MN - Man arrested after ailing wife, 69, dies at metal "death party" meth bash

[GoneGoldfishin']

I thought the post was referring to her severe medical issues, not her mental illness.

The poster I quoted snipped a longer post to isolate the sentence regarding her mental illness and medication, inferring (imo) that those factors would render her unable to consent, which is false. That is how I interpreted the response. I could be mistaken. MOO.

 

[JDG]

Shouldn't this dude be facing many more charges given how ill she was, the fact that he stopped her meds and gave her meth, etc. til she was dead??

I don't know the laws in that state but it all seems very cruel to me.

 

[dkryder]

my guess would be if what he says about her wanting to die at home is true then someone at the medical facility were she was would have heard her say this. the issue of her leaving against medical advice, imo, might also be documented. i say this because one time when i was in the hospital after an accident after 5 days i felt well enough to return home however the doctor felt i should remain to begin physical therapy in the hospital unit. i had to sign documents that i was leaving against medical advice. so, if these two individuals followed the proper protocol to exit the facility imo there is not an issue.. as far as the meth, the man pictured looks to me to be a veteran meth user and imo there is a good chance the deceased lady was also, again , MOO. i'm a firm believer that people have a right to die how they want. as i understand what the fellow has said she did.

 

[JDG]

Thanks. I've also gone home AMA with signed papers. I just hope that's what she really wanted. I do agree that we have a right to die how we wish.
She likely was a meth user, hope she went quickly.

 

[JDG]

I have to say that to take someone so ill home to die and stop her medications, 'use and abuse' her for days, seems dreadful and illegal to me.

I do agree that if all paperwork is in order, she was taken home legally but where was his 'duty of care'? Can he not be charged with failure to provide laws? I doubt she wanted it to end as he 'arranged'.

I do understand that a meth user isn't going to give a hoot about laws, he obviously had his own 'ideas' and 'needs' to see to first. Poor woman.

 

[beatrixpotter]

It's one thing to claim your wife wanted to go home and die. It's another to claim that after several days of meth, no food or water or medications and then convulsions her last dying wish was to have sex with you. Puhlease. I almost wonder if he didn't have one last go AFTER she died and then said it happened two hours before just to account for what the autopsy was going to find.

I'm picturing her methed up on a bed for days, dying and he's just repeatedly using her sexually since once she's gone he's not likely to find anyone else to have sex with him. Someone who literally can't eat or drink is not physically up for a bunch of sex. This man is disgusting.

 

[dkryder]

i think in hospice at end stage which can last for days it is common to cease curative or maintenance medications and use a palliative approach until death. basically just treating the pain of dying until death. it's not all that uncommon to stop food and water intake and use a sponge to keep the lips/mouth moist. in this case meth was her, imo, palliative medication of choice. MOO and of course accepting what the man has stated as true. otherwise, it seems that any alternative scenario such as murder would be hypothetically possible. MOO.

 

[Swirlz]

The poster I quoted snipped a longer post to isolate the sentence regarding her mental illness and medication, inferring (imo) that those factors would render her unable to consent, which is false. That is how I interpreted the response. I could be mistaken. MOO.

What I should've said was that it sounded like she had some disabilities, including mental illness that might have made her vulnerable.

As a side note, I haven't read anything that indicates she necessarily had a terminal condition.

 

[Gracie55]

i think in hospice at end stage which can last for days it is common to cease curative or maintenance medications and use a palliative approach until death. basically just treating the pain of dying until death. it's not all that uncommon to stop food and water intake and use a sponge to keep the lips/mouth moist. in this case meth was her, imo, palliative medication of choice. MOO and of course accepting what the man has stated as true. otherwise, it seems that any alternative scenario such as murder would be hypothetically possible. MOO.

My Dad's hospice stay opened my eyes to what hospice is. I was pretty jolted by the experience I shared with him, still gripped by awful flashbacks as they tried to overmedicate him out of this world while allowing him to drown in bodily secretions. Maybe I'm not meant to be a nurse. Thank you for sharing more eloquently than I could stammer out.
How close to death was she I wonder? She left AMA, but was the treatment she received going to make her better? I don't think he took her home to party out of this world as an abuser. I think he thought he was doing her a favor. This is pretty close to hospice practices if you ask me.

 

[GoneGoldfishin']

What I should've said was that it sounded like she had some disabilities, including mental illness that might have made her vulnerable.

As a side note, I haven't read anything that indicates she necessarily had a terminal condition.

Hi Swirlz,
I believe you are absolutely correct that this woman was vulnerable, taking into consideration all of her conditions and risk factors. This should not have happened, and thankfully her husband was arrested, so the whole event will be investigated. I probably overreacted and used overly strong language in my original post, and for that I apologize. I am very sensitive when it come to the rights and perceptions of people struggling with mental illness, and I wish I would have done a better job explaining, rather than blaming. On that note, here is a link that I think does a pretty good job explaining psychosis and why a person might be on a medication classed as an anti-psychotic:
What Is Psychosis?

 

[dkryder]

well, yeah, the man was arrested but on charges of theft and receiving stolen property. so it does not appear that he has been charged in any way over the wife's death. there were no reported charges of having the meth. the DM article states he was under influence of meth when charged with DWI in 2014. my guess is he has been using in some fashion at least since then and probably, MOO, a lot longer. people usually go to nursing home because of issues much greater than mental condition unless it was quite extreme. many people, regardless of why they are in the home, do not like them. i know so little about her underlying conditions that it is hard to say if her medical providers felt the nursing home visit was a very temporary one or a long term one. but, according to him she had said she did not want to die in a home so i'd guess it was more long term, MOO. as i said before there are others, staff and doctor, who can substantiate the man [or not] as far as her attitude and wishes about being in the facility. i do have a tendency to believe his story since he freely admitted to the stolen guns and events surrounding his wife's death. as always, MOO. it is so very infrequent in life that people can chose how, when, and where they want to die. this 69 y.o. woman was able to do that according to her husband. in a strange way i somewhat admire her.

 

[yabbyyou]

Jail togs notwithstanding, that picture of Duane Arden Johnson almost makes it appear as if he has rotated his head 180° a la Linda Blair in The Exorcist.

 

[Swirlz]

Johnson pre-trial hearing set | News, Sports, Jobs - The Journal

NEW ULM — A pre-trial hearing for a 58-year-old Searles man facing felony criminal neglect and receiving stolen property charges was set at an uncontested omnibus hearing in Brown County District Court Tuesday.

Duane A. Johnson’s next court appearance was set for 9:15 a.m., Monday, March 11. He said he had no questions about his case filed Jan. 24 following the death of his wife, Debra L. Johnson. The case includes Johnson’s admission of having at least 47 guns at his residence, many of which he said were stolen, according to court documents.

 

[iulia]

Duane Johnson Charged With Murder In Ailing Wife’s Overdose Death

Fifty-eight-year-old Duane Johnson had been charged with criminal neglect and receiving stolen property, both felonies, in the January death of his wife, Debra Lynn Johnson, at their home in Searles.

Brown County prosecutors have now added a third-degree murder charge.

 

[Swirlz]

Man who threw meth-fueled ‘death party’ for ailing wife gets 3 years in prison