SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Salt Lake City man who is accused of strangling his wife to death told authorities that “Lucifer came and beat her” and he had “no control,” according to charging documents.

Larry Edward Johnson, 63, was charged on Thursday, April 13, at the Third District Court in Salt Lake County with first-degree murder and second-degree obstruction of justice.

According to charging documents, a family member contacted Utah County Central Dispatch on April 4 reporting that Johnson had told them he strangled his wife to death at their Salt Lake City apartment on April 2. Salt Lake City police were then requested to conduct a welfare check at their apartment on 535 South 200 East, where they found Victoria Johnson, 71, deceased in the living room.

When interviewed by police, Larry Johnson allegedly said he was in a “cosmic battle getting light and dark.” Johnson said he had to continually fight and hoped he would come out on top.
“And then my wife, who I love, Lucifer came and beat her. I get no control.” Johnson said. “And when I finally came back to consciousness, she was moving no more and was dead.”

“I lost the ability to protect her. He took my arm, and I lost control,” Larry Johnson said, according to the charging documents.

He also reportedly told police he was bipolar, but that several months ago he heard “voices” telling him he was “cured,” so he no longer needed to take his medication. Then, he allegedly said, “This manifested, so obviously I wasn’t cured.”

Police say video surveillance shows Larry Johnson making around 40 trips from his apartment to the garbage chute the day prior and the day of his wife’s death.

The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner ruled Victoria Johnson’s death a homicide and has determined that she died of strangulation and blunt force trauma.