The Singer Swapp Standoff, Part 2: A Bomb to Raise the Dead

In January 1988, Mormon fundamentalist Addam Swapp bombed a Mormon stake center in Marion, Utah, claiming God had commanded him to do it. He and the Singer family barricaded themselves inside their heavily armed cabin, convinced that a violent confrontation with police would bring John Singer back from the dead.

In Part 2 of the Singer–Swapp story, we cover the bombing, the 13-day armed standoff with the FBI, the death of Lieutenant Fred House, and the criminal trials that followed. Drawing on court records, contemporary news reports, and the family's own writings, they examine the revelations, polygamy, religious extremism, and Mormon doctrines behind one of Utah's most notorious standoffs.

Start with Part 1 for the story of John Singer and his fatal 1979 confrontation with Utah law enforcement.