Duane Johnson, Accused Of Throwing A Heavy Metal ‘Death Party’ For His Ailing Wife, Charged With Murder

Duane Johnson, a Minnesota man accused of throwing a drug-fueled, heavy metal “death party” for his dying wife, has been charged with third-degree murder, NBC News is reporting.

Back in late January, as reported in early February by The Inquisitr, Johnson, 58, allegedly sprung his wife, Debra Lynn Johnson, 69, from the nursing home where she’d been living. She had been suffering from mental illness, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and had suffered two heart attacks in the past.

Johnson would later tell police that Debra didn’t want to die at the home, instead preferring to spend what little time she had left at her own home. To that end, she stopped taking her medications and returned to the New Ulm, Minnesota, home where Duane lived.

There, say authorities, Duane threw his wife a “death party.” He purportedly spray-painted the words “Death Parde God Hell” on the door to their home. Inside, they listened to ’80s heavy metal band Quiet Riot and allegedly smoked methamphetamine as Debra lived out her final hours.

When police arrived, they allegedly found Duane naked, in a bathtub, high on meth, and attempting to scrub nonexistent things from his skin. They later allegedly found Debra’s body, wrapped in a blanket; Duane later told them that he wrapped her body in a sheet “like the Bible told me to do.”

After losing Randy Rhoads to Ozzy Osbourne and rock immortality, Quiet Riot regrouped and made metal history. https://t.co/gWRkXKFQhq

— UltimateClassicRock (@UltClassicRock) March 11, 2019

It is unclear, as of this writing, how long Debra had been home before she died, nor how long she had been dead before police arrived. Duane would later say that they’d spent “days” listening to heavy metal, having sex, and smoking meth. Police believe that she had been dead for several hours before Duane called 911.

At the time, Duane was taken downtown and charged with criminal neglect — for allegedly failing to call 911 for several hours after Debra died — as well as an unrelated charge related to some alleged stolen property.

Now, following Debra’s autopsy, the charges against Johnson now include third-degree murder. That’s because the autopsy determined that she died from an overdose of methamphetamine that Duane had allegedly given her, according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

In Minnesota, according to Findlaw.com, third-degree murder in Minnesota carries with it a possible penalty of up to 25 years in prison. What’s more, he still faces the original charges of criminal neglect and receiving stolen property. He is currently behind bars in lieu of $150,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on April 1.