Letters to the Editor – March 20th
Priesthood power only maintained by meekness, long suffering
An open letter to the citizens of Sanpete County and especially to those living in Spring City.
After reading Suzanne Dean’s article about Joe and Lee Bennion dated February 21,2025, my heart was troubled. I have been in Spring City many times, walking your streets and watching your interactions with your neighbors. I had contemplated purchasing a home there. My name is on a plaque in the restored school house.
I personally have known Joe Bennion for 27 years. I have known his mother and father longer and was a scoutmaster to some of his younger brothers.
As I read Ms. Dean’s excellent article, I was impressed to ask my Heavenly Father the truth of this story. Not being a stranger to a deity who loves every single inhabitant of this earth, I inquired about what was happening and why.
The LDS scripture, D&C 121, talks about an unjustly jailed Joseph Smith and his sufferings by men who thought they were serving their god.
There are many verses that pertain to Joe’s story, but I’ll quote only one. “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge…” Joe has embodied these virtues his whole life.
By contrast, Mr. Ken Krogue and those who follow him seem to be doing everything contrary to the above quoted scripture. It is sad that the highest political office of the United States of America and my political party have endorsed principles against honesty, civility and obedience to the law.
Loyalty is rewarded above illegality, no matter the harm that is inflicted on the innocent. White is now black because someone has said it is. But the God of Love still knows what is white.
As citizens of the United States of America, if we let falsehoods prevail, and do nothing, we seal our own fate.
Kip Buckner
Goshen, Idaho
Good people unjustly terrorized by inflated attacks
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the excellent reporting about the Bennions in Spring City. We have been watching this situation unfold over the last few years with increasing horror as some of the best people we know are terrorized by misguided people, people seeking some kind of inflated sense of importance from positioning themselves as saviors in an epic struggle between good and evil.
If only those efforts had been directed towards the mundane but ameliorable issues that actually exist among us rather than this salacious and utterly irrational ritual abuse nonsense.
We moved to Spring City in the hope of contributing and participating in the type of small proximate community that is hard to come by these days.
The Bennions have always exemplified what it means to choose a place and live into it with goodness. It has broken our hearts to see otherwise good people taken in by a narrative so scandalous it beggars belief.
I don’t think many people have done the necessary research to understand how implausible the accusations are, nor how many other good people in their community are unjustly implicated besides the Bennions.
In the meantime vicious rumor takes hold in the guise of “well you never know” or “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Meanwhile, Joe and Lee have to look over their shoulder every time they leave the house.
Joe’s pottery shop itself is a metaphor in brick and mortar for the cost this campaign of lies levies against our town. Until recently, his shop has been an oasis of rare trust. As most people locally know, he kept it open 24 hours a day.
When unstaffed, shoppers could select their own wares, tally their bill, and leave money in the lock box. It was one of our favorite things when visitors came to suggest a pottery shopping trip at 10:30 p.m. after dinner and dessert. Their incredulous delight at such a brash act of public trust made me so proud of Spring City.
Now Horseshoe Mountain Pottery sports security cameras and a fancy new code lock. Joe has no choice but to protect his life and livelihood against the literal threats that materialize from a credulous and probably at times unstable band of “truthers”.
These damages will take a long time to heal, if they ever do, and I hope that legal remedies will make examples of those who inflicted them.
I’m sure the author of the article and newspaper have received frightening responses from some of those who see your reporting as giving cover to a child killer. Thank you for telling the truth anyway. Your courage in spite of likely backlash inspired me to purchase a 2-year subscription. Keep it up!
Brian Stucki
Bennions put through devastating and nightmarish ordeals
I have known Lee Bennion and Joe Bennion for 50 years. They are like family to me. This nightmarish ordeal is so unbelievably false that it would be laughable if it weren’t so devastating. The Hamblin daughters were raised in tragic circumstances, leaving them obviously wounded and quite damaged. My heart goes out to them, yet reason and reality must prevail.
Anyone who knows the Bennions well can see the absurdity of these wild accusations. They go against everything Lee and Joe are known for. I have been close to them through every challenge and tragedy they have faced, and I have always been in awe of their consistent integrity and good hearts.
These accusations just don’t make sense! If all these murders took place in such a small community, through the years, where is the evidence? If children were disappearing, where are the police reports? How could these incidents have taken place in such visible locations? Again, where’s the evidence?
The Bennions are delightfully unique individuals. They are artists through and through. They have always embraced self-expression. They left their middle-class suburban upbringings to forge lives driven by principles of creativity and self-sufficiency. In fact, they have lived beautifully. They truly are people who are pure in heart and have exemplified this throughout their lives.
Small people thrive on the misfortune of strong people, pure and simple. In fact, Lee and Joe Bennion are admired and well-thought-of nationally and internationally for their art and character. This made them an appealing target for intolerant people who were annoyed by their non-conformity. This scenario is so obvious.
The story never got traction because of how flaky it was, but that didn’t deter a conspiracy theorist podcaster looking for a salacious story to boost followers. This guy is an obvious opportunist with a clear, self-serving agenda. Anyone who gives him any credence at all is either gullible or shares his twisted, radical thinking.
Bottom line, I would stake my life on the morality, decency, and honesty of Lee and Joe Bennion. There are few people I feel this way about, but without hesitation, I know they are completely innocent of every bizarre accusation against them! If there is rock-solid evidence, prove it. Otherwise, this witch hunt needs to stop!
Kay Gerke
Extremely disappointed in accusations against Bennions
I’ve never written a letter to the editor, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t reach out in support of Joe and Lee Bennion. After reading the lengthy history about the false and vindictive claims directed to Joe and Lee Bennion, in the article published on February 21,2025, I was filled with disbelief, sorrow and extreme disappointment in all the people associated with spreading such lies about Joe and Lee Bennion.
I won’t address all the false accusations against the Bennions. To me, these claims are absolutely unbelievable. If there were “17 distinct homicides” of children and adults, who were they? Why weren’t family members, friends, teachers, neighbors and police asking about them and how they suddenly disappeared? This sounds more like something out of a fictional horror movie.
The Bennions are among some of the finest people I have ever met. They are hardworking, honest, caring and are the type of people any community would gratefully welcome to be their neighbors.
I hope that all of us will carefully watch that we don’t find ourselves part of a trap of falling in line with others who choose to accuse anyone of things that we simply don’t have a certain knowledge of. I know that pure evil does exist and that Satan himself is its leader. Satan will do all he can to rile and divide us.
As we depend on love, acceptance and the guiding influence of Jesus Christ, we can know for ourselves the difference between good and evil. If we can more quickly learn to say I’m sorry and to forgive others it is possible to have a constructive, less divided fresh start.
Steve Butterfield
Ephraim