The anger of accused killer Craig Roger Gregerson is described in his own words in a statement given to Sandy police two years ago after he punched his mother-in-law in the face.

In witness statements obtained late Wednesday by the Deseret Morning News, Gregerson describes in five pages how he lost his temper during an altercation on Dec. 23, 2004. These statements, related photos and other evidence were seized by the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office Thursday morning.

Although Gregerson was staying in the city only temporarily, police were called to his residence three times within a month, according to Sgt. Victor Quezada, Sandy Police Department public information officer.

On the day of the assault, Gregerson writes about being at work and continually receiving phone calls from his wife, Catherine "Cadie" Gregerson, saying that her mother, Suzanne Burkhalter, was "putting a lot of stress on her. Which, by the way, is what she went up to the E.R. for. She had chest pains that were being caused by stress." Gregerson then writes about getting off of work, being tired and not feeling well. He also wrote that he "did not want to get into a yelling match with her mother or Ian (Cadie's brother)." While he was on the bus going home, he "zoned out" and lost track of where he was until his wife called.

Cadie wanted him to get a ride home and pushed him until he said yes, which "ticked off both her mother and her brother Ian."

Gregerson wrote, "Since I didn't really want a ride, I stupidly hid, which made matter worse." He "thawed out" at Alta View Hospital and eventually told his wife where he was. "But I told them I was in no mood to fight and would agree to go home if they would just leave me alone."

When he got home, Burkhalter apparently broke the "agreement" and wanted to talk to him, according to his statement.

"I told her to go to hell," he wrote. "She quickly got up and we got into a yelling match."

During the course of the argument, Burkhalter brought up an incident when Gregerson allegedly broke Cadie's nose. They argued some more, and Burkhalter then left. Cadie came into the room and informed Gregerson that "we're being kicked out."

After some more bickering, Gregerson said his mother-in-law got close to his face, getting louder and louder and was blocking his way out of the room.

"I felt I was out of options and decked her."

Burkhalter wrote in her witness statement, "He lunged at me, put his hands around my throat, slammed me into the black entertainment center and punched me twice in the face."

Ian Burkhalter wrote that Gregerson had a "psychotic look on his face with (an) aggressive stance."

While Sandy police did not find "obvious choke marks on her (Burkhalter's) neck," photos were taken of a cut on Craig Gregerson's right index finger, "which he said was from the punch," according to the police report.

Craig Gregerson was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. His plea of no contest to misdemeanor assault was held in abeyance on condition that he complete 16 weeks of domestic violence counseling and an eight-hour individual counseling session. The charge was dismissed in April after he completed the court-ordered requirements.

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