By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

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On June 25, 1980 the Salt Lake Tribune reported:

A man who caused about $10,000 damage with his truck on Temple Square last Thursday was arraigned in 5th Circuit Court Tuesday Michael George Marquart, 29, 642 Spring Hill Dr., North Salt Lake, . . . was arrested inside the temple grounds after a pickup truck crashed through south gate and ran over planters, water fountains and other fixtures. Police said the driver attempted to run over several people as well. . . . Officers said the driver told them he was “ordered by God” to destroy the Mormon Temple. . . . Marquart . . . faces a possible prison sentence of up to five years if convicted . . . Marquart is being held in the Salt Lake City-County Jail in lieu of $2,000 bail.

Since the driver of the truck was named Michael Marquart, and since a man with a similar name has done a great deal of research for us, some members of the Mormon Church rejoiced thinking that at last they had a way to discredit our work. On the Sunday following the incident, an LDS Church security officer reported in priesthood meeting that he looked through the file the Church maintains on Mr. Marquardt and found that he is a “cohort of the Tanners.” When we called this officer he freely admitted that he had mistakenly linked the man arrested at Temple Square with the man who has helped us with our research. He said he realized his error Sunday afternoon when he found that Mr. Marquardt was working at the U.S. Post Office while the other man was in jail.

The Mr. Marquardt who has given us a great deal of help is actually named “Henry Michael Marquardt.” He usually goes by “H. Michael Marquardt” in his publications, but we usually refer to him as just “Michael Marquardt.” The reader will notice that the Tribune identified the man who drove the pickup truck as “Michael George Marquart, 29, 642 Spring Hill Dr., North Salt Lake, . . .”

The Mr. Marquardt we know is 35, lives in Sandy and does not have a pickup truck. We have had a number of inquiries about this matter. A man from a local television station contacted us to see if it was the same man, and another man from a Provo radio station wanted to know just what comment we had to make about Mr. Marquardt’s behavior. When we told him that he had the wrong Mr. Marquardt, it took all of the wind out of his sails.

Actually, the Michael Marquardt we know is certainly not violent. In fact, we have never seen him lose his temper. Now, while we have no reason to feel that anyone has deliberately tried to spread false information about this unfortunate incident, there have been a number of malicious stories circulated which have no basis in fact. For instance, just recently we received a letter from a man who said that Mormon missionaries told him that Jerald and Sandra Tanner had obtained a divorce and that Sandra had gone back into the Mormon Church. The presence of this newsletter certainly bears witness against such a story.

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