A former professional football player is charged with murdering his wife in grisly fashion

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Former NFL player Anthony McClanahan was charged with murder Monday. Prosecutors say the 46-year-old man sliced his wife Keri McClanahan’s neck and then crawled on the ground outside their rented condominium in Park City, Utah, eventually waving down a passing police officer.

Police say that early in the morning of Nov. 2, they found McClanahan outside crawling on his stomach, covered in blood. The officer on the scene told prosecutors that McClanahan picked himself up just enough to signal the officer before falling back to the ground, where he started convulsing. The officer said McClanahan made a “snow angel motion.”

The scene where Keri, 28, was found dead showed that she “put up a desperate struggle” before her death, the Associated Press reported via the New York Post. Authorities say they found multiple cuts all around her neck, as well as other injuries such as carpet burns, which they described as defensive wounds. Another resident in the condominium building reportedly called the police after witnessing Anthony asking for help while crawling around in the building’s hallways. Court documents related to the charge say the murder weapon was a small, sharp knife. Anthony claimed someone had attacked him, his wife and his child, but authorities said they found no evidence that anyone else had been in the condo the night of Keri’s death, nor did they find a baby.

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Anthony, who played in the Canadian Football League and spent one training camp with the Dallas Cowboys in 1994, was also charged with child kidnapping last month. Police said he picked up his 8-year-old son from his school in Arizona on Oct. 3 and traveled with him through Nevada and Utah without the child’s mother — who was not Keri — knowing.

He reportedly returned his son after being arrested on Oct. 12 and was out of jail after posting bond.

Keri was planning to leave Anthony, her sister Heather Gauf told reporters, but after his October arrest, she wanted to be sure he was stable before divorcing him. Gauf said she became concerned about her sister when Anthony wanted Keri to marry him soon after the relationship started. The couple met last year in Keri’s hometown of Bellingham, Wash., where Anthony was working as a personal trainer at the time.

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After getting married, they moved to Arizona and began working as volunteers in hurricane-affected areas.

Gauf said McClanahan punched her sister in a fit of jealousy, adding that he would sometimes talk about to the effects of head injuries he suffered during his football career. But she said she doesn’t believe his alleged violent tendencies were brought about by head trauma.

Gauf said Keri initially returned to Washington after the alleged punch, while Anthony settled in Utah because he has family there and he hoped his son could land a role as an extra in a Disney TV production. But Keri soon moved to Utah to help Anthony raise his son

“She’s such a sweetheart,” Gauf said. “He definitely dimmed her light so much, and it was really hard to watch.”

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