On December 22, 1990, Rolf Tiede survived a harrowing attack at his family’s remote cabin in Oakley, Utah, after two intruders shot him in the head, doused him in gasoline, and set both him and the cabin on fire. Despite severe injuries, he crawled to a snowmobile and rode through deep snow to summon help, an extraordinary act of survival that saved his life.
The Attack on the Tiede Family
The Tiede family had traveled to their cabin to celebrate Christmas when Von Lester Taylor and Edward Steven Deli, both recently paroled from a halfway house, had already broken in. Shockingly, the intruders filmed themselves opening the family’s Christmas presents as if they owned the cabin.
When Rolf’s wife, Kaye Tiede, her mother Beth Potts, and daughter Linae arrived, the intruders ambushed them, killing Kaye and Beth instantly. Later, when Rolf and his other daughter Tricia arrived, he was confronted at gunpoint, shot in the face, and then set on fire along with the cabin.
The Snowmobile Escape
Despite the flames and smoke, Rolf initially played dead. Once he could, he removed his burning clothes, crawled outside, and started one of the family’s snowmobiles. Bleeding and badly burned, he rode through the snow to find help, which ultimately triggered a massive manhunt for the attackers.
Meanwhile, the intruders forced Linae and Tricia to drive snowmobiles under guard before abandoning them and attempting to escape in the family car. A police chase ensued, and the girls were safely rescued.
Aftermath and Justice
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Von Lester Taylor pled guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in May 1991; a jury recommended the death penalty.
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Edward Steven Deli was convicted at trial and sentenced to multiple life terms without parole in June 1991.
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Appeals and legal challenges followed, but Taylor’s death sentence and Deli’s convictions were upheld.
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Investigators also recovered the disturbing video of the intruders opening Christmas presents, which was used as evidence.
For Rolf Tiede, a holiday retreat became a nightmare. Yet his desperate snowmobile escape remains one of the most remarkable acts of survival in modern true crime history.
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