Inset: Niki A. Sampson (Spilsbury Mortuary). Background: The home in Utah where Niki A. Sampson was killed on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024 (KSL/YouTube).
A 51-year-old Utah man could spend the rest of his life behind bars for smothering his wife to death after he beat her and then claiming she died of liver disease.
Eric Larson Sampson was sentenced Monday to between 15 years and life in prison for the death of his 47-year-old wife Niki Sampson at their home in St. George. He was convicted of murder and other charges in February.
Cops found Niki Sampson's battered and bruised body at their home on Sept. 1, 2024. Her husband had a long history of domestic violence toward his wife, and months before he killed her, he said he "was coming after her."
Yet Eric Sampson insisted she died for health reasons, even at sentencing following his conviction.
"I was not looking to blame anybody. I cared enough for her. I truly wanted to know what happened to her," he said, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate KSL.
District Judge Eric Gentry was flabbergasted at the defendant's lack of remorse.
"Mr. Sampson lives in a world of delusion, denial, self-absorption and victimhood," he reportedly said.
The adult Sampson kids also spoke at sentencing, lamenting that they lost their mother and their children will grow up without a grandmother.
They have no doubt their father is the one who killed their mom.
"He wanted my mother dead, and he wanted to gain her life insurance," said Shaley Encinias, per KSL. "He watched my mother struggle and fight, and he looked directly into her eyes as he killed her."
As Law&Crime previously reported, police were called to a home on a report of a woman possibly having a cardiac arrest in St. George, a medium-sized city in the southwestern part of the state near Nevada.
Police found the victim dead in the home. Officers deemed the circumstances around her death suspicious, and Sampson was quickly arrested.
Citing an arrest report, local Fox affiliate KSTU reported police noted "suspicious bruising" on her body and face "in different stages of healing, although many of the bruises appeared to be fresh."
KSL reported that police found the victim's journal.
In it were notes about "how Eric became angry and aggressive when under the influence of alcohol," according to the affidavit cited by the outlet. "Other notes stated Eric was an alcoholic, and [Niki Sampson] wrote that she wanted to escape from Eric. One of the entries specifically mentioned that [Niki Sampson] was afraid for her life."
Eric Sampson was out of custody on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty to charges that he attacked her in the backyard in July 2024, KSL reported. Court documents said he grabbed her and threw her on their bed, placed his knees on her arms to pin them down and pulled her hair, the report said.
Niki Sampson called the police and ran to the backyard. There, Eric Sampson grabbed her with both hands and threw her on the ground, according to the documents.
He allegedly told police he was grabbing her "to calm her down" and that she had hit and kicked him, the documents said.
"While speaking to Eric, I smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person," the report said. "I also saw he had bloodshot watery eyes and continued to make repetitive statements."
Jason Kandel contributed to this report
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