The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

About The Volokh Conspiracy Editorial Independence Who we are Books Volokh Daily Email Archives Search DMCA RSS

Free Speech

Brothzilla, or "It's a Cruel Thing to Disrupt Your Estranged Sister's Expensive Destination Wedding"

And there's a defamation case stemming from all that.

Eugene Volokh | 9.28.2026 11:37 AM

From a state court decision by Grand County (Utah) Judge Don Torgerson in State v. Hack, decided last year, but referred to in Friday's Hack v. Preston (D. Utah):

It's a cruel thing to disrupt your estranged sister's expensive destination wedding. But that's what Jeffrey Hack tried to do. Apparently angry that his mother wasn't invited to the wedding, Hack enlisted a former Marine Corps buddy with shaky mental health ("Sprague") to drive from Las Vegas to Moab, Utah, and cause mischief at the wedding. Hack supplied a copy of the wedding invitation (date, time, and location), provided some details about the family, asked Sprague to record and photograph whatever he ended up doing, and provided $400 for gas and supplies. He even directed Sprague to a Radio Shack to purchase a GoPro camera and redirected Sprague when he was lost and heading to Ogden instead of Moab.

For his part, Sprague had a bizarre collection of wedding-crasher supplies. When arrested, he had a flying squirrel (sugar glider), an antique bird cage, a custom-built chess set, biodegradable glitter boots for his costume, glitter "bombs" or "balms," nun chucks, a homemade slingshot, a broken arrow, a working arrow, a bow, walkie-talkies, a camera, party supplies (party hats and napkins), and mixed Tannerite {a stable explosive that is often sold at sporting goods stores}. {Sprague described the glitter as his own invention made from coconut oil, mango butter, beeswax, and essential oils. He claims to have brought multiple colors, shapes, sizes, and scents including "dude ones" and "girl ones." He also claims to sell them to reduce microplastics in the world.}

Sprague had purchased the Tannerite and party supplies at Walker Drug in Moab the evening before the wedding. He claims to have bought the Tannerite because it was on sale and that it was unrelated to crashing the wedding. He also never bought a GoPro from Radio Shack, choosing instead to buy cocaine and ketamine with the remaining cash from Hack. He spent the night before the wedding using cocaine, ketamine, and Xanax. He camped, hung out, and shot his slingshot.

When it came time for the wedding, Sprague did not complete his "mission," and the wedding was only superficially disrupted. He drove to the wedding venue but was turned away by the wedding planner around 5:15 p.m. She testified that Sprague was in his vehicle and asked to see the person in charge. He showed her a box wrapped around his leg with wires coming........

© Reason.com