Crime & Safety

Ex-Dallas Cowboy Murdered Wife By Slicing Her Neck: Prosecutors

Anthony McClanahan then crawled outside, flagged down a cop and began convulsing, his arms making a "snow angel motion," authorities said.

PARK CITY, UT — Anthony McClanahan, a onetime training camp participant with the Dallas Cowboys who never played in a game, sliced his wife's neck, crawled on the ground outside their rented Park City condominium and then flagged down a police officer, prosecutors said in murder charges filed against him on Monday. The bloody scene in the ski town indicated that Keri "KC" McClanahan, 28, desperately fought for her life before she was slain.

She was killed by a small, sharp knife that she wore sheathed in a nylon paracord bracelet, charging papers said. Police found Anthony, 46, soaked in blood and crawling on his stomach outside early in the morning of Nov. 2. He lifted himself up just enough to flag down a police officer, then dropped back down and started convulsing, his arms making a "snow angel motion," the officer told prosecutors.

Anthony McClanahan was treated for minor injuries and initially told police he, his wife and baby were attacked. But investigators found no evidence that anyone else had entered the building — or that there was a baby at the Park Regency.

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His wife's body was found in the condominium he had rented after someone else at the building called 911, saying they'd seen him crawling low to the ground through the hallways and calling for help. Keri McClanahan had suffered several cuts to the front, back and sides of her neck, as well as other defensive wounds and carpet burns.

McClanahan was previously charged with child kidnapping last month after authorities said he took his 8-year-old son from a previous relationship from his school in Arizona on Oct. 3 and traveled with him through Nevada and Utah.

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He was arrested in Utah on Oct. 12 and gave his son back, then bonded out of jail a week later.

He and his wife rented the condo in Park City a few days later, charging documents said.

Originally from Bakersfield, California, McClanahan played four years with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in the mid-1990s after a collegiate career at Washington State University. He was in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL in 1994 but never played in a game.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

Photo credit: Salt Lake County Jail via AP

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