Teen beaten with crowbar remains hospitalized as police gather evidence against father

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SALT LAKE CITY — A 13-year-old girl who police say was beaten by her father with a crowbar remained hospitalized Thursday in critical condition.

While doctors believe the girl will likely survive her injuries, it's too early to tell what her long-term prognosis will be and what permanent damage she may have suffered, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray.

The girl's mother, Valerie Sue Brantzeg, 50, was killed in the same attack.

Walter Eugene Brantzeg, 54, was arrested for investigation of aggravated murder and aggravated assault resulting in serious injury on Wednesday. As of Thursday, formal charges had not been filed.

Dotty Ralphs, a former neighbor and church friend of the family, on Thursday called the attack "mind-boggling."

The Brantzegs lived in the same Millcreek neighborhood as Ralphs for years before the mother and daughter moved to an apartment complex late last year. The former neighbor remembered them as the type of family who sat in church with their arms around each other.

The young girl is "extremely gregarious and very spunky. God doesn't send wimps anymore. Everyone knew her, everyone,' Ralphs said. "She was made an orphan yesterday."

Valerie Brantzeg, she recalled, was "soft, sweet, kind, hardworking. That would be Valerie."

Ralphs was aware Walter Brantzeg had a tumultuous past and had spent time in prison. But she believed he had turned his life around, calling him "a soft-spoken, quiet guy."

Brantzeg and his estranged wife have had a long-running custody dispute, according to police. The couple was scheduled to have another court hearing on the issue on Thursday.

About 7 a.m. Wednesday, Walter Brantzeg went to his estranged wife's apartment near 850 W. 3900 South at the Riverbend Apartments, kicked in the door and attacked Valerie Brantzeg and their daughter with a crowbar, according to police. Valerie Brantzeg was able to go outside her apartment and yell for help. But after emergency crews arrived, she died as a result of her injuries before an ambulance left the apartment complex parking lot.

The young girl suffered blunt force trauma to her head, according to police.

Walter Brantzeg fled the scene before police arrived, but called a couple of local TV stations on his cellphone while driving away "and confessed to killing his wife and assaulting his daughter," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

Reporters passed that information along to police who were at the apartment complex. Investigators pinged Brantzeg's phone and stopped him just after 9 a.m. near 300 East 4500 South.

Later that day, detectives served a search warrant at Brantzeg's apartment near 1800 S. Main. Investigators seized pieces of evidence from the apartment connected to the case, though Gray declined to go into detail about what was collected.

Gray said detectives learned that the Brantzegs had actually been separated for "years" but no one had filed for divorce. She did not know exactly how long the two had been apart. Valerie Brantzeg filed a motion in court for temporary separation on July 31, court records state.

She said Unified police had only two prior domestic violence calls on record for the couple, the last one being in 2010. But Gray did not know whether other police jurisdictions had been called in the past when Valerie Brantzeg and her daughter lived in other cities.

West Valley police said they had two domestic violence cases on record from 2009, both verbal incidents and not physical.

Brantzeg has two other children, both adults. On Thursday, a woman believed to be one of Brantzeg's adult daughters filed for a protection order from Walter Brantzeg, according to court records. A court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

The YWCA's Women in Jeopardy program can be reached at 801-537-8600, and a confidential statewide Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.

Contributing: Jed Boal

Domestic Abuse Hotlines

Utah Domestic Violence Coalition Hotline: 1-800-897-5465 (LINK)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)

YWCA 24-Hour Crisis Line: 801-537-8600

Those at the hotline can help victims find a shelter, transitional housing, crisis counseling, child care, services to rebuild credit, and groups provide group and individual therapy. They also can connect victims with legal advice on how to obtain protective orders and stalking injunctions. The council has 17 programs located throughout the state. Services are available for all genders.