A former professional football player charged with murder in the slashing death of his wife in a Park City hotel in November made a brief appearance in 3rd District Court on Monday, not saying a word as another court date was set in February.
Anthony McClanahan, 46, was cuffed and wore a yellow prison jumpsuit as he appeared before Judge Kent Holmberg at Silver Summit. John Johnson, one of the public defenders assigned to the case, told the judge he is awaiting a report from the medical examiner and asked that the case be pushed back up to four weeks. The judge set another appearance on Feb. 12.
McClanahan did not speak and law enforcement led him out of the courtroom through a side door after the appearance.
Johnson said in an interview afterward the medical examiner has not provided information such as a toxicology report as well as forensics evidence.
“The reality is we cannot assess this case,” Johnson said.
Prosecutors claim McClanahan killed his wife, Keri Colleen McClanahan, on Nov. 2 in a hotel room on Bonanza Drive. A charging document filed against McClanahan indicated a Park City Police Department sergeant saw him at 1:30 a.m. in a landscaped area outside the hotel on his stomach crawling before he stood up to wave down the sergeant. He went to his stomach again, making convulsing movements and moving his arms like he was making a snow angel, the prosecutors said.
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McClanahan told the sergeant two or three men attacked himself, his wife and his baby, according to the charging document, indicating that McClanahan did not provide the name of his wife or where she was. He was bleeding with cuts in multiple places, the prosecutors said.
Another person at the hotel called 911 at about the same time McClanahan was found. The person told a dispatcher a man matching the description of McClanahan was seen crawling in the halls of the second and third floors and seeking help, according to the charging document.
Officers found a room with the door open with the door and floor showing blood. They discovered the wife unresponsive with blood covering her inside the room. She suffered wounds to her neck and wounds consistent with someone attempting to defend themselves, the prosecutors said. A bracelet knife was found nearby and an autopsy determined the wounds to her neck were consistent with those made by the knife that was recovered, the charging document said. The medical examiner and evidence gathered at the scene suggest she “put up a significant struggle before her death,” according to prosecutors.
Police investigators reviewed the security camera tapes from the hotel looking for footage of the two or three men McClanahan said were the attackers but did not see any matching people. The last time someone entered the room with the keycard was 9:25 p.m. on Nov. 1, and there was no evidence that someone forced their way into the room, the prosecutors said.
McClanahan is being held at the Salt Lake County jail on an unrelated charge.