St. Paul man sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for wife’s murder

A man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife has been sentenced to serve more than 10 years in prison.

Arvid Harry Johnson, 66, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in January 2022. He previously had a jury trial scheduled to begin next week but changed his plea from not guilty to guilty in August 2022.

He was then sentenced in October to 130 months in prison with 275 days credit for time served.

Authorities said they found the body of his wife, 66-year-old Linda Johnson, with trauma around her head and face at a home near Dale Street North and Arlington Avenue West.

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Johnson was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette when police arrived. There was a bloodied bat near the victim’s body, and there was a note in the bedroom that said, “I didn’t mean to hurt my wife. I love my wife.”

Court documents state that Johnson said in a post-Miranda interview, “I hurt my wife. I killed her.”

A family member who lived upstairs in the home called 911 after seeing Linda’s body.