Greg Peterson bail bondsman: 'It's not the ending we wanted'

Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner did not know Tuesday whether any type of suicide note was left behind in Peterson's house. Skogg said evaluators at the jail did not see any signs of being a risk for self-harm.

Facebook messages

Acquaintances of Peterson blame investigators and the media for pushing him to commit suicide. But several who knew the businessman and Republican activist or were familiar with him said they did not see any red flags that he would end up taking his own life.

Rob Joseph, a private investigator who said he had worked as security during one of the GOP fundraisers Peterson hosted at his cabin, said he received a private message from Peterson on Facebook on Saturday, the day after he bailed out of jail.

According to Joseph, the email stated: "Absolutely innocent. Unconstitutional witch hunt. … Just paid the unconstitutionally tripled bail bondsman $200,000. Stay tuned. God bless."

"We had communicated about investigating the alleged victims' backgrounds," Joseph said in an email. "The fact that Greg took his own life does not mean he was guilty of anything. Greg, I think, was tried in the court of public opinion and most likely felt there was no justice.

"I feel like investigators and the media played a role in the outcomes of the (Josh) Powell case and Peterson. Push a man so far that he has nowhere to go, no hope of justice, and he is likely to do what Greg Peterson and many others have chosen to do. Sad. This is not justice, and there is certainly nothing close to being given the opportunity of a fair trial," the email states.

On Peterson's Facebook page, dozens of friends and supporters expressed their condolences. One person said she had talked to Peterson the night before and he indicated he was fine.

Peterson changed his Facebook profile picture on Sunday. His last status update was written Sept. 24, a time when Peterson was incarcerated. The update stated: "To those who know me well, thank you for standing by me. I'm 100% innocent of these charges. The truth will reveal my innocence."

A second status update proclaimed "new developments" were being made in the case, and cautioned others not to "judge too quickly or you'll be regretting your assumptions."

It is believed that someone other that Peterson typed the Facebook updates.

In a prepared statement to the media late Tuesday, Peterson's attorneys, Jerry Salcido and Cara Tangaro, concurred that, "Greg felt an enormous pressure from the media and their one-sided and inaccurate reporting of this case which villainized him from day one."

In July, Tangaro declared her client "100 percent innocent."

The declarations ran counter to the testimony of four women who claimed in court testimony that they were sexually assaulted by Peterson, detailing the encounters that led to the rape and assault charges.

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