A Salt Lake City man is currently requesting his release from prison after being found guilty of raping an 18-year-old at gunpoint in 2012. However, during Tuesday’s parole hearing from the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Brian Newton, 34, was allowed to testify on his own behalf; however, his victim was not.
What was McKenzie Fronk cause of death?
Mckenzie Fronk committed herself in September 2020, just four months after the Utah Supreme Court upheld Newton’s conviction, out of fear that Newton would be freed and would pursue her. Attorney Joseph Hill stated that the anguish that Mrs. Newton imposed upon her was the direct cause of her suicide. She had emotional scars that never quite recovered.
Fronk and her pals attended a home party in West Valley City on May 30, 2012. At some point during the evening, Newton, who was also present at the party, asked her if she would want to go eat dinner with him. Hill claims that they went to a Subway and had lunch. However, Newton then took a car to a different place, where he raped Fronk, held a gun to her head, and strangled her.
In the car after the attack, Newton warned Fronk “that he might have to ‘kill her’ because she seemed like a girl that would ’cause problems for him,’” according to the criminal documents. Fronk unlocked the door and leaped out of their automobile as it slowed at a red light on the Bangerter Highway. Until assistance could be found, she strolled barefoot and with her dress reversed along the Bangerter Highway.
Brian Newton arrested by Salt Lake SWAT unit
Newton was later taken into custody at home by a Salt Lake SWAT unit. In 2014, a jury found Newton guilty of two felonies, aggravated assault and aggravated sexual assault, after he was charged with four felonies. The principal prosecutor in the case was Hill, who was employed at the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office at the time. Newton received a sentence that included a 10-year to life sentence in the Utah State Prison.
The Utah Supreme Court heard his case on appeal and upheld his conviction. For his initial hearing, Newton appeared before a member of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday. Fronk’s family invited Hill to speak to the board on their behalf. Hill remembered how, in the midst of Newton’s trial, Fronk had fearlessly faced him and testified against him.
Suspect found guilty in court
Additionally, he presented Newton’s “fictitious version” of events to the board. When Newton was found guilty, Fronk and her family were relieved. However, Hill claims that her relief was short-lived since Fronk “struggled to cope with the mental trauma” and she was unable to get over her constant anxiety that he could one day be freed
