Statement from Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill on the Passing of Bob Stott

I learned with sadness about the recent passing of Robert L. Stott, a former deputy district attorney colleague with whom I had the privilege of working for many years. 

To say Bob was the consummate professional is a considerable understatement.  Bob treated every case with great care and worked hard at everything he did, whether he was involved with cases that garnered world-wide attention like the Ted Bundy case (1975) or the Mark Hofmann case (1986) and several others, or a case known only to the victim and the defendant—for Bob the size of the case didn’t matter.  He approached each one with a professional dedication befitting the profession.  He always conducted himself with a quiet dignity—he never lost his temper or said an unkind word about anyone. 

When I got elected, Bob was ready to retire, and I asked him to stay on to help me. He agreed. That was Bob. Bob and I often spoke about ethics, the good, spirituality and personal responsibility in the work we chose as our profession. I learned from him that the good to which we aspire as prosecutors is not separate from the good, we pursue in our daily lives. He taught me to not be distracted by the bickering in life but rather focus upon why something was genuinely important to you personally. He stressed the authentic commitment to principle--not as blind subservience but rather the pursuit of the good, which, once reconciled, is pursued with full vigor.

Kindness, ethical, interpersonal giving, the good, the nature of divinity and our capacity to understand—these were things we discussed often. He will be missed. Bob loved Thomas Jefferson and one quote comes to mind when I think of him as the prosecutor he was: “I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results”

To Bob’s many family members, friends, and colleagues, I express my heartfelt condolences on his passing, and offer my deepest gratitude for the many lessons he taught me and so many others.  We will be forever indebted to him for his professionalism, his friendship, and his goodness