Investigators want DNA for 1994 homicide case

SALT LAKE CITY — Homicide investigators want to collect DNA from a man who was with a couple the night one of them was killed and the other brutally beaten in 1994.

On Oct. 31, 1994, Salt Lake police found the body of Patrick Bryner in his apartment at 68 E. 200 North. His body was face down on the living room floor, and Bryner's girlfriend, Patti Hathaway, was lying injured on a bed in a bedroom.

Both victims at first were presumed to be dead, due to the amount of blood surrounding them. But after police and paramedics arrived, they saw one of Hathaway's feet move, according to court documents. She was immediately taken to the hospital. Doctors determined she had suffered a skull fracture, likely from a violent blow to her head.

Today, Hathaway lives outside of Utah. Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Snyder said investigators interviewed her again last week about the case.

In December 2008, police asked a 3rd District judge for a search warrant to obtain DNA samples from Somchay "Noi" Keokham. It was determined that Keokham was with Hathaway and Bryner on Oct. 28 at a Halloween party, according to the warrant.

Keokham originally told police the trio went back to the apartment after the party in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, and he said Hathaway and Bryner were fighting and Hathaway was "falling all over the walls." Keokham said Bryant "pushed Patti into a bedroom," and that was the last he saw of her, the warrant states.

Detectives found large amounts of blood on the bedroom carpet, in the hall leading to the bathroom, in the bathroom and in the bathtub.

"The amount of blood … indicates it is highly unlikely that Patti Hathaway injured herself, or that Patrick Bryant was mobile after he was struck in the living room," the warrant states.

— Pat Reavy