Former pro-football player charged with murdering wife in Park City

PARK CITY, UT (KSL) — Anthony McClanahan, 46, is charged in Summit County’s 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony. He is accused of killing Keri “KC” McClanahan, 28, sometime between the night of Nov. 1 and early in the morning of Nov. 2.

According to the charges, police believe KC McClanahan “put up a significant struggle before her death.”

Park City police were called to the Park Regency Resort, 1710 Prospector Ave., about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 2 on a report of a disturbance. An officer spotted McClanahan outside the hotel “crawling on his stomach,” according to charging documents. He stood up to wave down the officer, then got back on his stomach, “convulsing and making a ‘snow angel’ motion with his arms.”

McClanahan, who was bleeding and had cuts on his face, neck, arms and stomach, claimed that two or three men had attacked him, his wife and his baby, the charges state.

McClanahan was taken to a local hospital. As detectives continued to investigate, they learned that a man matching his description was seen “crawling through the corridors” of the second and third floors of the hotel, calling for help, according to the charges.

After a “lengthy search” of the complex, police found an open door with blood on it and the floor, and discovered KC McClanahan’s body inside. She had been stabbed multiple times on her neck, the charges state. Investigators noted her body had several defensive wounds. A paracord bracelet knife, believed to be KC McClanahan’s, was found on the floor near her hands, police say.

Anthony McClanhan had rented a room at the hotel on Oct. 23, and was scheduled to check out on Nov. 6, the charges state.

Prosecutors say McClanahan spoke on the phone with a woman who was out of state just before 10 p.m. on Nov. 1. The woman believed that her husband was texting KC McClanahan.

“She spoke to (Anthony) McClanahan about their spouses’ involvement then overheard McClanahan confront KC,” the charges state.

The woman called Anthony McClanahan again at 11:41 p.m., but he did not answer, according to the court documents.

Eariler that day, Anthony McClanahan was apparently in a hospital.

A page called Justice for KC Keri Colleen McClanahan was created on Facebook, where readers posted a copy of a 20-minute video of McClanahan speaking from inside a Salt Lake area hospital. It appears to have been recorded at 9 a.m. on Nov. 1 — about 16 hours before his wife was found dead — through Facebook Live, but was later deleted.

No explanation is given in the recording about why McClanahan is in the hospital or how long he had been there, though medical personnel interrupt him briefly to say that a doctor will be by soon to discuss “test results.”

McClanahan, lying shirtless in a hospital bed, claims in the video that he has been suffering from severe, regular headaches since his professional football days. Those injuries have been made worse, he claims, since he says he slipped and fell in the back of a truck in the midst of Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston.

McClanahan goes on to say he hasn’t been sleeping because of the pain that comes at night and claims that it brings on aggression.

Later that day, according to friends, McClanahan picked up his wife, who flew into Utah, and they went to Park City.

Anthony and KC McClanahan were married in January. They later moved to Arizona where friends on social media say allegations of abuse surfaced.

In October, Anthony McClanahan allegedly kidnapped his son from a previous relationship. He was scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court Monday to face a charge of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony, stemming from the custody dispute.

McClanahan picked up his son from school in Maricopa County, Arizona, on Oct. 3 and refused to give him back to the boy’s mother, according to the charges. He and the boy were later located in Salt Lake City and McClanahan was arrested Oct. 12 in a joint effort by Unified police and Phoenix police. The boy was returned to his mother.

McClanahan grew up in California where he played football for Bakersfield High School. He went on to play as a linebacker at Washington State. While he had prospects to play with the Dallas Cowboys, he was cut from the team prior to the 1994 regular season and never played a game in the NFL. He went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League from 1995 to 1998.

Free and confidential help and support for victims and survivors of domestic violence is available 24/7 at 1-800-897-LINK (5465) or visiting udvc.org.