Springville is a small town in Utah Valley of only 36,000 people. It sits nestled just beneath Provo, Utah and is full of smiling faces and culture. You may think that a small town of 36,000 wouldn’t have much culture to offer, but to the contrary. They have a motorcycle museum, a gorgeous museum of art, and live music on the weekends.
They also had three unrelated murders within the span of a week in May of 2022. Three murders, three separate occasions, and not a single thing tying them together. What could have caused such an eruption of tragedy in normally one of the safest towns in America? A town where they doen’t even average a homicide a year. Let’s dive in.
Murder One – Gregory Shaffer
Gregory Shaffer (42) was shot in his home at his doorway on May 14th, Saturday evening. He opened the door to see his acquaintance, Hunter Ryan Lamoreaux (25). It was just before 7 p.m. when Lamoreaux shot Shaffer several times before driving away, leaving Shaffer to die.
One of Shaffer’s neighbords caught the shooter and the getaway make and model on their surveillance video. The Springville police were on his tail when Hunter Lamoreaux showed up in the lobby of the police station. He matched the description of the suspect and drove the same make and model.
Lamoreaux claimed that he had been planning this murder for two months. He had been a former neighbor of Gregory Shaffer’s and had watched from next door as Shaffer and his estranged wife fought in a custody battle for their children. According to a statement that Lamoreaux gave police, “he did not feel the victim deserved custody of his children and that he had decided… that the victim needed to die”. (Salt Lake Tribune)
After shooting Shaffer several times because he “wanted to make sure he was dead” he hid the gun in the trailer on Shaffer’s driveway. Hunter was charged with murder.
Hunter Ryan Lamoreaux’s attorney, Greg Skordas, sought the competency defense in July 2022, but in October of 2022, 4th Distric Judge Robert Lund officially declared him competent to stand trial.
DEC 1…
Meditation, Mindfulness and Murder 