Man in temple shooting plot gets probation

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 24, 2009

A man who authorities say was plotting a shooting rampage at an LDS temple was sentenced to three years probation this week.

Benjamin Speakman, 27, was indicted in February on one count of possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. He pled guilty to that count in U.S. District Court in April.

On Monday, Judge Dale A. Kimball ordered that Speakman be on probation for 36 months and that he take his medication and complete mental treatment. He was also ordered to forfeit his firearms, according to court records.

Speakman showed up at Valley Mental Health's Midvale facility in early February and told workers he had a pistol and shotgun, according to charging documents.

He also said he was "planning to kill himself and others," police said.

Federal authorities said Speakman told them he had planned to kill his wife and mother-in-law and then storm The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Jordan River Temple in South Jordan, shooting anyone who confronted him on his way to the temple's celestial room, where he planned to kill himself.

In addition to the guns found in Speakman's car that day, agents said they also found an AK-47, ammunition and knives at his home.

-- Ethan Thomas