A Millcreek-area man was charged Friday with 31 felonies for allegedly shooting and wounding his estranged wife and her friend during a three-hour standoff with police last month.
Valentin Dulla Santarromana, 37, was charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of attempted aggravated murder, and one count each of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault — all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with 12 first-degree felony counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, three counts of second-degree felony assault against a police officer, four counts of third-degree felony aggravated assault and eight counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm.
According to charging information filed on Friday, Santarromana's estranged wife, 42-year-old Jennifer Andrus, went to her former residence on Aug. 22 with a friend, Jai Hogue, also 42, to care for the couple's dogs.
Andrus entered the home, while Hogue waited outside.
"Shortly after entering the residence, [Andrus] was confronted by Santarromana," charging documents read. "Santarromana had a gun and a meat cleaver."
Santarromana allegedly pushed his estranged wife to the floor and hit her several times in the head with the gun and flat side of the meat cleaver.
When Andrus ran to the front door to alert her friend to call police, Santarromana shot at Hogue 15 times while she was still outside, according to court records. Hogue was struck in the chest — which penetrated both of her lungs and severed her spine — as well as in the ear, shoulder, midsection, pelvis, forearm, hand, groin, knee and calf.
Santarromana then reloaded his gun and allegedly struck his estranged wife again before shooting her in the ankle as she tried to flee. He then forced Andrus into the basement, where a sexual assault allegedly occurred.
After about a three-hour stand-off with police, Santarromana shot Andrus several times and also tampered with a natural gas line in the basement before police entered the home and removed Andrus. She was hit five times: in the right side of the head — which resulted in the loss of her eye — in the arm, twice in the leg and in the ankle.
During the standoff, Santarromana also allegedly fired at officers who were attempting to bring him a phone to continue negotiations. No police were injured, though charging documents say bullets struck one medic's protective equipment.
Since the incident, Hogue has been hospitalized and has been alternating between critical and extremely critical condition, according to Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell.
A YouCaring crowd-funding page for Hogue states that the woman — a longtime librarian at the Open Classroom in Salt Lake City — is in a medically induced coma. A similar crowd-funding page has been set up for Andrus.
On Aug. 31, Andrus — a University of Utah English professor — walking with the aid of a cane appeared at a court hearing where a judge granted the protective order she had requested. The order bars Santarromana from the Millcreek residence and prohibits him from contacting her or seeing the couple's three children.
Santarromana is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Salt Lake County Jail.
Santarromana also was charged Friday in connection with an earlier domestic violence episode, in which he allegedly threatened his wife with a machete. In that case, Santarromana was charged with aggravated assault and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, all third-degree felonies.
No court dates have been set in either case.
The machete incident allegedly occurred on Aug. 14. Andrus told police he held the weapon over her head and asked for a hug and a kiss, according to charges. Later that night, Andrus told Santarromana she wanted him to move out, and he left home with a shotgun, charges state.
The next day, Santarromana returned to their home, near 700 East and 3300 South, and threatened to commit suicide. A Unified Police officer was able to arrest Santarromana without incident, but after being handcuffed Santarromana threatened to get out of the cuffs, take the officer's gun and make police shoot him, according to charges.
On Aug. 17, Andrus filed for a protective order.
jmiller@sltrib.com
Twitter: @jm_miller
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Early in the standoff, Unified Police SWAT officers get a view of the house off camera to the right where a suspect was heavily barricaded after a domestic dispute that turned into a standoff near 3300s and 700e, Saturday, August 22, 2015. The suspect had fired at officers, and turned on the gas in the house.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Unified Police and SWAT officers responded to a scene where a suspect had heavily barricaded himself in a home after shooting a woman who had come to try to calm down a domestic dispute near 3300s and 700e, Saturday, August 22, 2015.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Unified Police and SWAT officers responded to a scene where a suspect had heavily barricaded himself in a home after shooting a woman who had come to try to calm down a domestic dispute near 3300s and 700e, Saturday, August 22, 2015.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Early in the standoff, Unified Police SWAT officers get a view of the house off camera to the right where a suspect was heavily barricaded after a domestic dispute that turned into a standoff near 3300s and 700e, Saturday, August 22, 2015. The suspect had fired at officers, and turned on the gas in the house.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Early in the standoff, Unified Police SWAT officers get a view of the house off camera to the right where a suspect was heavily barricaded after a domestic dispute that turned into a standoff near 3300s and 700e, Saturday, August 22, 2015. The suspect had fired at officers, and turned on the gas in the house. Unified Police and SWAT officers responded to a scene where a suspect had heavily barricaded himself in a home after shooting a woman who had come to try to calm down a domestic dispute near 3300s and 700e.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune A suspect who had fired at officers, and shot a woman who had come to try to calm down a domestic dispute near 3300s and 700e, sits in the back, right seat of a police car after being apprehended. The standoff began at approx. 8:09am and ended about 11:30am.
Valentin Santarromana. Courtesy photo
Jennifer Andrus. Courtesy photo
