‘There are people out there experiencing this that don’t know what to do’: stalking victims speak out
Editor’s note: To protect their privacy, The Utah Statesman chose not to use the last names of the four victims
Nearly a year after four women were stalked and terrorized, Luke Champlin is going to jail.
The 26-year-old man from Smithfield was sentenced last week to 60 days in Cache County Jail with work release.
But Lexi, Bre, Maddy and April still live in terror.
During the weeks he spent terrorizing them, the four roommates said, they felt as if every day a new nightmare became their reality.
“We all have nightmares,” Bre said.
“We got over that month but we’re still dealing with a lot of stuff,” Lexi added.
The timeline of events
Lexi met Champlin and began dating him during an internship at Roolee, a boutique owned by his brother. Lexi’s internship ended in August, but she and Champlin continued to date until February 2018.
Lexi said she and Champlin had a “peaceful breakup.” Afterward, the two remained close friends and Champlin stayed in contact with Lexi’s three other roommates.
“We all loved Luke. We thought he was the ideal boyfriend,” April said.
Then strange things began to happen.
According to police report, Lexi woke up on March 30 to find “weird oil” under her car tires. On April 7, she started receiving spam emails, phone calls and text messages from websites ranging from back pain services to adult entertainment. On April 12, a firecracker went off in Lexi’s window in the middle of the night. The same day, her registration sticker was scratched off of her car. The day after that, Lexi’s tire was deflated with a screw.
“Somebody is out to get Lexi,” April remembered thinking. “This isn’t a coincidence, this isn’t a funny prank.”
The Saturday after, the roommates’ porch light bulb was stolen, according to police reports and testimony of the women. The next morning, they called police and their paranoia grew.
On Saturday, Lexi woke up to find the driver’s side and trunk door of her car, as well as the air valves and windshield wipers, had all been super-glued.
She also found lip gloss smears on the passenger side of her mirror and on her USU parking pass, according to police reports.
April sent Champlin a text message to tell him what happened and, later that night, he sent her and her roommates a box of cookies with a note that said “we’ll catch these bastard(s).”
Throughout the weeks of terror, Champlin repeatedly sent Lexi encouraging texts, songs and videos.
On April 22, Lexi came home around 12:45 a.m. and Bre was awake until about 1 a.m., but when the roommates woke up in the morning, they found their porch light missing again.
On April 29, a firecracker outside of the roommates’ apartment went off around 3:40 a.m.
Later that day, as Lexi and April were leaving the house, they saw the handle on the driver’s side of Lexi’s car had been super-glued shut, her registration stickers were scratched, gasoline had been poured on the porch mat, both of their cars both had gasoline poured on them, and the windshield wipers had been super glued on both cars.
The women called police that night, and officers began camping out in an unmarked car.
On May 1, Champlin was seen outside of the women’s house, and led police on a chase; they eventually caught him on the USU campus.
Police filed 14 misdemeanor charges, including stalking, criminal mischief, theft, and failure to stop at command of a law enforcement officer. Champlin stayed in jail until he posted $10,000 bail on May 7.
Champlin pleaded guilty to three stalking charges and one failure to stop charge.
“I honestly think this is something that’s gonna mess with us for a very long time, probably the rest of our lives”
Even though Champlin has been convicted and will be sentenced on Tuesday, the four women haven’t slept in months. They’re overcome with panic every time they hear a noise outside their apartment.
Champlin did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Utah Statesman.