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SAVAGE SLAYING
Shock moments before ‘Bigfoot murder’ that led to fisherman ‘killing his friend over fears he was summoning monster’
A MAN who claimed Bigfoot forced him to murder his friend during an ill-fated fishing excursion was apparently convinced the mythical monster had been lurking in the area for several years, according to the victim's devastated ex-wife.
Larry Sanders, 53, allegedly murdered his childhood best friend Jimmy Knighten, 52, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, on Saturday as the two men fished with their hands along the South Canadian River.
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A statement issued by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Monday said that the two men got into a confrontation, resulting in Sanders allegedly strangling Knighten to death and drowning him in the river.
In an interview with The US Sun, Knighten's ex-wife Stacey Kelley said that confrontation was sparked after Knighten started hitting a tin bell to lure fish to the surface of the water.
But Sanders - described as an avid believer in Bigfoot - apparently grew paranoid that Knighten had other, more sinister and bizarre intentions.
"He's been claiming that there's a Bigfoot in the area for several years," Kelley said of Sanders, who had been friends with Knighten since high school.
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"And his belief was that Jimmy was summoning Bigfoot and was planning on leaving him in the woods I guess to be eaten by him.
"I don’t know [what Jimmy was meant to have done] but I the only thing I was told was that he was banging on this tin bell or piece of pipe and was just trying to find the fish and I guess Larry took it a different way."
CHILLING 'CONFESSION'
Kelley was married to Knighten for 20 years and the pair had three children together, now aged 20, 28, and 29.
Although they divorced a number of years ago, they still shared a close relationship, with Knighten serving as an honorary "Popo" to the two young children Kelley had with her second husband.
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Describing the events of the last few days as a nightmare, the ordeal began for Kelley at 9.30am on Saturday morning when she received a call from her son who told her that Knighten had gone missing while out noodling - or hand-fishing - with Sanders.
She headed out to look for him soon after when she says she called her son who was now with Sanders.
"I called my son while I was out there and he told me that Larry told me he'd killed him," Kelley tearfully recounted.
"I don't know the exact circumstances but my son held him there until the cops arrived."
Kelley said she immediately broke down crying, overcome by feelings of devastation and heartbreak.
But determined to bring Knighten home, she assisted law enforcement in their search for his body.
Describing the hours that followed as "stressful", Kelley said she spent much of the search holding her breath and just praying that neither she nor any of her children would be the ones to find Knighten.
"It was almost like time, sped up and stood still at the same time - I don't know how to explain it," she said.
"It was just a hurry-up and wait game."
ANGER & HEARTBREAK
Kelley and her family's agonizing wait for an update finally came on Sunday evening, when investigators with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OBSI) retrieved Knighten's body from a river bed a short distance away from where she had been searching.
Again, Kelley said she left winded by her emotions.
"I was devastated. I was heartbroken. I was mad I was angry. I was hurt for my kids," she said.
Compounding her anger, Kelley said, was Sanders' far-fetched claims about Bigfoot and his apparent fears of an imminent sacrifice.
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Sanders made the same claims concerning the mythical creature in an interview with police, during which OBSI investigators said it appeared as though the suspect was under the influence of methamphetamine.
"I think he's just trying to get out of jail - I think he's just trying to save his own butt," insisted Kelley.
"I think it's all very far-fetched, but in his mind, if he has mental health issues or anything, it could all be very real to him.
"I feel so much anger towards him but a lot of empathy toward his kids.
"[Sanders'] kids and my kids are all very close: they went to school together, they grew up together, and they were always at Jimmy's house, so his kids were tied to Jimmy as well.
"And now they have like with the fact that their dad did this, so it's just it's heartbreaking all the way around.
"They loved Jimmy just as much as anybody else," added Kelley.
"They thought of him as a father figure and things like that ... so not only have they lost their dad, they've lost someone who was like a father figure to them too."
'REPAID WITH MURDER'
Kelley described her ex-husband as a loving, caring, and selfless person who wouldn't hesitate to give someone the shirt off his own back.
At the time of his murder, he was actually trying to help out his friend Sanders who had fallen on hard times.
According to Kelley, Knighten had offered to help find him work as a mechanic and was even letting him stay at his house while he got back on his feet because he had nowhere else to live.
"And this is how he repaid him," scoffed Kelley, who then burst into tears as she eulogized Knighten and his loveable personality.
"He's going to be missed by everybody," she said, "nobody ever had a bad word to say about him.
"Anybody that knew him loved him, and he left such a positive impact on this world that can never be filled by anybody else.
"There's nobody else like him ... we had our problems in the past but we got past that and he'll always have a piece of my heart.
"Everyone that knew him knew what a kind guy he was, and we will absolutely miss him."
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Meanwhile, Kelley described Sanders as a troubled individual who was known around town for getting into mischief and "not being very nice sometimes."
Sanders has been charged with first-degree murder following his alleged confession to killing Knighten.
Pontotoc County Sheriff John Christian told local media that the confession "always makes it easier" but there is still a lot of evidence to uncover in the case.
“You still have to prove all the elements of the crime, and what the suspect is telling you, you have to prove that that’s actually what happened,” Christian said.
The Sheriff added the local prosecutor would likely push for the death penalty if Sanders is found guilty.
AN UNFILLABLE VOID
Should Sanders be found guilty, Kelley said she's "torn" as to whether she'd like to see him be put to death.
"I'm torn on that because like I said his kids are, are like my kids and they essentially lost their dad too," said Kelley.
"And so part of me wants him to have the death penalty because of what he took from us, but on the second half, I think of his kids and what it would do to them."
Asked if she had a message for Sanders, Kelley said she didn't, however, the mother-of-five said she hopes he finds "peace with himself" behind bars.
"I hope he makes peace with God too because, in the end, it's not our place to judge or condemn," Kelley said.
"But I hope that he knows what he did to us; he took something that was very valuable from us, that we will never get back.
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"And there's no amount of apologies that can replace that - there's no amount of regret that he can feel that would fill that void."
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Kelley has set up a to help the family cover funeral expenses.
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