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A Magna man was bound over for trial Friday on charges of first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstructing justice for allegedly choking a female acquaintance.

Jeffrey Allan Larson, 29, left the woman, 24-year-old Nishu Fnu, in her car after choking her to unconsciousness at West View Park in West Valley on the night of Oct. 15, according to preliminary hearing testimony.

Medical care for Fnu was withdrawn on Oct. 29, and she died Nov. 4 at a hospital.

Larson claimed that an argument escalated into a physical fight between the two in the back seat of Larson's car in a West Valley Smith's parking lot, said West Valley City Detective David Greco, who testified in 3rd District Court to seeing scratches on Larson's arms and neck when he interviewed the man after the incident.

Larson told Greco that during the fight, they were shoving each other, and after she put her hand on his neck, he choked her. Larson slammed Fnu's head into a headrest, according to Greco, and Fnu seemed to start having seizures before losing consciousness.

Larson told West Valley Detective Andy Halulic that after Fnu became unresponsive, he drove her to his home, got a wet towel and tried to revive her in the car. When that wasn't successful, he drove Fnu to West View Park, according to Halulic, which is down the street from the Smith's parking lot where they had met and fought. Larson walked back to Smith's, drove Fnu's car to the park and moved her into her back seat, Halulic said.

An anonymous call at 6 a.m. on Oct. 16 brought police officers to the park, where they found Fnu in the car. She was taken to the emergency room, where doctors found physical evidence consistent with strangulation, testified Trenton Thorn, a doctor.

An unidentified male — later determined to be Larson — had called 911 to report a woman who "looked like she needed help," and gave a phone number that didn't match the one he was calling from, said Greco.

When asked to explain why the phone numbers didn't match, the man hung up, according to Greco. Larson dismantled the phone and threw it and one of Fnu's shoes into a remote drainage canal, said Halulic, who was one of the officers who retrieved the phone.

Larson later told Greco he had called 911 from Fnu's phone because he didn't have his. But police traced the phone number Larson gave dispatch to a home in Magna, where his cousin identified Larson's voice from a recording of the call, according to Greco.

Larson and Fnu had been dating, but had kept the relationship a secret from her family, Larson told Greco, and to keep the relationship secret, the two regularly met after work at a Smith's parking lot to talk.

Judge Randall Skanchy declined a defense request to reduce the murder charge to manslaughter under an imperfect self-defense claim. Defense attorney Catherine Kezar made the request on the grounds that the defendant had reacted to the fight and that he had been cooperative with officers and admitted to the altercation.

Larson is to appear in court May 1 for a scheduling hearing.

Twitter: @tiffany_mf