This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has set a parole date of April 26, 2022, for convicted killer and arsonist Gary Hilfiker.
Hilfiker went before the parole board earlier this month and asked to be released from prison after serving 18 years for the April 24, 1992, murder of Marsha Haverty at her Salt Lake City home.
Hilfiker stabbed the 38-year-old woman up to 10 times, poured kerosene over her and set her ablaze. Hilfiker, now 52, told the board that drug addiction fueled his behavior the day of Haverty's slaying. He claimed to have been "smoking crack and drinking for three days straight" the day he went to see Haverty, whom he had been staying with for about two months prior to the crime.
He said his decision to light the woman on fire was a "panicky thing" he did after he realized he had killed Haverty.
Hilfiker said he became a born-again Christian in 2001 and is ready to be released into society. He was sentenced in 1992 to serve two consecutive prison terms of five years to life for murder and aggravated arson.
--Melinda Rogers