Associated Press
DRAPER, Utah — Utah state prison officials are recommending that a 79-year-old woman serving a prison sentence in her husband’s shooting death be released to a nursing home.
Evelyn Christine Johnson used a walker to enter a state parole board hearing at the Utah State Prison in Draper on Tuesday, and had trouble remembering answers to questions from the board members. Johnson suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Johnson was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The parole board will decide whether she should be released or serve more time, though no deadline was immediately set for their decision.
The Vernal woman said she’d been abused during the marriage and shot 71-year-old Alan Lavoy Johnson shortly after he served her with divorce papers in 2004 as they drank coffee.