SALT LAKE CITY — They survived being shot repeatedly by an estranged husband in a jealous rage, but as they spoke in court Thursday, two women described physical and psychological wounds they say will never heal.
Held hostage in her home for hours, Jenny Andrus endured brutal assaults and humiliating acts at her husband's hands, ultimately losing an eye to a bullet that would have cost the woman her life had it shifted at all as it struck.
Her friend, Jai Hogue, was shot 11 times and left to die in the street when she attempted to rush to Andrus' aid. She awoke months later from a medically induced coma, paralyzed from a bullet that severed her spinal cord.
Both women spoke at a sentencing hearing Thursday for Valentin Dulla Santarromana, 38, detailing the pain they and their families live with daily.
Santarromana will spend at least 25 years and possibly life in prison for the Aug. 22, 2015 attacks.
Police say Santarromana was upset about his pending divorce and, blaming Hogue for his wife leaving him, was lying in wait when Andrus returned to the Millcreek home they once shared, 3313 S. Scott Court, to feed the dog and collect some of her clothing.
In a carefully plotted attack, Santarromana snuck up behind her, she said, hitting her over the head and beginning to beat her violently. When she tried to run, he shot her in both legs, then forced her to walk despite her injuries, dragging her into the basement where she thought she would die.
"I begged for my life," Andrus said, describing the humiliation and violence she endured, including being forced at gunpoint to perform a sex act. She called the experience "a treacherous blow to our years together."
In the final years of their relationship, Andrus said her husband had grown increasingly threatening and possessive, using threats and force to terrorize her. When she sought to end the marriage, Santarromana blamed her, she said.
As he hit her that day, he raged at her to repeatedly apologize.
"While he was beating me, he was shouting, 'If I can't have you, no one can.' He feels like he owns me. He is obsessive," Andrus said.
Outside the home, Hogue was dragged to safety and rushed to a hospital, where some initially believed she was already dead. As she described her memories of Santarromana turning on her, which plagued her as she began to recover months later, Hogue called him a calculating viper.
"Even as he was shooting me, he seemed calm and deliberate," she recalled.
Hogue's injuries, she said, robbed her of the independence and interests that enriched her life. She was preparing for a new job as a preschool teacher when she was shot, a career she can no longer fulfill.
"I was an independent and active woman. The defendant destroyed all of this," Hogue told the judge.
Hogue's spinal injury left her with no feeling from the chest down, leaving her in a wheelchair, limiting her daily routine, and requiring her family to purchase a new home and vehicle.
"The changes in my life are pervasive and affect every minute of every day," Hogue said, later adding, "Emotionally I will never be the same either."
After four hours, SWAT officers — who Andrus thanked and called "my SWAT team" Thursday — raced into the home as Santarromana fired at them. Fearing a natural gas explosion from the lines Santarromana had cut in the house, they didn't return fire.
The officers filled nearly half the courtroom Thursday.
Andrus' physical injuries have limited her ability to hold and comfort her children, or fulfill her role as a college professor. Her psychological scars keep her from ever feeling truly safe.
Andrus said she will never forget the feel of a gun against her skin or the smell of gunpowder after she was shot. Her children, she said, have also been traumatized by the attack, unable to understand their father's actions.
Both women also said their experiences will continue to impact their children and extended families.
Santarromana was charged with 31 felonies for the brutal attack. He pleaded guilty in September to two counts of attempted aggravated murder, as well as single counts of aggravated kidnapping and forcible sexual abuse, all first-degree felonies.
He also admitted to assaulting a police officer, a second-degree felony, and pleaded no contest in a separate case to domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Santarromana was ordered Thursday to concurrent 15-year-to-life sentences for charges of attempted murder, sexual assault, assaulting an officer and the domestic violence case. A sentence of 10 years to life for the kidnapping charge will run consecutively.
All additional charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA, Women in Jeopardy, 801-537-8600; or the Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-897-LINK (5465).