LOGAN — A registered sex-offender has been sentenced to jail and probation for planning to rape and kill a Logan woman. Daniel Smoot Henshaw had been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested in June 2023 after the victim called 911 scared for her safety.
According to court records, Henshaw was sentenced Dec. 9 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously pleaded guilty by reason of a mental condition to attempted rape, amended to a third-degree felony.
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 had 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.
During Monday’s sentencing, Judge Angela Fonnesbeck ordered Henshaw to serve 531 days in jail, giving credit for the time already served. She also sentenced him to 48 months of probation, be placed on an ankle monitor, and have no contact with the victim or her family.