Paraglider wasn't violent, pal says

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A former Eagle Mountain city councilman who crashed his motorized paraglider after a self-inflicted gunshot just snapped, family friends said.

"It's not typical," said Daniel VanCott, a friend and business partner of 42-year-old Greg Kehl, who died Wednesday night. "He wasn't in his right mind when it happened. He was a completely different person."

Kehl apparently "died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said Utah County Sheriff Lt. Dennis Harris.

Original reports were that police had responded to a domestic violence situation in which Kehl shot at his wife, then fled from his home in the glider.

However, family friends say the situation was never violent and that Kehl never tried to hurt anyone.

Instead, Wednesday night represented a breaking point for Kehl, who has been suffering from several different stressors, VanCott said.

Kehl had been trying to pass seven kidney stones for nearly two months; he was in the middle of a two-year lawsuit on its way to trial; and his two sons, Dexter, 18, and Dallin, 15, are both dealing with serious health concerns. "It's kind of a culmination of everything," VanCott said.

"About 10 million things just (came) down all at once," VanCott said. "Not to excuse anything, but there were so many other factors."

What really happened Wednesday, VanCott said, is that Kehl was depressed and in severe pain and told his wife he was going to go fly.

He was probably on pain medication and then took a drink of alcohol, which he hadn't done since he was a teenager, VanCott said.

Becky Kehl tried to stop her husband by calling a family friend and neighbor to come take the key from the powered parachute.

When Kehl found the key was gone, he fired a shot from a .357 Smith and Wesson silver handgun into the ground, and his wife told the neighbor to hand over the key.

"Nobody was in danger," VanCott said. "(He was with) his wife and good friend from years and years of living out here in Eagle Mountain. That's why it's sad. He's done so much for the community."

Kehl served on the City Council from 2000 to 2004 and as mayor pro-tem for a time under Kelvin Bailey — who resigned in 2005 after dealing with legal repercussions from faking his own kidnapping.

The city's public works building is even named the Greg Kehl Public Works Building.