Background: News footage of the home in Springville, Utah, where neighbors heard gunshots on March 20 (KSL). Inset (left): Sarah Johnson (Springville Police Department). Inset (right): John Handricks (Facebook).
A Utah man was arrested in connection with the disappearance of his mother and her friend, both of whom are believed by police to be dead.
Matthew Leonard, 28, reported his mother, 50-year-old Sarah Johnson, missing on March 26, according to the Springville Police Department. On April 6, police announced that she was last seen at her home in Springville, Utah, on the night of March 20, along with 50-year-old John Handricks. Handricks had also been reported missing out of Salt Lake City, Utah. After conducting a search at the home in Springville and speaking to witnesses, police said they believed Johnson and Handricks “had possibly been shot and killed.”
Weeks after Johnson and Handricks went missing, authorities arrested Leonard, who will be charged with two counts of aggravated murder.
According to court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KSL, Leonard was on law enforcement”s radar in the weeks leading up to the reported disappearance of his mother and Handricks. Police wrote that Leonard was arrested on March 9 and charged with electronic communication harassment. He had reportedly sent his girlfriend, who was also the mother of his child, several text messages and called her multiple times. After he was told to stop, he sent her “11 messages and made 11 phone calls… all made within an hour and a half after being told to stop.”
Police said some of the messages Leonard sent included threats to harm himself, and he became paranoid in the following days. The girlfriend filed for a protective order against Leonard on March 13, police said.
When Handricks was reported missing to Salt Lake City police on March 23, the reporting party said he had last been seen with Johnson on March 20. Police spoke to Leonard on March 26 to ask him about Handricks being seen with his mother. That day, Leonard filled out paperwork to report Johnson missing.
Leonard pleaded guilty to the harassment charge on April 7, the day after Springville police said they received “unconfirmed” information that Johnson and Handricks were dead. According to the court documents, it was Johnson’s father who told police that his granddaughter apparently got a text from her friend that said Johnson “had been shot and the body had not been located.”
Police said witnesses saw Johnson and Handricks at the Springville home with Leonard on March 20, “one of whom heard possible gunshots inside the residence.”
According to the court documents, detectives executed a search warrant at the home on April 11. While investigating inside the house, detectives said they found “evidence of blood, shell casings, and a bullet slug.” In Johnson’s bedroom, they observed blood “in the grooves between flooring planks.” Large pools of blood were allegedly present in the same room against two separate walls, leading detectives to believe that the victims were deceased. The detectives noted that there was an attempt to clean up the blood and said they believed Leonard “disposed of the bodies.”
Leonard was arrested the same day. He is currently being held at the Utah County Jail without bail.
KSL reported that the Utah County Attorney’s Office requested additional time to gather evidence before formally charging Leonard with two counts of aggravated murder. He is also facing pending charges of possession of a substance with intent to distribute, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, prohibited dangerous weapon conduct, and obstruction of justice. His next court date was not available.
