Blood Oath Murder

In reality, the motive for Sherry's murder appeared to be Christensen's jealousy of Sherry's having been seeing another man in his absence. The jealousy turned into a rage after Christensen saw a text message from the other man on Sherry's telephone. The other man, who became known as Sherry's "sugar daddy" by Christensen and his circle of friends, had helped Sherry financially. He had apparently assisted her financially with the new apartment, and continued to provide her with money. He also had purchased expensive gifts for her, including a flat screen television and a laptop computer. Christensen's jealousy spiraled as he learned additional details of Sherry's relationship with her "sugar daddy," until the relationship had become a "toxic environment," according to Matheson, leading to the blood oath.

The situation apparently came to a head on the morning of January 2, 2010, according to Matheson and court documents. Sherry had been texting with her "sugar daddy," and had complained of feeling sick to her stomach. The man reportedly had responded to her by giving her advice, and had sent one message in which he joked, "See what two men does for you? Too much stress (LOL)."

According to Matheson, Christensen had gone to the store that morning to purchase medication for Sherry's stomach ailment. When he returned, Sherry was in the shower and Christensen took advantage of the opportunity to search the text messages on her cell phone, which was when he saw the aforementioned message from the other man. Christensen was apparently angered because she and the other man had been laughing about her relationship with the two men. The message, according to Matheson, had led to Sherry's death because, in Christensen's mind, she had broken her blood oath to break off the relationship with the other man.