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An anticipated court resolution for a Salt Lake County man accused of shooting and wounding his estranged wife and her friend last year, was delayed because he refused to leave his Salt Lake County jail cell on Wednesday.
Valentin Dulla Santarromana had supposedly agreed to resolve the case with a plea deal.
But when Valentin Dulla Santarromana refused to come to 3rd District Court for a 1:30 p.m. hearing, Judge Royal Hansen issued a warrant to have the 38-year-old man forcibly transported.
Santarromana finally arrived in court at about 2:30 p.m. But the hearing — which appears in the court docket as an arraignment/disposition/sentencing hearing — was reset for May 12.
Defense attorney Michael Misner could not say specifically say why Santarromana had declined to come to court, but said his client does want to resolve the case in a way that is right for all involved.
"It's just an emotional case on both sides," Misner said after the hearing. "It's just going to take more time."
Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Blake Hills said last week he anticipated that Santarromana on Wednesday would enter pleas and be sentenced the same day. Hills declined to say what the plea deal entailed.
Santarromana is charged with 31 felonies in connection with the Aug. 22 shooting episode at his Millcreek area home that injured his estranged wife, 42-year-old Jennifer Andrus, and her friend, Julie "Jai" Hogue, also 42.
On Aug. 22, 2015, Andrus, went to her former residence with Hogue to care for her dogs.
Andrus — who had filed for a protective order against her husband on Aug. 17 — entered the home, while Hogue waited outside.
Shortly after Andrus went into the home, she was allegedly confronted by Santarromana, who was armed with a gun and a meat cleaver. The husband is accused of hitting Andrus with the gun and the meat cleaver before she ran to the front door to alert her friend to call police.
At that time, Santarromana allegedly shot at Hogue 15 times, striking her in the chest, ear, shoulder, midsection, pelvis, forearm, hand, groin, knee and calf.
During an ensuing standoff with Unified Police, Santarromana allegedly held his wife hostage in the basement laundry room and allegedly fired at officers who were attempting to bring him a phone to continue negotiations. No police officers were injured, though charging documents say bullets struck one medic's protective equipment.
Before surrendering to police, Santarromana allegedly shot his wife several times before officers entered the home and removed Andrus. She was hit by gunfire five times: in the right side of the head — which resulted in the loss of her eye — in the arm, twice in the leg and in the ankle.
A search warrant affidavit states that in the early hours of Aug. 22, Andrus' brother had received text from Santarromana's phone, apparently intended for Santarromana's children, that reads, "It hurt me to see your mom with someone else."
"I can't bear to have this family apart," the text reads. "... My love for your mom is so strong and true that I can't bear to see your mom with anyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Santarromana is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder, and one count each of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault — all first-degree felonies. He also is charged with 12 first-degree felony counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, three counts of second-degree felony assault against a police officer, four counts of third-degree felony aggravated assault and eight counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm.
Santarromana also is charged with an earlier domestic violence episode, in which he allegedly threatened his wife with a machete. In that case, he is charged with aggravated assault and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, all third-degree felonies.