A Utah woman was found dead and her husband arrested just hours after a 911 caller requested a welfare check for her.
An affidavit says that St. George police responded to the home but were unable to contact anyone, KSL reported. The caller was so concerned, however, he went to the house himself and found Niki Sampson on the bed and “immediately thought that [Niki] was deceased.”
He again called 911 and “reported that there was a (domestic violence) situation at this address, and a female was not breathing.”
“It was reported that there were bruises all over the female, and (the caller) could be heard on the 911 call telling another individual that ‘I don’t want you to run off, we have cops coming to figure this out,’” the affidavit said.
St. George Police said they arrived just after 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and found the 47-year-old Sampson dead.
“Circumstances around her death were suspicious, and upon further investigation, her husband, Eric Sampson was identified as a suspect and arrested,” police said. “This case is still open and under investigation. … Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends affected by this tragic incident.”
Eric Sampson was out of jail awaiting trial on an assault charge against his wife in July. In that incident, Niki Sampson called police and said “her husband was coming after her in the backyard.” When police arrived, she told them that he attacked her inside the house and then followed her outside when she broke free to call police. He was due in court on assault and intoxication charges on October 30.
On Sunday, police said they found “suspicious bruising” on Niki Sampson’s body.
“Multiple bruises were located on both of (her) arms, with significant bruising on the left side of (her) face, near her mouth,” the affidavit says.” (She) appeared to have bruises in different stages of healing, although many of the bruises appeared to be fresh.”
Additionally, investigators said they found writings in Niki Sampson’s journal about”how Eric became angry and aggressive when under the influence of alcohol.”
“Other notes stated Eric was an alcoholic, and (she) wrote that she wanted to escape from Eric,” the affidavit says. “One of the entries specifically mentioned that (Niki) was afraid for her life.”
Eric Sampson reportedly “provided multiple inconsistent and false statements,” police said in the affidavit,
