On the evening of Wednesday, November 2, 2016, a tragic event unfolded in a field near the remote former mining town of Hiawatha, Utah, leading to the death of 23-year-old James Peterson, a White male. James, a resident of Ferron, was shot and killed alongside his 45-year-old mother, Susan Peterson. The incident occurred approximately eight miles east of Hiawatha, a quiet area at the base of Gentry Mountain.
James was a kind-hearted and charitable young man, known for his willingness to help others, his loyalty, and his many talents which included drawing and songwriting. He was the fourth of fifteen children and was deeply loved and admired by his family, especially his younger siblings.
The circumstances leading to the deaths began to come to light when a call was made to Price dispatch reporting that a person had been shot. When Carbon County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they discovered the bodies of James and his mother. They had both succumbed to gunshot wounds. As deputies were securing the area, they observed a suspect attempting to flee in a vehicle that matched the description given in the initial dispatch call. After a pursuit, law enforcement apprehended the individual, who was identified as Seth Gordon Peterson, James's 25-year-old older brother.
The investigation that followed revealed a disturbing motive behind the double homicide. Seth Peterson had been experiencing what his attorneys would later describe as "meth psychosis." In the days leading up to the fatal encounter, he had reportedly been paranoid, believing his phone was bugged and that the police were following him. On that fateful day, his mother, Susan, had gone to a farmhouse in the area to pick him up. When James got out of their truck to check on his mother, Seth shot and killed them both, later claiming he believed they were "demons." After the shootings, he fled in the truck.
Seth Gordon Peterson was arrested and booked into the Carbon County Jail. He was charged with two counts of first-degree felony murder, one count of attempted first-degree felony murder, second-degree felony theft of a motor vehicle, and third-degree felony failure to stop at the command of an officer. In December 2017, a jury found him guilty of the aggravated murder of his brother, James, and guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of his mother. In April 2018, a judge sentenced him to serve at least 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his brother, with a concurrent sentence of one to 15 years for his mother's death. Prosecutors had decided earlier in the proceedings not to seek the death penalty.
