Man arrested in Riverton teen's death to be in prison until 2022

UTAH STATE PRISON — The man arrested in connection with the slaying of a 15-year-old girl — a crime that he has not been officially charged with nine months after his arrest — will remain in prison until at least 2022 on unrelated crimes.

In June, Daniel Robert Lehi Ferry, 32, was sentenced to up to 15 years at the Utah State Prison after reaching a plea agreement in three drug-related cases. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, attempted drug possession with intent to distribute and drug distribution.

In December, Ferry had his first parole hearing at the Utah State Prison. The State Board of Pardons and Parole recently decided that Ferry would remain in prison and his next parole hearing would be held in 2022. The parole board also ordered both psychological and psychopathic evaluations before the next parole hearing.

Ferry was convicted of kidnapping a woman who allegedly owed him money. Two other women reportedly assisted with the kidnapping. The kidnapped woman claimed on March 10 she was knocked unconscious, bound and transported 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. She said darts were thrown at her, piercing the skin of her upper body. The woman was beaten and had her head shaved, according to charges.

During his parole hearing, Ferry said it was his fault the whole situation happened in the first place because he set the wheels in motion. However, he denied beating the woman or shaving her head.

"If I hadn't have got her there in the first place, none of the rest of it wouldn't happen," he said. "I didn't toss darts at nobody, or punch anybody or do any of that, shave anybody's head or anything."

Ferry told the parole board that all he did was order the woman not to get out of his car until he received his money. Ferry admitted that he was a heroin addict. He said, however, that at one point he left and went home and let the other women stand guard over the kidnapped woman. Those women claimed they beat the victim at Ferry's command. But Ferry still contends he had nothing to do with it.

"My lawyer talked me into taking the (plea) deal," he said.

What was not brought up during the hearing was Ferry's arrest in connection with the death of 15-year-old Anne Grace Kasprzak. He has adamantly denied having anything to do with her death since being arrested one week after the teen's badly beaten body was found in the Jordan River on March 11.

Police have alleged in arresting documents that Kasprzak was killed the same night as the woman who was kidnapped in Ferry's other case. Some elements of both crimes, as reported in court documents, are very similar.

Christian Warmsley, a private investigator hired by Ferry, said police arrested Ferry after mistaking information from one case as being connected with the other.

In May, Ferry sent a letter to the judge handling his case, asking why he was being held so long on a homicide arrest when he hadn't been charged.

"I've been through the mud on the news. Mentally I've taken a serious beat(ing) in here," he wrote. "I've never been charged (60 days later) but now a separate incident on the same day at the same time they said I had supposedly had killed someone. Your honor, all I want is to be treated the way I'm suppost (sic) to be treated."

If Ferry serves his entire sentence in prison, he will be released in 2027.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com

Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam