Estranged husband admits murdering prominent Utah restaurateur in arson fire
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Salt Lake City, UT (KSL) — The estranged husband of restaurateur John Williams pleaded guilty Tuesday to trapping the prominent Salt Lake man in his home and setting it ablaze, killing him.
Craig Crawford, 48, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated murder and aggravated arson, first-degree felonies. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty for Crawford.
When Crawford is sentenced Friday morning, he faces the potential of either life without parole or 25 years to life in prison with a chance at parole.
Crawford’s plea brought visible emotion in the packed courtroom and as friends and family of Williams spilled into the hallway.
Jim Bradshaw, Crawford’s attorney, said Crawford is deeply remorseful and had been insistent on pleading guilty to the charges against him.
According to police, Crawford intentionally set fire to the Capitol Hill house he had shared with Williams, 72, who had filed for divorce earlier in the month.
Crawford started the fire in the foyer on the second floor of the four-story house at 574 N. East Capitol St., in the early morning hours of May 22, 2016, police said. The blaze rendered the stairway to the upper levels unusable, trapping Williams in the fourth level bedroom where firefighters found him dead on the floor.
An autopsy determined Williams died of smoke inhalation.
According to court documents obtained by the Deseret News, nearly three weeks before Williams died, he sought a restraining order against Crawford claiming he was deteriorating mentally and emotionally, becoming a risk to Williams’ property and a danger to those around him. The request was denied.
Williams installed cameras and changed locks and alarms on the home “to keep Craig Crawford out of the house,” a search warrant affidavit also says.
Williams was the president of Gastronomy, which operates the popular Market Street Grill, Market Street Oyster Bar and the New Yorker restaurants. He restored and renovated old buildings, founded the Downtown Alliance and championed the local arts, Salt Lake City’s Olympic bid and other community organizations.
Crawford had made “multiple statements” in the past about “how he would be rich when Mr. Williams died” as well as his desire to “set Mr. Williams’ home on fire or how he wished the home would burn down,” charging documents allege.
However, before Williams and Crawford were married in July 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, the couple had entered into a property agreement, Williams’ divorce petition claims. The agreement covered property rights and division, earnings and compensation, debts and obligations, and a deal that neither partner would pay alimony in the event of a divorce.