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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The second episode of the second season of The Letter, “Ripple Effect,” details the second man killed in a double murder outside a Millcreek Canyon restaurant in 1982.

A sense of dread

When Carla Booth woke up the morning of March 5, 1982, and saw fresh snow on the ground, the sense of dread she鈥檇 been feeling all week exploded into full-blown panic.

“I just had a feeling something was gonna happen,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just had this feeling several days before, and it just kept getting stronger and stronger.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 hard for the 23-year-old to decide the sense of foreboding she felt was directed at her husband, Buddy Booth. He was getting dressed for work in the pre-dawn light of the apartment where they were raising their two little girls. She admits that she hated the fact that he had to drive a bulky delivery van through Utah鈥檚 canyons in any kind of weather. But today鈥檚 unease felt different, more urgent.

So she asked him to do something that felt a little irrational.

“I really tried to beg him not to go that day,鈥� she said, 鈥渙r find a different job 鈥�where he’s not going up the canyon鈥�I tried so hard, but he liked his job.鈥�

But her concern was too familiar to feel like a warning to Buddy. He listened as he buttoned his shirt with 鈥淏ud鈥� sewn on the chest, ran his favorite blue comb through his thick, unruly curls, and shrugged off his wife鈥檚 worry.

Carla was disappointed – but not surprised.

“He always did that,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I knew something’s wrong.”

More on The Letter: Podcast’s second season debuts; focus is 1982 murders of 2 fathers

A snowy day in Millcreek Canyon

Even though Carla and Buddy had only been married four years, she knew if there was one thing Buddy Booth was, it was the kind of person who always showed up for work. So she pulled on her coat, and drove him downtown to the laundry delivery company where they鈥檇 both worked – Peerless Laundry.

He kissed her goodbye, and headed to the van he drove to businesses where he picked up and delivered laundry. This was a Friday, and that meant he鈥檇 be visiting one of Utah鈥檚 most well-known restaurants – Log Haven – a popular wedding venue nestled on the north side of Millcreek Canyon.

It was about 7 a.m. – and the sun was just rising – as he climbed into the van, and then, undaunted by the weather, 27 cents in his pocket, Buddy prepared himself for a steep, slick drive.

Carla began the drive back home, to their two tiny girls, to their apartment and modest dreams. It had been a tough year for their young family, as they鈥檇 nearly divorced.

But they had a new baby and new resolve and they were young – just 23 and 24. And if there was one thing Carla thought they had in abundance, it was time.

A double murder in the snow

When Buddy Booth eased the van up the snow-covered driveway at Log Haven, he noticed another car already outside the restaurant. It was a Jeep, and the doors were still open. As he got closer, he could see something in the snow.

Then he realized, it wasn鈥檛 a thing, it was a person.

According to police reports, he stepped out of the van, his boots sinking into the unplowed snow. He approached the person and realized it was a man lying face down in the snow. There was blood everywhere, but just as he leaned over the body, someone came rushing out of the restaurant. Buddy spun around and came face to face with a man about his age.

“What happened here?鈥� Buddy asked.

The man said something, but Buddy wasn鈥檛 looking at the man anymore. He was looking at the gun that the man was pointing at him.

Buddy turned to run – just as shots rang out.

A family in shock

Carla wouldn鈥檛 realize that the sense of dread she had was a warning until she drove to Peerless Laundry around 3 p.m. to pick Buddy up for work. That鈥檚 when his boss approached the car and told her Buddy had been shot, the victim of a murder in Millcreek Canyon.

She fumbled with the keys, trying to start her car. She had to get to Buddy.

“His boss reached in and grabbed my hand,鈥� she said, 鈥渢ook the keys and said, 鈥楥arla, it won’t do you any good. He’s dead.鈥欌��

She went into shock. She鈥檚 not sure what happened, how much time passed, or even what she thought about.

“And next thing I knew is Buddy鈥檚 family came in a different car to get me,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey opened the door for me to get out, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move – couldn’t feel my legs. So they had to help me out of the car鈥�. I was just鈥�I was numb. I was just totally numb.鈥�

She was 23, and now a widow with four-year-old and four-month-old daughters.

Millcreek Canyon murder suspect confesses

A few miles from where Carla was being helped into her in-laws’ sedan, the man suspected in the murder of her husband and another man in Millcreek Canyon was telling detectives what happened.

“I shot two people today,鈥� he told detectives. 鈥淚鈥檝e done a very bad thing.鈥�

In an hour-long confession, Log Haven manager Michael Moore admitted in excruciating detail what he did, the same afternoon he killed Jordan Rasmussen and Buddy Booth.

And while his reasons would confuse and anger both families, investigators felt certain about one thing – this case deserved the most punitive punishment the state could muster.

Salt Lake Assistant District Attorney John T. Nielsen saw it as an obvious capital murder case.

“It sounded unusual to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause it was a double homicide, at a fairly famous place in the county, the Log Haven restaurant, and I knew it was going to be a very prominently covered case in the news. And that we needed to do everything right, because of the nature of the case.鈥�

Detectives told him what they thought happened, including the names of those killed. And that鈥檚 when he realized he knew the family of one of the victims.

“When I found out who his parents were, I was particularly incensed,鈥� Nielsen said. 鈥淏ecause his father Elden Rasmussen was a high school biology teacher of mine and a person that I had become friends with. 鈥�When I found out who the family was, it just made me sick.鈥�

Nielsen said he decided to go visit his friend Elden Rasmussen. During that visit, he assured Jordan鈥檚 parents he would do what he could to see justice done. And in this case, it meant sending Michael Moore to death row.

“This was a slam dunk, it seemed to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I thought of an obvious case that merited the death penalty.鈥�

Carla Booth agreed.

She couldn鈥檛 even go back to the apartment she and Buddy shared. She stayed with family, and with every day that passed, she grew more angry.

“I was furious,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e took my husband, he should be taken.鈥�

Listen to episode 2 of The Letter, Season 2: Ripple Effect below.

You can listen and follow The Letter 鈥� Season 2: Ripple Effect wherever you find your favorite podcasts. New episodes are available every Tuesday.

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Amy Donaldson is an executive producer with KSL Podcasts. You can view more of her work聽.