Arthur Gary Bishop: "I'd do it again"
July 14th, 1983. Salt Lake City, Utah. 13-year-old Graeme Cunningham had his bags packed and was counting down the days until he was able to embark on an exciting camping trip with a friend and a chaperone. Just two days left and he would be in for the adventure of a lifetime. It’s been said that Graeme could not stop talking about the expedition, which is why it was so troublesome to his parents when Graeme failed to make it home that Thursday evening for dinner.
Salt Lake City had recently experienced a number of missing children cases so the parents’ report was taken very seriously by police. News outlets immediately began reporting on the missing child and calls were pouring into the Cunningham residence with questions and offers of support. One such call was from the adult chaperone set to take Graeme on his camping trip, Roger Downs. He offered to help in the search for Graeme in any way he could.
Arthur Gary Bishop A.K.A. Roger Downs
The name was instantly recognized by detectives involved with the other recent missing child cases and it started to feel less coincidental. Downs had already been questioned in a few other missing child cases and police started to have a strong suspicion of the man who always found himself in the company of children. Naturally police wanted to question Downs and he promptly agreed to come down to the department for an interview.
The evidence was staggering. Downs was either the most unlucky man in Utah or he was involved in something serious and sinister. He lived in the same apartment complex as one of the missing children, lived within blocks of two other child abduction sites and fit the description of a man who was last seen speaking to a victim at a roller skating rink.
Once Downs arrived, he was quickly whisked away into an interrogation room. Over the course of a few hours, detectives were stunned to find out that Roger Downs was not who he claimed to be, but was in fact Arthur Gary Bishop. Arthur would go on to reveal how he molested, murdered and buried five children over the last several years.
Born and raised in Hinckley, Utah, on September 29th, 1952, the eldest of six boys, Arthur Gary Bishop started on what many would consider to be a righteous path. Arthur was a devout Mormon who did what he could for his church, including missionary work in the Philippines at 19. He was also considered to be a well behaved student and an Eagle Scout. Arthur would go on to graduate college and land a job as an accountant with a car dealership. At some point during his employment, for one reason or another, Arthur decided an opportunity had presented itself and decided to attempt to embezzle approximately $10,000 from his job but was promptly caught and arrested in February of 1978.
A 5-year suspended sentence was handed down to Arthur as long as he agreed to pay the full amount back. Arthur readily agreed to the plea but immediately skipped town with no intention on paying the debt back. Bishop was cut off from the church and he left his hometown for Salt Lake City, Utah. Shortly after moving to the city, Arthur would join the Big Brother program in an attempt to befriend young boys. It’s unclear when his obsession with young boys started but it progressively got worse. Bishop was never charged with molestation while working with the program but after his arrest many would come forward with abuse allegations.
Alonzo Daniels
Arthur’s urges would continue to grow and would ultimately lead him to his first known murder victim, 4-year-old Alonzo Daniels. October 14th, 1979, Alonzo was playing near his apartment when Bishop, who lived in the same complex, approached him with a promise of candy. Alonzo readily agreed and followed Arthur back to his apartment. Once behind closed doors, Arthur immediately began attempting to sexually assault the young boy, who in turn began to cry. In a panic, Arthur hit Alonzo with a hammer and subsequently brought the child into the bathroom where he began to drown him in a tub. Alonzo was murdered, placed in a box, and put in the trunk of Arthur’s car as if he were luggage. Later that evening, Arthur drove out to Cedar Fort where he buried Alonzo in the desert.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood was swarming with police and volunteers all in an effort to find young Alonzo. Flyers were plastered throughout the apartment complex and neighbors were questioned by authorities, including Arthur who was still going by his alias Roger Downs at the time. Roger was able to convince investigators at the time he was not involved and they moved on to speak with the rest of the tenants.
Feeling a range of emotions after his first kill, Bishop wanted to feel that same rush again and decided to start killing puppies to quench his dark desires. He made claims that the puppies made similar noises as Alonzo before killing the dogs through various means.
A little over a year would go by before Bishop struck again. He lured his next victim on November 8th, 1980. Kim Peterson had been at a local roller skating rink when Bishop approached him. The two talked about skating for sometime when Kim mentioned he was hoping to buy a new pair soon. Bishop agreed to buy Kim’s old pair and lured him back to his apartment the following day, where they could complete the transaction. Kim left his house with the skates he intended to sell and was never heard from again. Bishop bludgeoned the young child to death shortly after arriving at his apartment.
Kim Peterson
Kim’s family called police that evening when the child failed to show up for dinner. Witnesses were interviewed at the skating rink and described a white male, approximately 200-pounds, speaking with Kim, but the lead seemed to hit a dead end. Arthur would take the boy to Cedar Fort and bury Kim near his first victim. Oddly enough, Arthur was interviewed once more but again was not labelled a suspect.
11-months would go by before Arthur lured his 3rd victim. October 20th, 1981, Danny Davis had been at a local grocery store with a grandparent when he was distracted by a gum ball machine. Checking the machines for spare candy or coins is a pastime I'm sure many of us are familiar with, which is what Bishop encountered when he first saw Danny Davis. He offered the boy candy but was refused. As Bishop was leaving the grocery store he noticed Danny was following him, and from there was led away back to Bishop’s apartment. There he abused the boy and went on to strangle him.
Fliers were distributed, witnesses questioned, lakes were dredged and mountains searched. Danny Davis had disappeared and no trace of him could be found in one of Utah’s biggest missing person searches to date. Witnesses recall a man speaking with Danny but had difficulty describing him. No clear pictures could be formed of the suspect. A reward of $20,000 was offered but the reward would go unclaimed. Police would again question Bishop and again no connection was made. Bishop’s apartment was just a block away from the grocery store. Bishop would later take another trip to Cedar Fort where he would bury Danny Davis amongst his other victims.
Nearly 2 years would pass before Bishop would emerge once more to attack his next victim. June 22nd, 1983, Troy Ward had been playing in a park on his 6th birthday. Troy’s ride was scheduled to pick him up from the park at 4:00 PM that day however when the driver showed up, no one could be seen in the park. The driver decided to head to Troy’s house and finding he had not been heard from, decided to call the police. Investigators canvassed the area but no solid leads were found.
Troy was taken back to Bishop’s apartment where, like the other victims, he was abused sexually, bludgeoned and later drowned in the bathtub. Troy would later be driven to Big Cottonwood Creek where Bishop would bury the boy.
Bishop’s next victim would be Graeme Cunningham who was excited to go on his big camping trip, whose investigation led authorities to Bishop’s confession. The following days Bishop would lead detectives to the 3 grave sites at Cedar Fort, and 2 more graves in Big Cottonwood Creek. He commented he was glad to have been caught because, "I'd do it again." A search of his home revealed a treasure trove of evidence: a gun, bloody tools, and a number of disturbing photographs of his victims.
Bishop would go to trial on February 27th, 1984 and after 3 weeks would be found guilty on multiple counts of murder and kidnapping. Bishop would be sentenced to death for his crimes. Before his execution Bishop would go on to write a detailed letter on why he committed the disturbing crimes. He blamed the motivation on an obsession with child pornography.
June 10th, 1988. Utah State Prison. The final day for Arthur Gary Bishop. Bishop declined a last meal and decided to read from the Book of Mormon before his execution. He wrote a letter apologizing for his crimes to the families of the victims. He was strapped to a gurney, injected with sodium pentothal, and after 9 long minutes was pronounced dead at 36.
Sources:
https://www.svsd.net/cms/lib5/PA01001234/Centricity/Domain/1046/Arthur%20Bishop3.pdf