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A 46-year-old Bountiful woman pleaded guilty to a reduced count of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a former boyfriend at his apartment in February 2012.
Shannon Sander, 46, was charged in 2nd District Court with first-degree felony murder in the death of 52-year-old Michael Dunn.
On Thursday, Sander — who has claimed she was defending herself from unwanted sexual advances — pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter.
She faces up to 15 years in prison when she is sentenced July 2 by Judge David Connors.
Dunn died on a bed in the living room of his Bountiful apartment on Feb. 21, 2012, after Sander stabbed him once in the chest.
The stabbing culminated a day-long drinking binge, Bountiful police Detective Keith Beal testified at Sander's 2012 preliminary hearing. Beal said Sander told him in an interview after the stabbing that Dunn had begun drinking at 9:30 a.m.
By about 11 p.m., she had consumed three cans of beer and about five to six inches of a bottle of whiskey, Beal said.
Sander told Beal that she stabbed Dunn after he tried to grope her and kiss her throughout the day. Though the two had dated in the past, Beal said, Sander told him that their friendship during the last six years had been nonsexual, and his advances were not welcomed.
"She said Mike kept doing it, and she stabbed him," Sander said. "She just lost it and stabbed him."
A medical examiner testified at the preliminary hearing that Dunn's blood-alcohol level at the time of his death was 0.23, which is nearly three times the legal limit for driving.
Defense attorney Mark Arrington argued at the preliminary hearing that Sander was defending herself when she stabbed Dunn. He said that if had Dunn survived, he likely would have been investigated for sexual assault charges.