Kriti Mehrotra
On December 22, 1990, everything turned upside down for the Tiede family as they were attacked in their holiday cabin near Beaver Springs in Oakley, Utah, by two local young men. As explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Three Days Before Christmas,’ they were Von Taylor and Edward Deli, who ended up killing two women, kidnapping two girls, and almost murdering the patriarch. They were subsequently arrested, convicted, and sentenced for the same, only for the latter to have since allegedly recognized the error in his ways as well as apologized to a survivor.
Edward Deli Was Reportedly No Stranger to the Area of the Crime
Around November 1990, 21-year-old Edward Deli first came across Von Taylor at a halfway house in Salt Lake City, Utah, after just being paroled from state prison. According to records, he never really had a violent history, but he was sentenced to 5 years for one count of arson — that’s the felony charge he was granted parole for when he met the fellow inmate. On the other hand, Von also reportedly didn’t have a negative history, but he became involved in a burglary at one point, which resulted in his conviction and later parole in October 1990.
However, things changed for both Edward and Von while they were in the halfway house, as they decided to run away when given the opportunity to go out to look for employment. They then allegedly came up with the idea of committing burglaries in the Oakley area before fleeing out of state. They selected the cabins because the 21-year-old reportedly had family there. In other words, he was familiar with the local environment, which was even backed by survivor Rolf Tiede in his testimony when the case about the attack on his family finally went to trial in 1991. Rolf was shot twice in the face on December 22, 1990, after the duo broke into his holiday estate, waited for the family to arrive, and killed his wife and mother-in-law.
Edward was allegedly speechless when he saw Rolf as he had no idea the man had made it out okay, especially after the duo poured gasoline on the cabin as well as Rolf and went ahead to strike a match. They then kidnapped his two daughters to make their escape, unaware he had been pretending to be dead to call for help at the right moment — the 51-year-old’s efforts led to a quick double arrest. He and his daughters were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief at that point, only for him to then discover the fate of 49-year-old Kaye Tiede and her mother, 76-year-old Beth Potts. Rolf was obviously heartbroken, which only fueled his fight for justice. Thus, he didn’t hesitate to testify in court, even sharing that he had met Edward three times prior to the fateful day. “We helped him get his three-wheeler (snowmobiles) unstuck on at least three different occasions,” he said.
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Edward Deli is Currently Serving a Life Term in State Prison
During Edward’s trial, apart from Rolf, his two daughters, Linae Tiede and Tricia Tiede, also served as star witnesses for the prosecution, painting a clear picture of what had transpired. As if that’s not enough, there was also a mountain of evidence, including reports asserting he possessed a .44 revolver, whereas Von had a .38 gun, with the bullets from both having been found at the scene. Moreover, footage from a recovered camcorder showed the duo lounging around the Tiede cabin, opening their Christmas presents, and consuming their food while waiting for the family to arrive. Then, there were even indications that the assailants had planned to move Kaye and Beth’s remains but were unable to because it allegedly grossed one of them out.
Coming to Edward’s defense, his team maintained that while he was present at the scene as well as an active participant in the burglary, he had no hand in any murder or attempted murder. They vehemently stated that Von alone was the one who had pulled the trigger on Kaye, Beth, and Rolf, so he shouldn’t be found guilty of any homicide-related charges owing to reasonable doubt. In the end, because the jury could not unanimously agree on convicting him of first-degree murder, he was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder.
Along with that, Edward was also convicted of two counts of aggravated kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and theft. He was consequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, so today, at the age of 56, he is still incarcerated at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. He had filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court in 1993, but it was denied, so he has always remained behind bars, where he eventually allegedly started feeling remorse over his actions. That’s when he penned a letter to Linae, in 2001, asking for forgiveness, which she gave more than 9 years later.
