Greg Peterson, the GOP activist arrested in July on charges of date-raping five women, has shot and killed himself in the very five-bedroom cabin where he allegedly attacked two of his victims, women he met through LDS dating websites.---

This is the same person who hosted barbecues at the cabin for conservative Republican politicians, hobnobbing with Utah's conservative elite, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love.

Jason Chaffetz and Greg Peterson at a 2011 cabin barbecue (photo by Michael Jolley via Flickr)

No slouch, Peterson had earned an MBA from BYU and worked as a financial planner, operating his own wealth-management company. Claiming to be innocent of all charges, Peterson found the wherewithal to post a $2 million bail bond to get out of jail last Friday.

On Friday, Oct. 18, when he was released on bail, my thoughts were with the women who alleged the attacks, knowing how the trial could span months, and likely years. I knew they wouldn't feel safe anymore.

There's probably another person greatly relieved the trial will not go forward: Greg Peterson, the COO of online marketing company Orange Soda. When the story first broke this summer, an Orange Soda representative called and asked if we could clarify in our reporting that Greg N. Peterson, the political activist and alleged date-rapist, did not head up Orange Soda. His boss had been deluged with calls all day, he told me then.

It's clear from reading the insightful Aug. 13 Deseret News story about Peterson ["Who Is Greg Peterson,"] that Peterson had demons he was dealing with. In the article, a former business associate claimed Peterson could "go from zero to freak show in 60 seconds."

Looks like the demons won today.