Ex-pro football player accused in wife's death faces judge

By AP
Published

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) A former professional football player charged with killing his wife by cutting her throat this month at a Utah ski town resort made his first court appearance Wednesday in a wheelchair and his lawyer said he didn't know why his client used it.

Anthony D. McClanahan was a personal trainer who led boot-camp workouts before his wife's death and did not use a wheelchair when he was arrested in a separate case weeks before the slaying in Park City, officials said.

Defense attorney John Johnson said he did not know why McClanahan was in the wheelchair, The Deseret News reported . Johnson said he's still gathering information about the case.

McClanahan was not asked to enter a plea during the procedural hearing.

McClanahan, 46, suffered superficial cuts in the fatal Nov. 2 struggle with his wife at the Park Regency hotel, prosecutors said in charging documents.

McClanahan is charged with murder in the death of 28-year-old Keri ''KC'' McClanahan. Prosecutors say her throat was cut with a small, sharp knife she wore sheathed in a bracelet, authorities said.

She was found dead in their hotel room and he was found crawling on the ground outside the hotel. He told police that he and his wife had been attacked, according to court documents. Investigators have said they found no evidence of anyone else entering the couple's room.

McClanahan is also charged separately with child kidnapping. Prosecutors say he picked up his 8-year-old son from another relationship in Arizona and took him to Salt Lake City without the mother's permission in October, weeks before the slaying.

He did not use a wheelchair when he was arrested in October, Salt Lake County Jail Sgt. Kevin Hunter told The Associated Press. Hunter declined to comment on why McClanahan was using the wheelchair Monday, citing medical privacy laws.

McClanahan played in the Canadian Football League in the mid-1990s after a collegiate career at Washington State University and a training-camp stint with the Dallas Cowboys.