A few things in the saga of Don York are unarguably true.
York flew from his California home to Utah in June 1984, rented a car at the airport, and drove to his ex-wife's home in Bountiful. He was armed with a .22-caliber pistol and extra ammunition.Shots were fired inside the house. York's ex-wife, Pat York, was wounded several times - she still has three bullets in her that doctors left rather than risk removing. And her lover, Jeff Longhurst, died in the gunfire but not before naming York as the killer.
But from there, the story gets murky.
Another chapter was played out this week in 2nd District Court as York pursued the appeal he's worked on almost since he went to prison after pleading guilty to murder in a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.
"It's a bizarre case, absolutely bizarre," said York's volunteer defense attorney, Jerrold McPhee. "Every time I turn around, some new twist comes up that I think just couldn't be true. But it is."
"It keeps getting more bizarre as it goes along. I've been dealing with it for seven years, and I'm the fifth attorney," McPhee said.
McPhee's motion to have York's guilty plea withdrawn was turned down by Judge Rodney S. Page, who sentenced York to two consecutive prison terms 13 years ago.
"There are massive inconsistencies in the case," McPhee said. "Stories don't jibe. Too many shots were fired in the house. The entry angle of the bullets. The fact that no gunpowder residue was found on Don's hands, but it was found on Longhurst's hand."
Then there's Don York/Dan Hell.
York was diagnosed as having multiple personality disorder (MPD) after he was sent to prison, McPhee said. One of those personalities is Dan Hell.
Don York is the dominant personality, a meek, easygoing sort who, according to testimony at Wednesday's hearing, was being badgered for money by his ex-wife and taunted by her boyfriend's graphic bragging about their sexual feats. York is right-handed.
Dan Hell is a tougher, more aggressive personality - loud, profane, vulgar and more prone to violence, McPhee said. He is left-handed.
Prosecutors used the fact that York rented his car at the airport under an assumed name as evidence he was trying to cover his tracks and intended to kill. The car was rented in the name of Dan Hell.
But York's personality disorder can only be mentioned peripherally in court. A judge has already ruled he is competent so the issue cannot be raised on appeal, at least at the state level.
Then there is York's confession.
York, according to testimony, walked into the Bountiful Police Department a few minutes after the shooting. His daughter, who was in the house, was still on the telephone with a dispatcher.
"I'm the man you're looking for," York told the dispatcher.
What man? she asked. "The man who did the shooting."
McPhee believes York knew a shooting had occurred but wasn't aware it was a murder. And blank spots in York's memory may be from where he flipped from one personality to another, McPhee postulates.
And then there's the red-haired man.
Everyone agrees that when the shooting occurred, there were four people in the house: York, the two victims, and York's daughter, Anita.
But was there someone else? With his personalities integrated into a single one, and using hypnosis to enhance his memory, York has talked about another man, a red-haired man, in the house, McPhee said.
"I don't really know what happened in that house that day," McPhee said. "I've never specifically asked Don about it. I have a theory, that's all."
The ironies continue to pile up.
If McPhee prevails in one of his motions, it would allow York to withdraw his guilty plea. But the state would be free to refile the original charge of capital homicide, and he would face the death penalty.
"No question about it, he could go from the frying pan into the fire. But I don't think the county could mount a death penalty prosecution. I don't know if the evidence is there any more," McPhee said.
Meanwhile, York quietly serves out his sentence, which runs out in January 2002.
"This guy's been a model prisoner. He's never been written up (rules violation)," McPhee said. "He's served 13 years. It stuns me that the state goes to the extent it does to keep him in prison."