Man arrested in death of Riverton teen denies being a killer; decries treatment in jail

"I don't complain. I don't cry. I hold my head up high because I know I've done nothing," he wrote. "I'm a drug addict. That's my crime."

Ferry ends the letter by saying he has "lost everything without being given due process" and asks the judge to lift the restrictions on him so his family can visit him in jail.

Veronica and James Bratcher, Kasprzak's mother and stepfather, issued a statement Wednesday about Ferry's letter, saying they support prosecutors' efforts to balance his rights and still protect the public.

"It is our understanding that Mr. Ferry's current incarceration and contact restrictions are related to various behaviors and concerns directly linked to him," the couple wrote.

They said they continue to struggle to understand their daughter's death.

"We have been asked if we are frustrated that charges have not been filed yet regarding her murder. Honestly, we are frustrated and angry and sad and overwhelmed with her murder. After that, charges are a small consolation in comparison to the loss of a daughter we remember every day," the Bratchers said.

"While we wonder every day why she was killed, we suspect there will never be a good enough answer to console the many lives that must go on without her that have been forever changed by our loss."

According to investigators, Kasprzak was at Ferry's house, 9997 S. Poppy Lane (865 East), with several other people, when the teen rejected Ferry's sexual advances. She was then allegedly beaten, wrapped in a tarp and taken to the Jordan River Parkway where her face was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable. Her body was found March 11 in the Jordan River.

Elements of that crime are similar to the kidnapping charge Ferry faces. According to court documents in that case, a woman told police she was knocked unconscious, bound and carried away with a blanket over her head to a home in Salt Lake County where she was forced to stand in front of a dart board and darts were thrown at her. Her head was also shaved and she was allegedly beaten.

Veanuia Vehekite, 30, was also arrested for investigation of murder in connection with Kazprzak's death. He, too, has been held on unrelated charges since his arrest but has not been charged directly in the killing.

Police on Wednesday said they were still working the case, which is considered an active investigation, but would not discuss the facts of case.

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