This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Logan police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide involving an elderly couple who were found inside their east bench home after a letter sent to the Logan Herald Journal raised concerns for their safety.
The couple was identified by police late Friday as Dell Andrew Johnson, 82, and Mary Flynn Palley, 73.
"This an apparent murder-suicide in which the man took the life of his wife and then subsequently took his own life," Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen said at a news conference.
Officers went to the couple's home, near 1600 East on Sunset Drive (about 900 North) to conduct a welfare check after being contacted by the newspaper, he said.
The Herald Journal reported that the handwritten letter was dated March 8 and suggested a "tragedy" may have occurred or was about to happen.
Jensen said the letter included remarks about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, government and some Logan-area business people.
"Nothing pointed," Jensen said. "Simply issues that were a cause of concern for this gentleman."
The Herald Journal has reported that the letter it received also included a copy of a typed letter to The New York Times and a copy of a $1,000 check made out to the national newspaper for investigation into the Mormon church.
In a statement issued via Twitter late Friday, the newspaper said staff contemplated phoning the writer, but instead called police.
The statement also notes that the newspaper had struggled with how to appropriately respond to being drawn into Friday's events and to requests for comment from other media outlets.
"We are trained in asking questions," the statement reads. "But not in answering them."