Infamous Serial Killers

Arthur Bishop | Utah’s Child-Killer | Misled by Satan to Murder

Arthur Gary Bishop was a bookkeeper-turned-child predator whose double life ended in Utah’s death chamber on June 10, 1988, after he confessed to abducting and murdering five boys between 1979 and 1983 near Salt Lake City.

Author Bishop
Author Gary Bishop

Arthur Bishop | Utah’s Child-Killer

American Serial Killer

Last updated: November 18, 2025

Arthur Gary Bishop | Utah’s Child-Killer

  • Full name: Arthur Gary Bishop
  • AKA: Roger W. Downs; Lynn Jones.
  • Born / Died: Sept 29, 1952 – June 10, 1988.
  • Crimes (span): Oct 14, 1979 – Jul 14, 1983 (5 victims).
  • Primary location: Salt Lake County, Utah, USA.
  • Arrested: July 24, 1983.
  • Convictions: Five counts first-degree murder; five counts aggravated kidnapping; sexual abuse of a minor.
  • Sentence / Outcome: Death; executed by lethal injection at Utah State Prison (Point of the Mountain) on June 10, 1988.

Classification & Characteristics

Bishop fits the profile of an organized, socially adept child-sex killer who groomed and lured boys with attention, gifts, and promises, then killed to silence witnesses. He maintained respectable veneers – Eagle Scout, Latter-day Saint, bookkeeper – while living under aliases and escalating from molestation to serial homicide.

He later told the court and reporters his compulsion was fueled by child-pornography fantasies and claimed he had been “misled by Satan,” framing the murders as a way to avoid exposure. He waived appeals and expressed remorse before execution – an unusual combination of confession, religious framing and end-stage acceptance.

Timeline of the Arthur Gary Bishop Case →

  • Oct 14, 1979 – First victim, 4-year-old Alonzo Daniels abducted in Salt Lake City.
  • Nov 8, 1980 – 11-year-old Kim (Claude) Petersen disappears.
  • Oct 20, 1981 – 4-year-old Danny Davis abducted near a supermarket.
  • Jun 22, 1983 – 6-year-old Troy Ward abducted; case breaks summer 1983.
  • Jul 14, 1983 – 13-year-old Graeme Cunningham disappears.
  • Jul 24, 1983 – Bishop questioned; confesses; leads police to remains.
  • Feb–Mar 1984 – Trial; guilty verdicts (five murders, five kidnappings); death sentence.
  • May 6, 1988 – Judge sets June 10 execution date after Bishop waives appeals.
  • Jun 10, 1988 – Executed by lethal injection; final apology reported by Deseret News/UPI.

Case Summary | Arthur Bishop

Former Eagle Scout and LDS missionary Arthur Gary Bishop lived under aliases in the Salt Lake area while grooming boys and collecting exploitative images. Between 1979 and 1983 he abducted five boys from everyday places, then killed them to prevent disclosure. In July 1983 he confessed and took detectives to burial sites, was convicted in 1984, and – after declining to pursue appeals – was executed by lethal injection on June 10, 1988.

→ Quick Answers

  • Who was Arthur Gary Bishop? A Utah serial killer who abducted and murdered five boys (1979–1983).
  • Where is he now? Deceased – executed by lethal injection on June 10, 1988.
  • Why did he say he killed? To avoid being exposed for molestation; later claimed he’d been “misled by Satan.”
  • Did he appeal? He effectively waived appeals; the court set an expedited date in 1988.
  • Last words / last meal? Reported final statement included apologies to families; contemporary reporting notes he declined a special last meal.

🕊️ Victim of Arthur Gary Bishop

  • Alonzo Daniels (4) – Oct 14, 1979
  • Claude Kimley “Kim” Petersen (11) – Nov 8, 1980.
  • Danny Davis (4) – Oct 20, 1981.
  • Troy Ward (6) – Jun 22, 1983.
  • Graeme Cunningham (13) – Jul 14, 1983.

→ FAQs

How was Bishop caught?

Questioning in July 1983 linked his alias “Roger Downs” to multiple disappearances; he confessed and led police to remains.

What did courts say about motive?

The Utah Supreme Court summarized the State’s position that he killed to prevent victims from reporting abuse.

What method did Utah use?

Lethal injection (Utah’s first execution by injection came in 1987; Bishop’s was in 1988).

Did religion factor into coverage?

Yes – stories noted his LDS background and his claim of being “misled by Satan”; he was excommunicated in 1979.

Arthur Bishop | Utah’s Child-Killer

👉 The Story

Misled by Satan to Murder

A Veneer of Normalcy

In late-1970’s Utah, Arthur Gary Bishop looked like the dependable neighbor – Eagle Scout past, bookkeeping jobs, Latter-day Saint upbringing – while living behind aliases such as “Roger W. Downs.” That respectable front masked escalating sexual interest in boys, collecting exploitive images and cultivating access through gifts and attention.

Boys Begin to Disappear (1979–1981)

On October 14, 1979, 4-year-old Alonzo Daniels vanished from a Salt Lake City apartment courtyard. Despite intensive searches, the case went cold – one of several disappearances that would haunt the county. On November 8, 1980, 11-year-old Kim Petersen also disappeared, followed on October 20, 1981 by Danny Davis, 4, last seen near a local market. Investigators did not yet see the single offender behind the pattern.

Alonzo Daniels Photo

Alonzo Daniels (4) — October 14, 1979 | Salt Lake City, Utah

Four-year-old Alonzo Daniels was playing in the courtyard of his apartment complex when he vanished in the early afternoon of October 14, 1979. Neighbors joined his mother in a frantic search; officers went door-to-door and even spoke with the man across the hall who called himself “Roger Downs.” No one realized Alonzo had already been lured from the courtyard with the promise of candy and taken inside that very apartment. There, the encounter turned violent and Alonzo was killed.

While search and rescue mobilized and flyers described his cream T-shirt printed “Chocolate / Lime / Vanilla,” the man who took him concealed the small body in a box and walked past the worried mother in the courtyard. By nightfall, Alonzo was gone—driven twenty miles into the desert near Cedar Fort and buried beneath scrub and shade.

The community kept looking for days – students, union members, families—holding out hope that a child could still be found. The truth would not surface until years later, when the neighbor with the alias finally confessed and led detectives to the grave.

A Summer of Fear (June–July 1983)

The pace quickened in summer 1983: on June 22, Troy Ward (6) disappeared; less than a month later, on July 14, Graeme Cunningham (13) went missing. Community alarm spiked as cases clustered in time and space, and detectives began to cross-reference names, vehicles, and hangouts – finally converging on a man known to some boys as “Roger Downs.”

Kim Petersen Photo

Kim Petersen (11) — November 9, 1980 | Salt Lake City, Utah

The afternoon before, at a neighborhood roller-skating rink, Kim Petersen chatted with a man who offered $35 for his skates. On Sunday, November 9, 1980, Kim left home carrying them, telling his parents he’d make the sale and be right back. He never returned.

Detectives canvassed the rink and nearby streets. Skaters recalled Kim speaking with a man in his late 20s to mid-30s—full-faced, glasses, dark hair, bushy eyebrows—wearing jeans and an army-style jacket; one thought he drove a silver Camaro with out-of-state plates. Two witnesses even underwent hypnosis to refine the description. Officers also knocked at the door of a quiet neighbor known as “Roger Downs,” asking routine questions. No one yet recognized him as the same man police had questioned after Alonzo Daniels vanished the year before.

Only years later, after a confession, did the truth surface: Kim had been killed that Sunday and buried in the desert near Cedar Fort, close to where Alonzo was laid. The proximity of the graves revealed a pattern that searchers could not have seen in 1980—two boys, two families waiting at windows, and a single offender hiding in plain sight.

“Roger W. Downs”: Access and Grooming

Investigators learned the offender cultivated trust – befriending boys, offering rides, small jobs, or gear-classic grooming meant to lower defenses and create private access before violence. It was a calculated pattern: organized, practiced, and rooted in witness-elimination to avoid exposure for sexual abuse.

Danny Davis photo

Danny Davis (4) — October 20, 1981 | Salt Lake City, Utah

On a Tuesday afternoon, Danny Davis knelt by a supermarket gumball machine while his grandmother shopped. A man watched, spoke briefly, and as Danny drifted toward the exit, the man led him outside. When Danny didn’t return to his grandmother at checkout, the store locked in, employees and customers searched, and deputies widened the net. Night temperatures dropped into the 30s; flyers, volunteers, divers at Big Cottonwood Creek, pond drags, alley sweeps—nothing.

The case became one of Salt Lake County’s most intensive searches. Tips poured in; a $20,000 reward brought no break. Officers even knocked on the door of a quiet neighbor half a block from the market—a man calling himself “Roger Downs.” He offered nothing helpful. No one realized he lived near the families of two other missing boys, Alonzo and Kim, and had also been working under yet another alias while fleeing an embezzlement.

Years later, the truth surfaced in a confession: Danny had been taken and killed that day. The next morning, the offender drove to the desert near Cedar Fort and buried Danny close to the first two boys—a pattern investigators could not see at the time, hidden in plain sight behind changing names and a carefully ordinary life.

The Break in the Case

On July 24, 1983, Salt Lake County investigators brought in the man behind the “Downs” alias – Arthur Gary Bishop. Questioning moved quickly. Within an hour, Bishop began to talk. He confessed and led detectives to multiple burial/recovery sites, closing five long-hanging missing-child files and reshaping the investigation from search to prosecution.

Troy Ward Photo

Troy Ward (6) – June 22, 1983 | Salt Lake County, Utah

It was Troy Ward’s sixth birthday – presents and cake waiting at home. He’d been allowed to play at a nearby park, then meet a family friend at 4:00 p.m. on a corner to get a ride home. When Troy didn’t appear, the friend drove to the house, hoping he’d beaten him there. He hadn’t.

Patrol units fanned out in a grid around the park. A witness recalled a small boy – Troy’s size-walking away calmly with a man a few minutes before four, the pair so at ease the witness assumed father and son. In reality, the man was Arthur Gary Bishop. Troy vanished without a trace.

Later, in statements to detectives, Bishop admitted taking the child and said he briefly considered letting him go before deciding to silence him. Rather than return to his usual desert burial ground near Cedar Fort, he buried Troy near Big Cottonwood Creek in the Twin Peaks area to the east.

Inside the Confession of Arthur Bishop

In recorded statements, Bishop said he killed to prevent victims from reporting abuse – witness-elimination motive that prosecutors later highlighted and the Utah Supreme Court summarized in affirming his sentence. He also acknowledged an entrenched pattern of exploitative fantasies that escalated over years.

Graeme Cunningham Photo Arthur Bishop Victim

Graeme Cunningham (13) — July 14, 1983 | Salt Lake County, Utah

Thirteen-year-old Graeme Cunningham was packed for a weekend campout – gear laid out, plans set with a junior-high friend and an adult chaperone who called himself “Roger Downs.” On Thursday, July 14, 1983, he vanished from the neighborhood before dinner. The case hit statewide news. That evening and after, “Downs” appeared at the Cunninghams’ door, offering to help however he could.

Behind the polite knock was the truth Graeme’s parents could not see: the man offering assistance was the man responsible. Within days, something finally clicked for the task force that had been chasing a pattern since 1979. Detectives recognized the “Downs” name across prior files and brought him in. On July 24, 1983, under his real name – Arthur Gary Bishop – he confessed and led police to recovery sites for five boys, including Graeme, closing the circle that had haunted Salt Lake families for four years.

Trial and Sentencing

From February–March 1984, Bishop stood trial for five counts of first-degree murder (and related counts). Jurors heard about the grooming, the disappearances, the recoveries, and the confessions; they returned guilty verdicts and a death sentence. In 1988, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the convictions and penalty in State v. Bishop, 753 P.2d 439.

Final Chapter

After limited post-conviction activity and declining to pursue extensive appeals, Bishop’s execution was set in June 1988. In the early hours of June 10, 1988, at Utah State Prison, he was executed by lethal injection. Local coverage captured his brief final apology to families and recorded the minute-by-minute sequence as the warrant was carried out.

Last Goodbyes

Arthur Bishop

Arthur Bishop met with his parents for the last time on June 8, 1988, then spent his last hours in fasting, declining a final meal, and prayer. “It’s unbelievable how calm and cool he is,” Mormon bishop Heber Geurts told newsman Robert Mims. “Even the guards can’t understand it. I’ve dealt with thousands of inmates in 33 years, and he’s the most sorrowful and repentant and remorseful man I’ve ever seen.”

Arthur Gary Bishop kept his date with the needle on June 10, 1988.

He was 35 years old.

Legal Status | Paper Trail | Arthur Gary Bishop

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Beyond the Gavel | Arthur Gary Bishop

Roll Card | Snapshot

  • Name: Arthur Gary Bishop (1952–1988)
  • Jurisdiction: Utah (Salt Lake County)
  • Conviction/Sentence: 5× first-degree murder; death (1984)
  • Key Appellate Holding: Death sentence affirmed (State v. Bishop, 753 P.2d 439 (Utah 1988)) → Opinion
  • Execution: Lethal injection, Utah State Prison, June 10, 1988 → Deseret News

Docket Map | Proceedings (Condensed)

  • 1983: Arrest; confession; recovery of remains → Deseret News
  • 1984: Jury verdicts; death sentence imposed (Mar 19, 1984) → Wikipedia overview
  • 1988 (Feb 3): Utah Supreme Court affirms → Justia
  • 1988 (June 10): Warrant carried out → Deseret News

Stay / Warrant / Window

  • Warrant/Method: Lethal injection authorized and scheduled after Utah high court affirmance; executed shortly after 12:01 a.m. on June 10, 1988 → Deseret News preview
  • Context: Utah’s method statutes/history and post-Gilmore framework → Utah Legislature history (PDF)

Case File Extras | What the Record Shows

  • Confession & Recovery: Bishop’s statements and cooperation locating burial sites are repeatedly referenced in contemporary reporting and the appellate record → Deseret News — detective account | Utah Supreme Court opinion
  • Appellate Holdings: State v. Bishop discusses issues surrounding confession, evidence, jury instructions, and sentencing aggravators in detail → Opinion (full text)
  • Execution Timeline Details: Local coverage documents the minute-by-minute progression to the injection and final pronouncement → Deseret News — execution report

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