LOGAN — A registered sex-offender who was accused of planning to rape and kill a Logan woman has accepted a plea deal. Daniel Smoot Henshaw was arrested in June 2023 after the victim called 911 scared for her safety.
According to court records, Henshaw appeared Nov. 4 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He pleaded guilty by reason of a mental condition to attempted rape, amended to a third-degree felony. Two remaining charges were dismissed as part of the resolution.
On June 28, 2023, Logan City Police officers received a 911 call from a woman who said Henshaw was outside her home and wanted to rape and kill her.
The victim told police, she had been in a relationship with Henshaw and was camping with him but became concerned with some of his behavior. She explained how he allegedly deleted messages between them on both of their phones and said he was covering his tracks.
She asked him to take her home and he complied. While driving, he reportedly told her, “he had a plan to take her into the wilderness and rape and kill her,” police reported.
Henshaw was parked outside the woman’s home when officers arrived on the scene. While being questioned he reportedly admitted to planning to take the victim into the wilderness and rape and kill her.
Police obtained a warrant to search Henshaw’s vehicle. Inside it, they found evidence to support the claims.
According to the arrest affidavit, police located a hatchet in the bed of the truck. It had been sharpened, so as to have a sharp edge. They also found a notebook where Henshaw had written about the alleged victim and “how to hide and stay off the grid.”
The latest plea deal came after Henshaw was deemed competent to stand trial, but suffering from a mental condition at the time the crime occurred.
Police have had several involvements with Henshaw. In 2019, he was convicted of sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl and later sentenced to serve 210-days in jail and three years of probation.
Henshaw has been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested, held without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 9, and could face up to five years in prison.