A Southern Utah University student who allegedly unleashed a brutal hammer attack on two sleeping acquaintances last month caused head injuries so severe to one victim that police had to remove pieces of brain and skull from the crime scene.

Charges filed against 23-year-old Zachary Frank King in 5th District Court this month reveal new gruesome details about a May 31 assault on two fellow students that he told Cedar City police were his friends.

King had been hanging out with 20-year-old Daniel James Shokrian and 23-year-old Todd Logan Bryson on the evening of May 30 at Shokrian's home on the 2400 block of 400 South in Cedar City, according to a police report and charging documents filed June 3.

King left after what police called a "normal evening." But he returned around 1:30 a.m. with a hammer and snuck into the bedrooms of Shokrian and Bryson and attacked them, court documents state.

King is now charged with two counts of first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony. The offenses are punishable by up to life in prison if he is convicted.

King told police that he was angry at both victims, one because of a "financial situation" and the other because of a girl, according to documents. He said after he'd returned home from socializing with his friends and went to bed, he woke up in a rage and "felt he needed to hurt and damage" Shokrian and Bryson, court documents state.

King told police he drove around Shokrian's block several times before he returned to assault the men, saying he needed to "psych himself up to carry out the murders" of the two, according to court documents.

He parked his vehicle and entered Shokrian's house through an unlocked window in the back of the house. He then removed his pants because he thought he was making too much noise and wanted "to be more stealthy," court documents state.

He went into Shokrian's bedroom stood over his bed and said "I hate you." He then hit Shokrian in the head with a hammer until he believed he'd killed Shokrian, according to court documents.

King told police attacking Shokrian "did not make him feel better like he thought it would," court documents state.

He went into Bryson's bedroom and pondered punching Bryson with his fist before he began beating Bryson in the head with the hammer. Bryson woke up and wrestled the hammer way from his attacker, according to court documents.

King told police he quit the attack after Bryson began shouting his name. He said he went upstairs where he collapsed on a floor, where police later found him, court documents state.

Shokrian suffered blows to his head so forceful that emergency responders found pieces of his brain and a piece of his skull on a pillow and bedding, according to court documents. He was flown to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where he has since undergone surgery and has been kept in an induced coma, police said.

Bryson had lacerations to his head and broke his hand defending himself against King, court documents state. He has been discharged from Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City.

As details of the gory attack emerge, family and friends of King continued to grapple over how the junior theatre major apparently snapped.

"It's a complete 180 degree turn out of character from the Zach we know," said Zach King's father, Frank King.

"He's been a good kid. He never gave us an ounce of trouble growing up. This is certainly very unexpected."

King grew up in Mesa, Ariz., the oldest of five children, his father said. He graduated from Mountain View High School in 2004 and attended SUU for one year before he departed on a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

King returned to SUU after completing his mission in Atlanta, his father said.

The university's strong theater program and an opportunity to work at events such as Cedar City's Utah Shakespearean Festival drew King to the region, his father said.

King was involved in several SUU productions. He recently published an opinion piece in the school's newspaper, The SUU Journal, advocating that LDS President Thomas S. Monson speak at the school's commencement.

A high school friend of King's, Tyson Oliver, said in an e-mail that King served the role of "big brother" to many friends. King earned an award of "best actor" during high school and made an impression with his "intense personality," Oliver said.

"Zach is a mix of very friendly, warm and wise. He's the kind of person who always offered sympathy and friendship to those around him ... I was absolutely shocked to hear what happened."

Oliver and Frank King said they weren't aware of any problems that would have caused Zachary King to attack his friends.

Oliver said he noticed his friend struggled to adjust to life after returning from his mission, an issue King wrote about on his Live Journal Web site.

"Two years has come and gone and in a way, I hope I am different today than I was back then. Hell, everything else is," King wrote on his page at http://planeswalker459.livejournal.com. "I am the outsider now. And it hurts."

Frank King said his family wants to offer condolences to his son's victims.

King is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before 5th District Judge John Walton Wednesday and is being held in the Iron County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. He is being represented by Salt Lake City attorney Richard Van Wagoner.

Shokrian and Bryson are both listed as SUU students according to the university's online directory. Attempts to reach the men and their families for comment on Friday were unsuccessful.