Utah Police Probe Mormon Chapel Blast

Police on Sunday surrounded the home of a slain polygamist leader’s widow after an explosion ripped through a Mormon church about a half-mile away the day before.

Vickie Singer, who blames public and Mormon officials for the death of her husband, John, vowed not to surrender, although police refused to say whether she or other people inside the compound were suspected of setting off the blast. Those inside included six children, a family member said.

“It’s a potentially volatile situation,” said John T. Nielsen, Utah commissioner of public safety. “We’re here until it’s resolved. There’s no question that the device that was detonated in the building was not accidental. It was placed there.”

A recreation room and chapel in this remote, tiny northeastern Utah ranching community were heavily damaged Saturday by an explosion that police said probably was caused by a bomb.

Spear in Ground

A spear was found in the ground outside the building with a note bearing the name of John Singer and the date Jan. 18, 1979, the day he was killed by law officers.

Singer, excommunicated from the Mormon Church for his polygamist beliefs, was killed by police when he pointed a gun at law officers trying to arrest him in 1979 over his refusal to send his children to public schools.

He once blamed the Mormon Church for his legal problems and said church officials feared his faith.

Authorities said they were attempting to negotiate with Addam Swapp, who reportedly married two of Singer’s daughters. He has refused to leave the home, authorities said.

In September, Swapp purportedly sent a letter to public and Mormon officials that he believed were responsible for Singer’s death, warning them that the Lord would avenge the family, the Deseret News reported Sunday.

Contacted by Phone

Nielsen said he spoke to Swapp late Saturday by telephone in a conversation he described as “rather rambling religious chit-chat” but had been unable to get an answer to repeated calls Sunday.

Vickie Singer told the newspaper in a telephone interview Saturday that the blast was “symbolic of what is coming. There will be a collapse of the church, state and nation.”

Officers, including an FBI special weapons and tactics team, surrounded the Singer compound Saturday night.

Roger Bates, another son-in-law of Vickie Singer, entered the compound late Saturday after police asked him to act as a mediator.