The public spat between Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson and the former Katherine Bryson, who retired last year as a state legislator, is close to an end.
The prolonged divorce between the couple of 36 years has included bitter feuding over allegations of adultery, domestic abuse and financial fraud.
And on Tuesday in a Heber courtroom, divorce attorneys for both parties — at one time considered a politically powerful couple in Utah County Republican Party circles — made their respective who-gets-what cases in front of a judge.
They both seek assets obtained during the years they were married.
Fourth District Judge Donald J. Eyre took the case under advisement, meaning he will spend the next month or so deciding how the former couple's property should be divided.
To hear Kay Bryson tell it, his former wife was not faithful, forged his signature on home loans and property deeds and turned to shambles their finances.
For her part, the former Katherine Bryson — who has remarried since their divorce became final in October and now goes by Katherine Renner — has implied her husband physically abused her.
That charge first surfaced last January when then-Rep. Katherine Bryson said on the House floor during the legislative session that she had been the victim of domestic violence.
"A loaded gun was held on me," she said.
Then, last fall she filed a complaint with the Salt Lake police against a Utah County deputy sheriff who installed video surveillance at a Salt Lake condo she owned.
The camera was installed at the request of Kay Bryson, according to Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy.
Kay Bryson said he had the equipment installed to catch a burglar.
Instead, he said it caught his wife with another man.
Katherine Bryson, who represented District 60 in Orem, called the incident an abuse of power because county employees had been used to install the publicly owned equipment.
A subsequent investigation by the Salt Lake City police cleared Kay Bryson of any wrongdoing.
Neither Renner nor her attorney could be reached for comment about this week's court proceedings. .
Peter Stirba, Kay Bryson's attorney, said his client felt some relief that the proceedings were over.
"But I imagine both sides," he said, "are not happy it had to end this way."
E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com