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

PARK CITY, Utah >> A former professional football player charged with killing his wife by cutting her throat at a Utah ski town resort made his first court appearance Monday.

Anthony D. McClanahan used a wheelchair during the hearing, though there have been no previous indications of him using one. Defense attorney John Johnson didn’t know why he needed it, The Deseret News reported. Johnson said he’s still gathering information about the Park City case.

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 paracord bracelet, authorities said.

He was found crawling on the ground outside the hotel and told police that he and his wife had been attacked.

He’s also charged separately with child kidnapping. Prosecutors say he picked up his 8-year-old son from another relationship in Arizona without telling the boy’s mother and took him to Salt Lake City 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.