Plea deals reached in pair of Utah County road rage incidents as victims’ families advocate for safer driving
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- A Porsche involved in a fatal collision in Eagle Mountain is photographed Sunday, June 4, 2023. The driver and passenger were both killed in the crash.
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- This undated photo shows Michaela Himmleberger and Rodney Salm.
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- This undated photo shows Michael Brown with his wife, Mandi, and their two sons as they pose in Halloween costumes.
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- A truck involved in a fatal collision in Eagle Mountain is photographed Sunday, June 4, 2023. The truck’s driver, later identified as Peterson Drew Matheson, was charged with two felony counts of manslaughter.
Two families are spreading awareness about the long-lasting impacts of road rage incidents on Utah roads like those that left them devastated and reeling from the loss of loved ones.
This month, a pair of cases of road rage in Utah County making their way through the court system resulted in plea deals.
On Tuesday, Peterson Drew Matheson pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter for his role in a 2023 incident that killed two drivers on state Route 73 in Eagle Mountain.
On June 4, 2023, Matheson was driving a Ford F-150 when he became involved in an apparent road rage incident with another driver. In the course of the altercation, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Matheson lost control of his vehicle and collided into a Porsche 911, claiming the lives of Rodney Salm and Michaela Himmleberger, two innocent motorists who happened to be out for a drive that afternoon.
Peter Salm, Rodney’s brother, watched Tuesday’s hearing from his home in Nevada. In speaking with the Daily Herald on Wednesday afternoon, he said prosecutors approached the family several months ago to entertain a plea bargain.
Considering the amount of time the trial could take, he said their family along with the Himmleberger’s convened and thought a plea deal may not be a bad idea.
“We said if they had a reasonable plea bargain deal for the guy, we would probably support it,” Peter Salm told the Daily Herald.
He highlighted the need for accountability but said he doesn’t hold any hatred toward Matheson.
“I’m not a vindictive person. I’m not out to get blood or anything else, but I do believe (that) people for something like this need to be held accountable to some extent,” he said.
Peter Salm says both families are still recovering from the tragedy that struck them nearly a year and a half ago, but they are doing their best to cope and keep Rodney’s memory alive.
“Time heals the wounds, but you don’t forget. And every time you go to trial or something like that or do a hearing, it kind of scratches or scrapes the scab off the wound, and then the feelings are there again,” he said. “So my dad’s, you know, almost 90 years old, and he doesn’t need to keep reliving that.”
He and his family are planning to attend the sentencing for Matheson, which is set for Jan. 6, 2025, though it could happen sooner as the judge presiding over the case is poised to retire next month.
Following the deaths of his brother and Himmleberger, Peter Salm has been an advocate for change. He began taking on speaking engagements to raise awareness about the impacts road rage fatalities have on families.
Additionally, the two families took money raised in both victims’ honor and donated it to a Zero Fatalities campaign in the fight against road rage and eventually helped inspire a new law passed by the Utah Legislature that went into effect last July.
The recently passed law aims to impose harsher penalties for offenders who engage in violent acts on the road.
The legislation comes a year too late for the families of Rodney Salm and Himmleberger.
It also didn’t come soon enough for the family of Michael Brown of Eagle Mountain.
The husband and father succumbed to his injuries after a road rage incident in Lehi that led to a physical altercation.
On June 2, Brown, 38, had reportedly brake-checked John Jeffrey Williams as the two were traveling east on Main Street. According to Lehi police, the men pulled off into a neighborhood, where a fight ensued.
Brown was knocked unconscious and suffered a brain injury, and he died the following day at the hospital.
His two sons, 9 and 10 years old, who were in the backseat, watched the entire incident unfold.
Earlier this month, Williams pleaded guilty to homicide by assault and impaired driving.
Cyndi Brown, Michael’s sister-in-law, told the Daily Herald on Wednesday that his wife, Mandi, agreed to a plea deal agreement in an effort to alleviate further trauma on the two boys. That means a guilty plea for Williams, resulting in five years of zero-tolerance probation with no jail time.
“The prosecutors came to us and said, ‘Look, you can take the plea deal and get a guilty plea, but if this goes all the way to trial, it’s possible that the boys would have to testify,'” Cyndi Brown explained.
Brandon Merrill, attorney for Utah Homicide Survivors, said Williams cannot violate any laws or he will fall subject to the full effect of the sentence, Fox 13 reported.
Cyndi Brown said that while she applauds the new road rage law, had it gone into effect just a few weeks sooner, the outcome of Williams’ fate may have been a lot different.
Like Peter Salm, she also is advocating for change and hopes drivers are more mindful of their actions on the roads.
She urges people not to engage in road rage incidents, as the consequences can be severe for all parties involved.
