Man who held Fairview family hostage is sentenced to five years in prison
James Tilson
Staff writer
6/15/2017
MANTI—The man who terrorized a woman and her children in Fairview in earlier this year—forcing the evacuation of a neighborhood and lockdown of a nearby school, taking SWAT teams from Sanpete and Utah counties to end the situation—has been sent to prison.
Judge Marvin Bagley, citing the “horrible threats” William Davis Lamb made during the April 17 incident, sentenced Lamb to up to five years at the state penitentiary on Wednesday, June 7, in 6th District Court in Manti.
Lamb had previously pleaded guilty on April 26 to one felony of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and six misdemeanor counts of domestic violence.
Despite his actions and verbal threats made at the time—including one, said prosecutor Kevin Daniels, to “die by cop”—Lamb tried to persuade the court, “I’m really not a violent person,” but, he admitted, “I’ve made some stupid decisions.”
But Deputy Sanpete County Attorney Daniels argued that Lamb’s actions had occurred over two separate occasions, and that his actions became increasingly more violent.
Both times, Daniels said, Lamb threatened one of the victims, his one-time girlfriend, to “kill her, bury her” and to “leave her in the mountains.”
When he was confronted by the SWAT team, he would not leave the building where he was cornered even when they used tear gas on him. He came out only after a trained dog was sent in to attack him.
Lamb’s attorney, David Angerhofer, admitted that Lamb should serve at least some jail time, but argued that Lamb’s adult criminal record suggested a history of substance abuse, and that Lamb should be sent to the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program in jail to address his substance abuse problems.
Bagley concluded that prison was the appropriate punishment.
“When you say that you’re not really a violent person, that’s not what the record says,” Bagley told Lamb.
Bagley sentenced Lamb to up to five years in prison for the one felony count, one year in jail for each of the two class A misdemeanor counts, and six months in jail for the four class B misdemeanor counts, all to be served concurrently.
The judge imposed no fine, and gave Lamb credit for time already served while the case made its way through court.
