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MT. PLEASANT, Sanpete County — A Mt. Pleasant man arrested for allegedly killing his fiancée and then trying to make it look like she was injured in a drunken driving crash has been charged with murder.
Anthony Jeffery Christensen, 35, who has a history of domestic violence, was charged Tuesday in Manti's 6th District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony.
On March 31, Mt. Pleasant police were called to 68 E. 300 North, where the body of Kammy Edmunds, 34, was found in her bathroom. Officers described her as "very bruised and bloody," according to charging documents.
Christensen claimed that he and Edmunds, along with another woman whose name he couldn't remember, had been drinking heavily the night before, charges state. Christensen claimed he passed out after Edmunds said she was going to drive the other woman home. When he got up, he found her in the bathroom, according to court documents.
Edmunds' 2001 Oldsmobile Alero was also missing that morning. The vehicle was later discovered by police in a dry creek bed in the Power Plant Park area east of Mt. Pleasant. Detectives belive the vehicle had been driven off an embankment.
But when investigators pulled the car out and examined it, they found blood "on the door jams and door panel of the driver side of the front and rear doors. The blood evidence is located low on the door panel, not up where a person's head would be," according to charging documents.
Furthermore, "the damage to the vehicle is not consistent with damage that would result in the death of (a) person," charges state.
At the house, detectives found blood outside the entry and across the living room carpet leading to the bathroom.
Related:
Man killed fiancée, tried to make it look like car crash, police say
A Mt. Pleasant man has been arrested for investigation of murder after police say he beat his fiancée to death and then tried to make it look like her injuries had been sustained in a car crash."In the kitchen area of the house there were marks on the floor that suggested a person was dragged across the area," charges state. Court documents also note that an effort had been made to clean up the blood stains.
Muddy shoes belonging to Christensen were found, along with muddy shoe prints in the bathtub, according to the report.
The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office determined that Edmunds died from "multiple blunt force trauma concentrated to the head" and that her injuries were "not consistent with being in an automobile accident," the report states.
Charging documents also note that Christensen has an "extensive" criminal history, mainly in Wyoming, including convictions for child abuse and strangulation, and he was listed as a fugitive out of Nevada at one time.
According to court documents from Sweetwater County, Wyoming, Christensen pleaded guilty in 2013 to strangulation and battery against a family member. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to domestic battery, his third offense, according to court records.
Christensen's initial appearance on the latest charges is scheduled for Wednesday.
A GoFundMe account was set up to help with funeral expenses and support Edmunds' two young children from a prior relationship.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting YWCA, Women in Jeopardy, 801-537-8600, or the Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-897-LINK.
