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MILLCREEK -- Unified police say the man arrested for holding his girlfriend in their condo for three weeks against her will has a long criminal history. A SWAT team arrested Anthony Whyms, 31, Monday morning at the Silverwood Estate Condominiums near 800 East and 4000 South.
Woman claims Whyms held her hostage
Police say the kidnapping began three weeks ago when the woman refused to move to Nevada with Whyms. He became angry and locked her in the bedroom of the condominium, where she says she went as long as three days without food and water.
Jail documents say Whyms punched the woman in her ribs, leaving bruises -- and that this happened several times. The documents say Whyms wouldn't let her the woman use the restroom and that she would urinate in her clothes. When Whyms would leave, he would bind her ankles and wrists with tape.
Around 11 p.m. Sunday, police say Whyms finally allowed her to leave. She told him she was going to speak to a religious leader at his home in Draper but instead called 911.
Lt. Don Hutson of the Unified Police Department said, "When she didn't return in a timely fashion, she started to receive literally hundreds of text messages and phone calls from [Whyms] wondering what she was doing, and many of those described some threats."
Police arrived at the condo around 4 a.m. Monday, but he wouldn't give himself up, so SWAT teams were called. They knew Whyms had a violent criminal history.
"This gentleman has a significant history, a violent history out of New York and Nevada. He has been here a few years and has some history here as well," Hutson said.
After two hours, he eventually surrendered.
Police say for the past three weeks, Whyms assaulted his girlfriend, starved her, tied her up and only allowed her to leave with him to buy drugs.
"We're talking about a 6-foot 8, 250-pound [man]," Hutson said. "This woman is very petite, and so it's not out of the realm to suggest that she would be so physically intimidated by him that she would abide by whatever he said."
She was transported to a local hospital Monday where police discovered her injuries matched her story. Jail documents say she was treated for a collapsed lung and bruises on her eye and wrists.
"She is going to need some treatment. Her injuries are significant. It's not just a bump and a bruise here or there. She did suffer some trauma," Hutson said.
Whyms was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. Hutson said, "We do have some reports of some domestic violence and a robbery that we're investigating."
Investigators served a search warrant at the condo and removed a large plastic storage bin and at least seven brown paper bags of potential evidence.
In addition, Hutson said, "He had moved a lot of furniture out so it would be uncomfortable for her to be in that room."
He said the couple had been living together for more than a year and police have been called several times, by third parties, to reports of domestic violence. Police say at those times, the girlfriend didn't cooperate, possibly because she was too scared to talk.
Hutson said it's apparent Whyms ruled the relationship with fear. He said the victim claims she was threatened with violence if she told anybody.
The woman told police she was trying to figure out how to escape from the apartment. Jail documents say she was hiding a sheet that she planned to use. "She was in the process of crafting a plan where she was going to utilize some sheets and tie them together and kind of work her way out of the window," Hutson said. "This obviously was difficult for her because he literally did not leave the condo for any length of time."
Some neighbors surprised, others not
The suspect's neighbors say Whyms and his girlfriend kept to themselves. Several were surprised by the allegations because they had seen the woman recently.
"We've seen him through the complex and stuff, and I've seen his girlfriend out with him in the car," said one neighbor.
Another neighbor had a similar description.
"I know that they go in and out. She's a blond woman, occasionally goes with him," they said.
But some neighbors living directly next to the couple say they've known for some time the two fought and that something wasn't right between the two.
They all say the condo community is typically a quiet, nice place to live and it's shocking and sad to hear something like that could have happened there.
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Story compiled with contributions from Randall Jeppesen and Shara Park , Marc Giauque and Sandra Yi.
