Utah man charged with murder nearly 30 years after telling police his wife died by suicide
In 1995, Keith Klingenberg told an emergency services operator that his wife had committed suicide. The case was reopened in 2016.
(West Valley City Police Department) A Utah man was charged Wednesday, May 24, 2023 with first-degree murder in the 1995 death of his wife. At the time, Keith Klingenberg told an emergency services operator that his wife had died by suicide. West Valley City Police and the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office reopened the investigation in 2016 as a murder case.
A Utah man has been charged with first-degree murder in the 1995 death of his wife, the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
When his wife, Bernadean Klingenberg, died on June 11, 1995, Keith Klingenberg told an emergency services operator that she committed suicide by slitting her throat, according to prosecutors.
At the time, a coroner ruled that the manner of her death was “undetermined.” But in 2016, the West Valley City Police Department and prosecutors together reopened the case as a murder investigation.
The case was reopened based on testimony provided by Keith Klingenberg when he called 911, witness information and further expert analysis of the crime scene, prosecutors said in a press release announcing the murder charge.
Klingenberg was arrested on Wednesday after the indictment was filed, a spokesman for the public prosecutor confirmed.
“Even though we may have to wait 28 years for justice, the Salt Lake County District Office will continue to seek justice for the victims,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “We hope this will help Bernadean’s loved ones find a sense of completion in her death.”
— This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.
