Anja White wrote a letter to her father Tuesday, warning him that something bad would happen if her older brother, Ed, continued to live with them in their Sandy home.
But her father apparently never saw the letter.Thursday afternoon Anja was shot to death with a small-caliber rifle. Ed White was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of criminal homicide.
The 15-year-old Alta student told her best friend Marci Renfro about the letter Tuesday night. Renfro said the two siblings had fought continually for the four years she'd known them.
Sandy police located the letter hidden in the victim's bedroom. The letter - apparently unfinished - explained problems she had been experiencing with her brother.
About 1:40 p.m. Thursday, a male, who apparently didn't identify himself, called police to say a female had been shot.
"What we know is the caller said, `There is a female shot multiple times and she's probably dead,' " said Sandy Police officer Gwen Moore. Asked if police thought it was the suspect who reported the shooting, Sgt. Craig Watson answered affirmatively.
Police went to the Sandy home, 854 E. Lafayette St. (10785 South), and coaxed the suspect out, Watson said.
"He had waited here until we arrived." Police found the body of Anja White in an upstairs bedroom. She had been shot several times.
Police questioned Ed White, 18. "He's not talking so they're just going to have to piece it together," Moore said.
Anja and Ed lived with their father, John, and 16-year-old brother, Joe, following the divorce of their parents. The mother lives in Washington and was on her way to Salt Lake City Thursday.
Anja aspired to become a model some day, Renfro said.
The two teens had been best friends for four years, and Renfro said Ed White was both physically and verbally abusive towards Anja.
"He was really rude," she said. "He was always threatening her."
Joe and Anja would often stay with friends because they were afraid of Ed, Renfro said.
"She (was) friends with a lot of people . . . I've lost my best friend - someone to talk to. She didn't deserve it."