{
  "id": "2019-01-27-university-of-utah-sarah-hawley-murder-suicide",
  "slug": "university-of-utah-sarah-hawley-murder-suicide-2019-01-27",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Utah",
    "shortName": "the U",
    "state": "UT",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Campus Alert",
    "enrollment": 33000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2019-01-27",
    "type": "domestic-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "headline": "'Senseless Act of Violence': A First-Year Resident Physician Killed by Her Boyfriend in Sugar House",
    "summary": "[Dr. Sarah Hawley, 27, a first-year Family Medicine resident](https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/02/04/university-utah-doctor/) at the University of Utah, was found dead alongside her boyfriend, Travis Geddes, 30, in their shared Sugar House home on January 27, 2019, in what Salt Lake City police [investigated as a murder-suicide](https://www.deseret.com/2019/2/5/20665211/shocked-and-crushed-friends-and-community-mourn-slain-university-of-utah-doctor). University of Utah Health CEO and School of Medicine Dean Michael Good called it a 'senseless act of violence' in a statement to the university community.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "outcome": "Sarah Hawley died of a gunshot wound. Travis Geddes died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A downstairs neighbor who heard yelling and screaming called police, who found the couple's bodies together; investigators closed the case as a murder-suicide with no surviving suspect to charge.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Monday, January 28, 2019, the day after Sarah Hawley's death was discovered",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "Our thoughts are with Dr. Hawley's family, friends and co-workers, as well as all those in our community who are impacted by this senseless act of violence.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://unews.utah.edu/university-of-utah-statement-on-the-death-of-dr-sarah-hawley/",
      "sourceDescription": "Statement by Michael Good, MD, CEO of University of Utah Health and Dean of the University of Utah School of Medicine",
      "annotations": [
        "Issued as a written statement rather than a Campus Alert emergency text, since Hawley died at her own home in Sugar House, roughly two miles from campus, not in a location or manner that posed an ongoing threat to the university community",
        "This statement addressed Hawley specifically as a co-worker and colleague, reflecting her dual identity as both a University of Utah School of Medicine trainee and a working first-year resident physician in the Family Medicine program",
        "The University of Utah had already faced scrutiny for its handling of a separate campus dating-violence homicide, the October 2018 killing of student-athlete Lauren McCluskey, three months before Hawley's death, intensifying attention on how the university discussed intimate-partner violence involving its own community members"
      ],
      "characterCount": 156
    }
  ],
  "context": "Dr. Sarah Hawley, a 27-year-old first-year Family Medicine resident who had recently arrived at the University of Utah from UC San Francisco, was found dead alongside her boyfriend, 30-year-old Travis Geddes, in their shared home in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood on January 27, 2019. A downstairs neighbor who [heard yelling and screaming](https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/01/28/police-are-investigating/) called police, who found the couple's bodies inside; investigators determined Geddes shot Hawley before turning the gun on himself. Colleagues in the [Family Medicine Residency program](https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/03/u-resident-doctor-killed-in-alleged-murder-suicide/) described Hawley, who focused on women's health, pediatric care, and wilderness medicine, as 'bright, passionate, adventurous, kind and dedicated to helping the underserved.' University of Utah Health CEO and School of Medicine Dean Michael Good issued a statement calling the killing a 'senseless act of violence,' and the university [held a candlelight vigil](https://healthcare.utah.edu/press-releases/2019/02/university-of-utah-health-announces-candlelight-vigil-remembrance-of-sarah) in Hawley's memory the following week. The killing occurred roughly three months after University of Utah student-athlete Lauren McCluskey was murdered by an ex-boyfriend on campus, a case that had already drawn national scrutiny to how the university responded to reports of intimate-partner violence among its own students and employees.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The killing happened at the couple's shared home off campus, so the university's public response was a written statement from health-system leadership rather than a live emergency alert to the wider campus",
    "Because Geddes died alongside Hawley, no criminal charges were filed; the case was closed by Salt Lake City police as a murder-suicide",
    "Hawley's death came roughly three months after the on-campus murder of student-athlete Lauren McCluskey by an ex-boyfriend, compounding scrutiny of how the University of Utah addressed intimate-partner violence within its community",
    "University leadership's statement explicitly named Hawley as both a colleague and a member of the university community, reflecting her status as a working resident physician rather than only a student"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "'We'll miss you every day': Woman killed by her boyfriend remembered by friends, colleagues at vigil (Salt Lake Tribune)",
      "url": "https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/02/04/university-utah-doctor/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'Shocked and crushed': Friends and community mourn slain University of Utah doctor (Deseret News)",
      "url": "https://www.deseret.com/2019/2/5/20665211/shocked-and-crushed-friends-and-community-mourn-slain-university-of-utah-doctor",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "U Resident Doctor Killed in Alleged Murder-Suicide (The Daily Utah Chronicle)",
      "url": "https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/03/u-resident-doctor-killed-in-alleged-murder-suicide/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "University of Utah Statement on the Death of Dr. Sarah Hawley (UNews, official university release)",
      "url": "https://unews.utah.edu/university-of-utah-statement-on-the-death-of-dr-sarah-hawley/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "University of Utah Health Announces Candlelight Vigil in Remembrance of Sarah Hawley, MD",
      "url": "https://healthcare.utah.edu/press-releases/2019/02/university-of-utah-health-announces-candlelight-vigil-remembrance-of-sarah",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Sugar House (Salt Lake Tribune)",
      "url": "https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/01/28/police-are-investigating/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "domestic-violence",
    "intimate-partner-violence",
    "murder-suicide",
    "off-campus",
    "utah",
    "salt-lake-city",
    "medical-resident",
    "faculty-staff"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}