A recently widowed Minnesota man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly gave his ailing wife methamphetamine and threw a “death party” for her at their home, as neither husband or wife wanted her to die in a nursing home.
The Mankato Free Press reports that around midday Thursday, police responded to a 911 call made by Duane Arden Johnson, 58, of Searles, and found Johnson’s wife Debra Lynn Johnson, 69, dead inside the home — wrapped in a sheet at the top of a staircase.
When police arrived to the home, they reportedly found the words “Death Parde God Hell” [sic] written on the front door in red spray paint. Duane Johnson reportedly answered the door naked, loudly told authorities that his wife was dead, and then went back into the home to try and remove unknown “things” from his body, as police followed him inside.
The report indicates that Johnson may have been under the influence of drugs but he also appears to have been cooperative with police. He reportedly told authorities that he brought his wife home from a nursing care center because she did not want to die there, and that he gave her methamphetamine. The suspect told police that he and his wife had sex less than two hours before she died Thursday morning, and that he waited to call 911 until about noon that day because he wanted to make sure she was dead. During the “death party,” he said they listened to Quiet Riot, their favorite band.
Representatives from the New Ulm Medical Center reportedly confirmed to authorities that Debra Johnson had been a patient there, treated for high blood pressure and diabetes. She reportedly had two previous heart attacks, and her husband took her from the medical center against professional advice.
Investigators reportedly found a large arsenal of firearms; and Johnson told police that many of the 47 guns in the home had been stolen.
Johnson was taken into custody on Thursday and reportedly placed at the Brown County Jail on Friday, on $250,000 bail or a conditional bail of $150,000. According to the most recent available information, he remains in custody.