After months of investigation, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has filed a murder charge against Nathan Edwin Parry, 34, accused of killing his girlfriend in his Salt Lake City home in October.
On Oct. 21, Parry called 911 claiming that his girlfriend, Rebecca "Becky" Michelle Sullivan, 41, was dead after the two engaged in "aggressive sex," according to charging documents. Medical crews responded to a call and found Sullivan on the living room floor in full cardiac arrest.
Sullivan had "a large V-shaped laceration on her forehead and visible strangulation marks on her neck," according to charging documents.
Parry claimed the two "placed restraints" around each other's necks while engaging in sex and lost consciousness, the charges state.
When emergency room doctors stated that Sullivan's injuries were not consistent with Parry's version of events, Parry changed his story and "stated that he and Ms. Sullivan were trying to commit suicide together but he had to cut them down," according to charging documents.
Investigators learned that Parry also called his ex-wife that night and told her "Rebecca is dead" and that she "hung herself right in front of me," the documents state.
When Parry was interviewed by police on Nov. 9, he claimed that when he and Sullivan engaged in hanging themselves together, he was able to grab a pair of scissors sitting on a drawer with his feet and cut them both down, the charges state.
"Parry stated he lied to 911 and said he was 'ridiculously' drunk and terrified," according to charging documents.
As investigators continued to look at the crime scene, they determined that the scissors Parry allegedly grabbed were over 9 feet away from where he claimed he was hanging. A detective noted that "Parry's multiple explanations were inconsistent with the evidence with the reconstruction," the charges state.
Furthermore, "the reported explanations of how the injuries occurred were inconsistent with autopsy findings," according to charging documents.
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