Utah
‘This is a mistake’: Utah woman shocked to learn perpetrator granted parole just months after sentencing
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah woman said her sense of safety and justice was shattered by a single text message this month alerting her that the man she’d fought for years to put behind bars had been granted parole.
“It makes me cry,” Cami Johnson told the KSL Investigators. “Because I have fought, and I have fought, and I have fought when there was no hope.”
The text sent from VINE, Utah’s automated victim information service, at 6:42 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12, informed Johnson that “parole was granted” for her ex-husband, Byron Thad Haderlie, and scheduled to begin in February 2025.
“This is a mistake, this is a mistake, this has to be a mistake,” she recalled thinking. “I have not gone through all of this for a mistake.”
Johnson was not aware Haderlie was up for parole, just three months after he was sentenced.
Utah’s Board of Pardons and Parole has acknowledged it needs to improve how it communicates with victims of crime and has promised to implement a victim-centered notification system that is in progress but not yet up and running.
Case Background
Johnson reported to police in Cache County in 2017 that Haderlie drugged and sexually assaulted her. Despite Johnson reporting to police quickly and undergoing a forensic exam at the hospital, North Park Police inactivated their investigation into Haderlie multiple times.
Detectives didn’t attempt to contact Haderlie to ask him about Johnson’s report until more than a year later, after a 16-year-old girl reported to police in a different county that Haderlie drugged and attempted to sexually assault her too.
Byron ‘Thad’ Haderlie appears in court in Cache County for a sentencing in October 2023. (KSL TV, Josh Szymanik)
Haderlie was sentenced in the case involving the teen in 2019. Then, in October last year, he was sentenced to zero to 15 years for lesser charges he pleaded guilty to in the case involving Johnson.
“The whole system has failed me from the beginning to today,” said Johnson.
Parole Decision
Haderlie’s parole hearing happened on Jan. 2. The board could have kept him incarcerated until March 2039, but granted his release early next year, contingent on his successful completion of sex offense treatment.
According to Jennifer Yim, Administrative Director of Utah’s Board of Pardons and Parole, the state’s sentencing guidelines recommended a release date in July of this year. The Board’s decision would keep him incarcerated seven months longer than that recommendation.
Utah’s Board of Pardons and Parole granted Haderlie’s contingent release in February 2025.
“It made me feel like everything we did, you know the last seven years and getting this sentence, meant absolutely nothing,” said Johnson.
During the parole hearing that lasted about 15 minutes, Haderlie said he’s changed during the time he’s been incarcerated.
“My perspective has holistically changed through these last five years, approximately five years of incarceration,” he said. “I continue to have forward progression and would like an opportunity to be able to, to get back out into society.”
Haderlie, now 53, told the hearing officer, “I have no malice towards anyone, and those were my decisions, and that’s 100% on me.”
Unsuccessful Victim Notification
Johnson said she was told at Haderlie’s October sentencing that she didn’t need to worry about a parole hearing for at least four years. That information was wrong. Offenders typically have an initial parole hearing within a few months of their sentencing.
“I, if I had any word of a parole hearing, would absolutely clear everything to make sure that I’m there,” Johnson told the KSL Investigators.
Cami Johnson speaks with the KSL Investigators in January 2024. (KSL-TV,Josh Szymanik)
Yim said the board mailed Johnson a letter notifying her of the hearing, as required by Utah law, but they had the wrong address. The letter was returned to the sender on Dec. 11.
When that happens, Yim said the board tries to find other ways to contact people before the hearing – but because victim information is protected, contact information is almost always redacted in the case records the board receives from the courts.
“I know people think, ‘Well, the DMV has my information, why don’t you?’” said Yim. “The reality is, we don’t have it, and we have to do the research to find it.”
Unfortunately, Yim said in the 13 business days between the day they got the letter back in the mail and Haderlie’s hearing, they were not able to reach Johnson.
Victim Impact Hearing
When asked whether what happened with Johnson’s case is a failure, Yim said, “If Cami Johnson feels like the Board of Pardons and Parole specifically failed her, then I’m sorry for that. That was not our intention. And we have done everything that we can, since we found out, to fix that problem.”
The board has scheduled a special victim impact hearing in early March to allow Johnson an opportunity to address the board.
“There’s no guarantees,” said Yim. “I can’t second guess what our board members will do. But I can tell you that they’re committed to an evidence-based, careful consideration of the facts of the case, which includes the impact on victims.”
Utah BOPP Administrative Director Jennifer Yim speaks with the KSL Investigators in January 2024. (KSL-TV,Josh Szymanik)
Yim said Johnson will testify, Haderlie will be allowed to respond, and then the board will reconsider the decision.
“There are absolutely examples in the board’s history where the board, under these very same circumstances, have changed their decision based on victim impact,” said Yim. “There are also other situations where they haven’t.”
Johnson said she is exhausted after years of navigating Utah’s justice system, but she plans to attend the victim impact hearing and take the opportunity to testify against Haderlie’s release.
“I will keep doing this over and over and over and over again, to make sure that he does not do this to one more person,” she said.
A fix on the way
At least one lawmaker has expressed interest in updating the board’s victim notification responsibilities in state statute during the current legislative session. An early draft of a victims rights bill sponsored by Provo Republican Rep. Tyler Clancy called for victims of crime to be notified of all of their perpetrator’s parole hearings, but that section was removed before filing. Clancy said a different lawmaker intends to address the issue in another bill.
“It’s crazy to me that they notify you that he had a parole hearing, but we’re not notified of a parole hearing,” Johnson said, noting the automated text she received regarding the board’s decision.
A text from Utah’s automated victim notification service, VINE, alerted Johnson to the board’s decision to grant Haderlie parole. (KSL-TV,Josh Szymanik)
Johnson is registered with the free VINELink notification system, which allows people to receive automated updates on the custody status of offenders in Utah prisons and jails. Yim said while it’s a common misconception that the board works with VINE, that system is not controlled by the parole board.
“We owe one another better contact, victim-centered, trauma-informed contact, and that’s what we’re working towards,” said Yim.
Under Yim’s direction, the board has been working to implement a victim-centered notification system for parole hearings and decisions. She said the project is in progress, with a vendor selection expected to happen this week. She expects it to be up and running with all the features she wants to include by the end of the year.
Until then, Yim said the best thing a victim who wants to participate in parole hearings can do is call or write to the board and let them know their preferences for when and how the board contacts them.
“It’s our commitment to honor those,” said Yim.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole can be reached at 801-261-6464.
This report is part of a series examining how apparent gaps at every level of Utah’s criminal justice system fail to protect Utahns.
If you have experienced sexual violence, you can access help and resources by calling Utah’s 24-hour Sexual Violence Helpline at 1-888-421-1100. You can also call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for free, confidential counseling.
Have you experienced something you think just isn’t right? The KSL Investigators want to help. Submit your tip at investigates@ksl.com or 385-707-6153 so we can get working for you.
EUREKA, Utah (KUTV) — Firefighters protected threatened homes in Eureka as the Iron Fire burned overnight, reporting that no structures were lost.
Officials with the Santaquin City Fire Department said firefighters focused their Saturday night efforts on protecting property from the wildfire after it spread over thousands of acres in Juab County. They released an update at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, saying no structures had been lost during the first part of the night.
“We can all let out a cautious sigh of relief for now. Because of the fire conditions and intensity of this fire, resources were focused mainly on structure protection. Those excellent efforts were successful in protecting the homes in Eureka,” fire officials said.
MORE | Iron Fire:
However, the noted that while the structures survived the night, the fire is still burning and 0% contained.
The human-caused fire was discovered Friday just west of Eureka, on the border of Juab, Tooele and Utah Counties. Since then, it has grown to over 13,000 acres, prompting evacuations for the Town of Eureka and the ranches nearby.
Officials plan to brief the public at 8:30 a.m. on all new developments.
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Helicopters and planes were seen dumping water on the fire and flying low over the campus Saturday evening.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A fire breaks out above the University of Utah on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
Utah has spent the past year fighting measles outbreaks — a grim milestone that could affect whether the United States can keep its measles-free designation.
More than 680 people have gotten sick since the state’s first outbreak began on June 20, 2025.
Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.
READ MORE: How health sleuths are watching for threats like measles during the World Cup
Measles popped up in healthcare settings, big-box stores and restaurants, and youth sporting events. In February, an exposure at a state high school wrestling championship sparked at least 46 cases among attendees.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. It causes a tell-tale rash, high fevers, strong cough, ear infections and diarrhea.
While most recover, some — including young babies, pregnant people and those with weak immune systems — are at higher risk of developing dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness or even dying. Even healthy people can develop issues years down the road, including a rare but fatal degenerative brain disease that manifests about a decade after infection.
The measles vaccine is safe and 97% protective after two doses.
READ MORE: South Carolina’s measles outbreak is over after sickening nearly 1,000 people
Though Utah’s spread has slowed in recent weeks, state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen sees little opportunity to rest. She’s worried the start of school and arrival of colder weather in the fall will cause measles to surge again.
“It’s still here, it’s still transmitting,” she said. “We just need those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really big again.”
Utah sees the impacts of dropping vaccination rates
The worst spread has been in the southwestern part of the state, where 265 people have fallen ill with the vaccine-preventable disease since last summer. Overall, measles infections hit 22 of the state’s 29 counties.
READ MORE: Babies too young for MMR vaccine become ‘sitting ducks’ in measles outbreaks
In the state’s rural northeast, the conditions were also ripe for measles to spread. Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties — collectively dubbed the “tricounty” health region — has seen the second-largest decline in childhood vaccination rates in the state.
More than 16% of the region’s kindergarteners were missing their measles vaccines in the last school year, according to state data. Statewide, 12.8% were missing their vaccine, putting the state far short of the 95% vaccination rate needed to prevent measles outbreaks.
The TriCounty Health Department logged 74 cases of measles this spring, after people who got sick at the youth wrestling tournament spread the virus in school and later within their households.
The frontier region had seen a rise in vaccine hesitancy for some time, said Sydnee Lyons, the health department’s public information officer.
Despite the large number of cases, local and state health officials consider TriCounty’s measles response a success.
Health officials focused efforts on mitigating the inevitable spread. Unvaccinated students were excluded from in-person school and people who were sick were told to isolate themselves. And their appeal to care for one’s neighbors led to more people coming in to get vaccinated, officials said.
READ MORE: Dr. Mehmet Oz urges public to take the measles vaccine as U.S. cases rise
TriCounty’s infectious disease specialist Cyndie Mattinson recalled a parent who told a school nurse she didn’t want to talk to the health department because “she was worried that we would be angry with her and be judgmental because her children were unvaccinated.”
The nurse vouched for the health department staff, and told the mom to let her know if she felt judged. Mattinson ultimately had a great conversation with the mother.
“The perceptions were changed that we weren’t out there to police, we were there to be a help and a resource to the community,” Mattinson said.
Health experts will meet to decide on U.S. measles status
Utah’s lengthy battle with measles will likely affect whether the U.S. can keep its measles-free designation. Public health officials consider measles to be eliminated from a country when it shows it stopped continuous spread within local communities for at least a year.
The national measles case count was 2,104 as of June 18, nearly surpassing last year’s record total.
READ MORE: A parent’s guide to preventing measles infection and what to look for
Utah has fought measles for a year, but it’s not clear if the earliest clusters are connected with the major outbreak on the Utah-Arizona state line, which was detected in August, Nolen said.
But since then, most of the state’s measles cases have come from within Utah, not from other parts of the country.
International health experts will gather in November to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles elimination status. Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.
In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared patients and lobby for better public health policy.
Dr. Ellie Brownstein, president-elect of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Salt Lake City, spent the height of the outbreak opposing a bill that would have made school vaccine waivers easier to get. It failed, but she says there hasn’t been a clear cultural reckoning over measles’ resurgence.
“I don’t know that we get it to end,” Brownstein said. “I don’t know that we’re going to get this genie back in the box because there’s enough people out there to spread it.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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