Search warrant reveals disturbing details in teen's death

Search warrant reveals disturbing details in teen's death


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WEST JORDAN — Disturbing new details in the killing of a 15-year-old Riverton girl were revealed this week in a search warrant.

Anne Grace Kasprzak had her head smashed into a wall and was wrapped up in a tarp before being assaulted to the point of being unrecognizable and her body dumped in the Jordan River, according to newly released court documents.

KSTU-TV obtained the search warrant Tuesday before it was sealed by a judge at the request of the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Kazprzak's body was found March 11 in the Jordan River. Investigators said her face was so badly injured that they needed dental records to identify her. They also used scars on her body to help with identification, according to KSTU.

Daniel Robert Lehi Ferry, 31, was arrested for investigation of murder on March 19. About a week later, police arrested a second man, Veanuia Vehekite, 30, for investigation of the same charge.

According to Ferry's booking sheet, Kasprzak was allegedly beaten after she refused to have sex with Ferry at his house, 9997 S. Poppy Lane (865 East). She was possibly knocked unconscious and then taken away.

According to the newly released search warrant, after Kasprzak apparently had some sexual contact with another person, Ferry told her, "It’s my turn," to which Kasprzak said, "No."

Ferry then "took the victim by the head and smashed her head into the wall," the warrant states. Ferry, along with Vehekite and a third person with the initials L.J., "moved the victim into the garage of the home" and "helped change her clothes, put her on a tarp and wrapped her up," according to the search warrant.

The group put Kasprzak in the back seat of a white Chevrolet Suburban and drove off. About two hours later, all three allegedly came back to the house covered in blood. When asked what happened, Ferry said "she went swimming” and “put up one hell of a fight," the warrant states.

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Kasprzak's body was found in the Jordan River about 4 p.m. on March 11. One of her sneakers, with blood on it, was found on a foot bridge near 12600 South along the Jordan River Park Trail.

Kasprzak's parents said the teen was at her home, near 12800 South and 2300 West, doing homework the night she disappeared on March 10. She was last seen about 7:45 p.m. About an hour later, her parents called Unified police to report their daughter as a runaway.

It was still unknown Wednesday how Kazprzak allegedly made it from her Riverton home to Ferry's White City house about nine miles away.

No charges have yet been filed in Kazprzak's death.

Ferry was recently sentenced to 30 days in the Salt Lake County Jail for an unrelated offense of driving with no proof of insurance, a class B misdemeanor, and driving with an expired license, a class C misdemeanor.

Vehekite faces charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and cruelty to an animal in an unrelated case. His bail was set at $500,000.

Ferry has a long history at the Utah State Prison. In 2003 he was convicted of felony burglary and sentenced to up to five years at the prison. In 1999, two counts of aggravated assault against Ferry were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea to failing to stop at the command of a police officer. He was sentenced to up to five years at the Utah State Prison, according to court records.

In a separate case in 1999, he was convicted of aggravated assault and burglary and was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison, according to court records.

Ferry first arrived at the Utah State Prison in 1999 and was paroled in 2003. He was re-arrested and returned to prison a couple of months later. His sentence was terminated by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in November of 2010.

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Pat Reavy

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