A suspect in a Riverton teen's death earlier this year has been sentenced to prison, though no charges have been filed in connection with the girl's slaying.
Daniel Robert Ferry, 31, pleaded guilty Tuesday in 3rd District Court to unrelated kidnapping and drug charges. Upon Ferry's request, Judge Ryan Harris immediately sentenced him to up one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.
"Love you, Danny," Felicia Ferry said to her husband as he was led away in handcuffs.
"See you later," the man replied.
Ferry was arrested in March after 15-year-old Anne Kasprzak was found dead in the Jordan River.
While Ferry was being held on an outstanding traffic case, prosecutors filed the unrelated kidnapping charges against him, alleging Ferry forced a woman on March 10 to stand in front of a dart board while someone threw darts at her as "revenge" for money he said she owed him.
That same night Ferry also was involved in Kasprzak's death, according to a probable cause statement filed with the Salt Lake County jail at the time of Ferry's arrest.
The girl's parents last saw her the evening of March 10. They reported her missing that night after discovering she was gone from their Riverton home. At 10 a.m. the next day, a passer-by found blood and a shoe near a footbridge over the Jordan River at about 12600 South in Draper. Officers in a helicopter later spotted a body with a matching shoe in the river a bit downstream from the bridge.
The jail document states that Draper police interviewed a witness who allegedly saw Ferry assault Kasprzak that night at a south valley home after she refused to have sex with him.
Months later, no charges have been filed. Police, who did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday, have not backed off their statements that Ferry is a suspect and prosecutors have declined to comment on Ferry's status, citing the ongoing investigation.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Felicia Ferry defended her husband. Standing by her side, private investigator Christian Warmsely, said Ferry was "innocent" of the murder.
"They need to go find the murderer," Warmsely said of police. "They've wasted a lot of time."
Another man, 30-year-old Veanuia Vehekite, also has been called a suspect in Kasprzak's death. Vehekite was booked into the Salt Lake County jail earlier this year on suspicion of homicide. According to a probable cause statement filed at the time, Vehekite assisted in removing an unconscious Kasprzak from Ferry's home. A witness said Kasprzak was alive but unconscious when she was carried away in a tarp from the home by Vehekite and another man, who is not named in the statement.
Police say Ferry, Vehekite and the other man left the home and returned with their clothing "all bloodied a few hours later."
Charges have never been filed against Vehekite in connection with the death. He remains in the Salt Lake County jail on unrelated charges.
