury did not agree with the contention that Hunter was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that Hunter initiated and helped search Dorton, hit him, held him while he was being taped, moved him up and down stairs and put him in a car.
"He has minimized his role from the outset," Meister said. "He's shown no signs whatsoever of remorse. He says he's still an active member of SAW."
The man convicted in November of actually dropping the huge rock on Dorton's head, Darren Neil Grueber Jr., was not transported to court Monday. His new sentencing date was set for Jan. 28.
Other men who prosecutors say are connected with the crime include:
David Woodson Campbell, who has pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter and second-degree felony kidnapping. He already has been sentenced to one to 15 years in prison on each count, and the sentences will run consecutively.
Calvin Wesley Jensen, who is charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree aggravated kidnapping. A plea bargain is being negotiated.
Larry Robert Rasmussen, who is charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree aggravated kidnapping. A plea bargain also is being negotiated in his case.
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