SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Authorities say a Republican activist charged with raping five women has apparently committed suicide.
Chief Deputy Jared Rigby with the Wasatch County sheriff's office says the body of 37-year-old Gregory Peterson was found Tuesday in his Heber cabin.
Rigby says it appears Peterson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A medical examiner's final determination on a cause of death will come after an autopsy Wednesday morning.
Authorities say the sheriff's office was dispatched to the cabin after Peterson missed an appointment with his attorneys.
Peterson had been out on bail since Friday.
He was to stand trial on 23 felony charges and two misdemeanor counts.
Four women from Salt Lake County and one from Wasatch County have testified that Peterson sexually assaulted them at his cabin. He was accused of meeting them on Mormon dating websites and at church functions.
The cabin was also the site of annual gatherings Peterson hosted for Republican candidates.
The Associated Press