A woman who recently ended a nearly two-year affair with former Michigan football coach Sherone Moore told law enforcement that after breaking into her apartment, he took a butter knife from a drawer and pointed it at her, according to recently obtained court records.
On Friday, details from a statement made by a woman who is an executive assistant to the head coach were used in the accusations against Moore. He was charged with third-degree felony burglary, stalking, and misdemeanor trespassing.
“[The woman]advised her to take her belongings downstairs and leave, and as she was entering the apartment, she heard footsteps outside.[The woman]said she ran towards the door to secure it, but before she could do so, Mr. Moore swung open the door and barged into the apartment with tears in his eyes,” court documents state.
“(The woman) said she was about 5 feet from the door when he came in. She advised Moore started backing up and he approached her. (The woman) advised Moore to take two knives out of a drawer and point them at her, saying, ‘You ruined my life. You ruined my life.'”
Records show Moore, 39, admitted to having an affair with his executive assistant but denied threatening her. He was not charged with assault. He posted a $25,000 bond on Friday, Dec. 12.
“Mr. Moore admitted that he had taken the knife and stated that he had threatened to commit suicide. Mr. Moore denied physically assaulting (the executive assistant) and denied threatening him with a weapon,” the records state.
The executive assistant’s name is redacted in other court records, but not in the transcript of Friday’s closed hearing.. The Free Press, part of USA TODAY, typically does not identify alleged domestic crime victims without their consent.
The information the executive assistant provided to police, and the information police presented at a court hearing on Friday, Dec. 12, differs from how prosecutors described what happened when they charged Moore.
“I understand that there is no evidence to suggest that the victim was directly threatened with something like the knife I pointed to, but the entire act was very threatening, very coercive. Your Honor, she was terrified,” Washtenaw County First Assistant Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said at the hearing.
On the night of the incident, the woman told police, “I have never felt so scared in my life.”
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savitt explained the decision to prosecute in a statement sent to the Free Press on Saturday, Dec. 12.
“As stated at his arraignment (Friday, Dec. 12), the evidence available at this time indicates that Mr. Moore intended to terrorize and harass the victim, which is the basis for the stalking charge. However, given his statements of self-inflicted injury, there was not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to assault or beat the victim,” Savitt said.
“As indicated in (Friday’s) release announcing the charges against Mr. Moore, this matter remains an active investigation and, as with any incident, charges may be added or amended as new evidence becomes available.”
Moore’s attorney, Joseph Simon, released a statement in response to a question about why his client was not charged with assault.
“Your question highlights the need to first obtain and consider all the evidence against all elements of the charged crime before making any speculative comments or conclusions, and that is our intent,” Simon said in a text message to the Free Press on Saturday.
The executive assistant’s attorney, listed in court records as Heidi Sharp, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before Moore was publicly charged, Detective Jessica Welker of the Pittsfield Township Police Department gave sworn testimony regarding the conduct underlying the final charges.
This occurred during a so-called “grievance approval hearing.” The incident occurred in front of Judge Odettala about an hour before Moore was formally arraigned. It was not made public, but the Free Press obtained the recording.
The records cite a “dispatch” of law enforcement and show that the executive assistant’s attorney first called police, stating that “my client called to say Sherone Moore was inside the home and assaulting her.”
Later records show police met with the attorney at the executive assistant’s apartment in Ann Arbor. When they arrived, the attorney “advised[the executive assistant]that Moore had a long history of domestic violence and was extremely dangerous.”
Detective Welker will provide further information from his executive assistant and her attorney.
“(The executive assistant) continued to back away from her and directed her to leave. He then advanced toward her with a knife and backed her toward the living room,” the records state.
“[The executive assistant]advised her that she was going to call her attorney, and it wasn’t until Moore called her attorney and put it on speaker that he heard her voice and immediately backed away and pointed the knife at himself, pointed the knife at his own neck, and said he was going to kill himself and that she was going to watch.”
Moore then left, records state. The executive assistant noticed that he had left his butter knife on the counter. She locked the door, records state. The executive assistant’s attorney also provided police with text messages purportedly from Moore to the executive assistant.
One of them was said to have been sent around the time Moore arrived at the apartment, telling her: “I hate you. You have my blood on your hands.”
The executive assistant attempted to end communications with Moore on Monday, Dec. 8, records show. After that, he repeatedly tried to contact her, records state.
After Welker finished providing this information to the magistrate, Odetala determined there was sufficient probable cause to sign the warrant and issue a warrant for Moore’s arrest.
The woman who accused Moore is a 32-year-old athletics department employee. The Michigan athletics department confirmed this week that she remains an employee, but did not provide further details.
The Free Press left a message with her seeking comment but is not naming her at this time.
Some salary records released by the university list her as an administrative specialist, a title the department uses to cover a wide range of roles, with salaries ranging from $44,000 to $360,000.
Her current salary is listed as $99,000. Records show she started at the school with a salary of $58,000, which was increased to $90,000 last year before reaching her current salary. The records do not indicate the job duties of the listed employees.
The woman appears to have deleted her LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts after the link with Moore became public.
In 2021, the university adopted a policy regarding intimate relationships between supervisors and subordinates. This policy prohibits supervisors from initiating such relationships. If this relationship arose prior to an employment dispute, or if a subordinate initiated the relationship, the policy requires the supervisor to notify the employee of the relationship.
The policy also requires a management plan for supervisors’ relationships with subordinates. In some cases, it may be necessary to transfer or change a subordinate’s manager.
Free Press reporter Violet Ikononova contributed to this report.
