Utah Man Gets Life Sentence for Smothering Wife After Threatening Her Months Earlier, Saying ‘He Was Coming for Her

A man from Utah was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of brutally killing his wife and then claiming the cause of death was liver disease.

A 51-year-old man from Utah, identified as Eric Larson Sampson, was sentenced to between 15 years and life in prison on March 23 for murdering his wife. The victim has been identified as Niki Sampson, a 47-year-old woman who her husband murdered at their home in St. George. Sampson was convicted of the murder in February and sentenced on March 23.

The police found Niki Sampson’s body, battered and bruised, at their residence in September. Sampson reportedly had a history of domestic violence toward his wife. Months before the incident occurred, he had said, “he was coming for her.”

After the death of his wife, Sampson insisted that she had died of health reasons. He mentioned the same thing during his conviction and sentencing. “I was not looking to blame anybody, I cared enough for her,” Sampson said, according to the reports of local NBC affiliate KSL.

District Judge Eric Gentry was flabbergasted at Sampson’s lack of remorse. “Mr. Sampson lives in a world of delusion, denial, self-absorption, and victimhood,” the judge reportedly said.

The adult Sampson children also spoke at the sentencing, lamenting that they lost their mother and that their children will grow up without a grandmother. They did not doubt that their father was the one who killed their mom.

“He wanted my mother dead, and he wanted to gain her life insurance,” said Shaley Encinias as per KSL reports.

“He watched my mother struggle and fight, and he looked directly into her eyes as he killed her.”

According to reports from Law&Crime, police were called to a home on a report of a woman possibly having a cardiac arrest at St. George, a medium-sized city in the southwestern Utah near Nevada. Police found the victim dead. The officers deemed the circumstances around her death suspicious, and Sampson was quickly arrested.

Citing the arrest, Fox affiliate KSTU reported that police noted “suspicious bruising” on her body and face “in different stages of healing, although many of the bruises appeared to be fresh.”

KSL also reported that police found the victim's journal, which noted how Sampson became angry and aggressive under the influence of alcohol, according to the affidavit.

The victim mentioned how she wanted to escape from Sampson, one of the entries specifically noted her being afraid for her life.