By Tori Richards

December 5, 2006

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SALT LAKE CITY, Ut. (Crime Library) —  The man who admitted to suffocating and then sexually assaulting 5-year-old Destiny Norton pleaded guilty Monday and was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The guilty plea spared Craig Roger Gregerson, 20, a possible death sentence at trial for crimes that outraged and sickened a city that vainly searched en masse for a little girl who loved pink and dreamed of becoming a vet when she grew up.

Craig Gregerson

Destiny disappeared from her front yard on July 16, touching off a weeklong search that ended when neighbor Gregerson confessed to police that her body was in a plastic bin stored in his basement.

Destiny Norton

Gregerson did not speak on Monday other than to affirmatively answer a series of questions posed by the judge to ensure that he understood the consequences of his guilty plea. Then Destiny's mother Rachael Norton spoke in measured tones about how much she loved her daughter. Destiny's grandmother was too distraught to speak, so the prosecutor read a letter from her in which she repeatedly described Gregerson as a monster as Destiny's father sobbed from the audience.

The judge refrained from lambasting Gregerson other than to say his crimes were grievous enough to warrant consecutive sentences for the murder and child kidnapping that he was charged with. Gregerson was also ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution to the family. Then a letter was released that Gregerson had written to Destiny's family:

Craig Gregerson's letter

"You have every right to hate me, every right to want me dead and every right to never forgive me. I take full responsibility for your daughters (sic) death. But her death was not the worst part, what I did after she was dead was unexcusable (sic), sick, and disgusting. I hate myself for what I did. I am in terrible pain every day because your daughter is dead by my actions. She should still be with you. All I can say is I'm sorry. The words are small but they are so sincere. Sincerely, Craig Gregerson."

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