A 22-year-old Juggalo gang member was sent to prison for three years to life Friday for attacking a Kearns teenager with a medieval battle ax last summer.
Scott Tyler Stapley was convicted by a 3rd District Court jury in January of first-degree felony attempted murder for his part in attacking 17-year-old Justin Ennis.
Stapley wielded a four-bladed warrior axe with a spiky ball attached.
Co-defendant Cody Jesse Augustine, 21, who is awaiting trial, allegedly stabbed the victim several times with a knife.
Ennis' injuries from the battle ax included an 8-inch cut to his neck, a 10 1/2 -inch cut in his left pectoral muscle and smaller cuts on his shoulder and hands, according to charging documents. Prosecutor Stephen Nelson said the victim, who did not attend the hearing, has some "major scarring," but is "up and around."
During Stapley's trial, Nelson had compared the incident to a "Hollywood slasher flick."
As part of Stapley's sentence, Judge Judith Atherton ordered him to pay $2,848 in restitution for a portion of the victim's medical costs not covered by insurance.
Stapley defense attorneys claimed at trial that Ennis was targeted outside his home in the early morning hours of July 29 because he supposedly had passed a sexually transmitted disease to a girl whom Augustine later slept with.
Augustine's complaints about painful urination and his assumption that he had gotten the STD from Ennis enabled him to persuade Stapley to help assault Ennis, defense attorney Scott Wilson claimed at trial. Stapley testified he bought the ax for about $25 from Pipe Dream Gifts, a store in Salt Lake City. He said the attack was meant to hurt Ennis, but not kill him.
Ennis testified he was lured from his house by a series of text messages from his attackers, who posed as a girl named "Stacy." Ennis said he went outside about 4:30 a.m. Ennis believing he was meeting Stacy for "a booty call."
Police have said Stapley and Augustine are members of the Juggalos, a purported gang that follows the Insane Clown Posse rap group. A "hatchet man" necklace belonging to Stapley that was found at the crime scene and an emblem on his vehicle are linked to the Juggalos, police said.
