PROVO, Utah — The man who pleaded guilty in the deaths of two people during a road rage incident in Eagle Mountain has been sentenced and could face up to 10 years in prison.
Peterson Drew Matheson was sentenced Monday to two consecutive 0-5 year sentences, meaning they will be served back-to-back.
“You really just need to think and calm down on the road and think about what you're going to do before you do it, because it can lead to a situation like this, where tragically, lives were lost, and you know someone's going to prison," explained Deputy County Attorney McKay Lewis with the Utah County Attorney's Office.
In June 2023, Matheson was driving a Ford F-150 when he purposely crashed into a car during a road rage exchange on SR-73. Matheson's pickup truck then careened into oncoming traffic and smashed into a Porsche, killing Rodney Salm and Michaela Himmelberger.
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Friends and family of both Salm and Himmelberger shared emotional testimony during the sentencing.
“He was my brother," said Salm's brother, Peter. "He was loved by so many.”
“This was not a poor soul suffering a medical event, or an overstressed parent distracted by a screaming child in the back seat, or an inexperienced driver making a terrible mistake. All the driving choices made that day were made on purpose, and this road rampage went for nearly five miles,” said Teri Dial, Himmelberger's sister.
Matheson pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree felony manslaughter charges in November.
"You could really feel the love for Rodney and Misha. You could really feel how many lives that they had touched, and I think that was represented by how full the courtroom was today," Lewis added, who said that road rage is an epidemic in Utah.
While Matheson could serve 10 years behind bars, Utah law allows him to be released as early as next month and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will make the final decision on his sentence.
Peter Salm believes justice has now been served.
“We need to send a message out to other people who do this stuff," he said. "They need to know it's not right. It's not going to be tolerated.”
