Craig Gregerson

Case record: Craig Gregerson

Background

Craig Roger Gregerson (born c. 1986) was a Salt Lake City, Utah man convicted of the kidnapping and murder of five-year-old Destiny Norton on July 16, 2006.

Gregerson grew up the seventh of eight children in a Mormon family in Orem, Utah. His older brother Spencer said Gregerson “just seemed like a lazy person,” and Spencer did not recall him graduating from high school. Gregerson was previously employed by Radio Shack and a number of temporary staffing agencies.

Gregerson had been convicted of assault in December 2004 for punching his mother-in-law in the face. Other domestic violence incidents with his wife Catherine were reported.

Gregerson resided in a duplex in downtown Salt Lake City that shared a yard with the house that Destiny Norton and her parents occupied, along with a number of other people who were acquainted with each other from the drum circle scene in downtown Salt Lake City.

The offence

Destiny Norton was reported missing on July 16, 2006. In his guilty-plea statement read by his lawyer, Michael Peterson, Gregerson admitted to killing Destiny: “I placed my hand over her mouth, and she suffocated and died.”

Gregerson admitted to luring Destiny from her back yard into his apartment. When she said she wanted to go home, Gregerson restrained her. After she died, police said Gregerson raped Destiny’s body and then stuffed it in a plastic storage bin in his basement.

Gregerson reportedly told FBI agent Steve Fillerup, the polygraph examiner, that he had been planning Destiny’s abduction “for some time” and that he had “made written plans” for the crime. Gregerson reportedly lured the girl into his row house unit, where she “panicked and began to scream”, then “went limp” after he gagged her. Gregerson carried the girl’s body into his basement and sexually assaulted her. He kept the body in a plastic container and later purchased supplies to mask the odor coming from the basement.

Investigation

The disappearance launched a massive eight-day search. The case earned national press attention, and police launched an investigation.

Gregerson consented to an FBI polygraph test on July 24, 2006. He later signed a full confession after failing a polygraph and gave police directions on where to find the body.

Police discovered Destiny’s body on July 24, 2006 inside a plastic storage bin in Gregerson’s basement—two doors away from the Norton home—ending a massive eight-day search.

In a statement read by a prosecutor at sentencing, Destiny’s grandmother Leslie Borchardt said: “That monster not only murdered our little angel, he has also murdered a big part of who I am,” wrote Borchardt.

Arrest

Gregerson pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain made to avoid the death penalty. He waived his rights to a speedy trial. He also waived his rights to a preliminary hearing which had originally been scheduled for October 3 and October 4, 2006.

Trial

Gregerson waived his rights to a preliminary hearing originally scheduled for October 3 and October 4, 2006.

Sentencing

On December 4, 2006, Gregerson pleaded guilty to capital murder and child kidnapping. He received separate sentences: life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder and fifteen years to life for the kidnapping. The sentences were to be served consecutively.

During the guilty-plea hearing, 3rd District Court Judge Robin Reese questioned Gregerson:

• “Do you feel you are guilty of both the crimes you have been charged with?”
• “Yes, I do,” Gregerson replied softly.

Gregerson did not speak during the sentencing portion of his hearing. His defense attorneys gave his letter to Destiny’s family to be entered into the court record.

Gregerson’s letter, handwritten and addressed to Destiny’s family, included:

“You have every right to hate me, every right to want me dead and every right to never forgive me,” Craig Gregerson wrote.
“I take full responsibility for your daughters (sic) death. But her death was not the worst part, what I did after she was dead was unexcusable, sick, and disgusting. I hate myself for what I did. I am in terrible pain every day because your daughter is dead by my actions. She should still be with you. All I can say is I'm sorry. The words are small but they are so sincere. Sincerely, Craig Gregerson.”

In her remarks to the judge, Destiny’s mother Rachael Norton remembered Destiny:

• “She was a good kid with lots of dreams about life,” Norton said, her voice trembling at times.
• “She always wanted to do the best at everything that she could. She wanted to be a vet when she got older. She told me one day that she was going to buy me a house and her dad a motorcycle.”

As Norton spoke, her husband Ricky Norton cried, and Destiny’s grandmother Leslie Borchardt placed her hand on his shoulder.

Norton also called Gregerson a “monster,” saying she hated him for what he had done to her family:

• “That man took everything from us when he took her,” she said.
• “She was what kept me and my husband going all these years.”

When the judge handed down the sentence, Judge Robin Reese told Gregerson:

• “You'll be incarcerated for life. You'll never be released from prison,” Reese told Craig Gregerson.

After the hearing ended, Gregerson’s estranged wife, Cadie, bolted from the courtroom covering her face with a coat and sobbing audibly, and her gasping reaction when the judge announced the sentence was described as so loud that the Nortons turned their heads.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Gregerson was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Destiny Norton on December 4, 2006, and was sentenced to fifteen years to life for child kidnapping.

Aftermath

Salt Lake police detectives, FBI agents, and prosecutors gathered in the rotunda of the Matheson Courthouse after the hearing. Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom told reporters:

• “This was an ordeal that tried us all,” Yocom told reporters.
• “We all fell in love with Destiny as if she was one of ours.”

Shane Siwik said:

• “The world did him a favor. There's never been a better excuse for the death penalty in this state than Gregerson,” Siwik said, who helped organize the search.

Rachael Norton recently gave birth to the couple’s third child, named Faith LeeAnn, based on a name that Destiny suggested.

The sentencing came just a few days after what would have been Destiny’s sixth birthday on Nov. 30. The Nortons acknowledged the timing weighed on their minds. Rachael Norton said:

• “I'm just glad that it's over with, so she can rest in peace,” the mother said. Ricky Norton added:
• “And take care of our other kids,” Ricky Norton said, tugging at his wife’s sleeve.

One year later, Destiny was described as having been found on July 24, 2006 and as having been suffocated; Gregerson had confessed after failing a polygraph and had given police directions to find the body. Gregerson was described as having aided in the search and invited FBI agents into his home while the community hoped Destiny was alive.

Gregerson’s killer was described as Craig Gregerson, 21, during a later account.

Suzanne Burkhalter, identified as the mother-in-law of Destiny’s killer, said she thought about the Nortons often and said:

• “What can you say to somebody that doesn't sound hollow?” She said:
• “That her sixth birthday came and went without her and she missed the birth of the little sister she was so excited about? I can't even imagine.” She also said:
• “I just hope for their sake, that people are allowing them to get on with their lives. To me, it a blessing that Craig was caught and thrown in jail for the rest of his life.”

Jeannie Hill, identified as Destiny’s aunt, said:

• “They live in a really good neighborhood in a nice house,” Hill said.
• “Both of them seem to be holding up pretty well.” Hill added that they were considering moving out of state but were far outside of downtown.

The later account described that Rick and Rachael Norton had moved away from the low-income downtown duplex and lived in a suburb of Salt Lake City, in a home they were buying with donations received after Destiny’s disappearance.

The later account described that Destiny had shared a basement space she decorated with her younger sister Trenaty, 2, and that Rachael had given birth to Faith Leann one month after Destiny’s death.

The later account also stated that the Nortons had new jobs with the Mormon Church and had been counseled through the aftermath.

During the search, it described that approximately 70 police officers and FBI agents searched and that a tipster called police reporting seeing a blonde child with a bottom row of silver capped teeth like Destiny. The girl was sitting in a truck in a gas station, which triggered a flurry of excitement, and it added that the truck was never found but Destiny was.

A letter from Craig Gregerson was dated October 19, 2006 and included:

“Thanks for writing me, I would never think anyone would actually want to write me as I've been wanting a pen pal all my life but I just never knew how to go about finding one. And the last thing I'd expect, if I ever did get a pen pal, was that it would be a girl.” “Basically after this letter reaches you, you could probably get one letter to me shortly before I get sent to prison. Then once I'm there we can write and not have to worry about if I'm going to get letters confiscated or what not.” “The reason for the move was because they think I'm suicidal, even despite them knowing I'm not, they still insist on me being up here.” “I'm doing well, not the best I could be, but well enough to get by.” “I got moved upstairs to Health Services and I hate it up here, that's why I'm not doing much better than "well"." “I'm a Utah native, born and raised in Orem and haven't seen much of the country except some parts of Texas and the Grand Canyon.” “Although I dropped out of school in 10th grade, on many levels I am actually much higher in intelligence than those who have a high school diploma.” “As far as things I want to go into, well I haven't really thought about it but among the things I want to learn are Astronomy, Physics, Engineering, Psychology, and a number of math areas.” “Among the languages included if I can learn them, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian.” “If you have any questions for me, I'll answer any of them except when it comes to my case...I don't like what happened and hate talking about it.” “So enough about me, what's going on with you? How did you find my name and stuff, and why me?” “I'm very curious as to what you look like.” “Until next time, Sincerely, Craig Gregerson.”