Lehi man accused of choking wife until he thought she was dead charged with attempted murder

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Brennan Lud Dalton, 34, is charged with attempted murder after allegedly choking his wife until he thought she was dead.
• Dalton allegedly admitted to planning the attack.
• The victim, initially unresponsive, has regained consciousness and is in intensive care as of Friday,

LEHI — A Lehi man who allegedly told police he "freaked out and strangled his wife" until he thought she was dead now faces charges accusing him of trying to kill her.

Brennan Lud Dalton, 34, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony; and domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.

Lehi police were called by Dalton about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday.

"Officers arrived on scene and took (Dalton) into custody and began rendering aid to the female victim," a police booking affidavit states. "The female appeared to have agonal breathing and was unresponsive."

Dalton told police that he and his wife were drinking and started arguing. At some point during the argument, Dalton "put his hands around her throat, threw her to the ground, and strangled her for an amount of time he estimated at five minutes," according to charging documents.

Upon further questioning, Dalton told officers that he had attempted suicide in November. "Since then, he has considered it would be easier to kill his wife than himself," he told detectives, according to both the affidavit and charging documents.

"He also said that he had thought about strangling (the woman) for several weeks before this incident, and he admitted that he had 'every intention' of ending (her) life. (Dalton) told police that he thought he had killed (his wife) because she turned purple and her tongue was hanging out," the charges state.

After releasing her from his grip, "he stated he started feeling bad and started apologizing to her. He said he told her he would call 911, and he placed that call. I asked Brennan if he attempted lifesaving measures. He told me he just sat on his couch, watched his wife gasping for air, and talked with dispatch. He thought about trying to help her sit up, but he didn't do it," the affidavit alleges.

When police searched Dalton's phone, they found internet searches that included, "Can someone die from their nose and mouth being covered?'

Police noted that at the time of the arrest, the wife "was unconscious and unresponsive, but intubated and still alive. She eventually came around slightly to consciousness, and allegedly responded to her name. The extent of the injuries are currently unknown, and there is a strong possibility she has brain damage."

As of Friday, prosecutors say the woman "has regained consciousness, is responsive, and is in the intensive care unit of the local hospital."

Domestic violence resources

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:

• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
• YWCA Utah Survivor Services: 801-537-8600
• Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Pat Reavy

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.