A judge sentenced Dustin James Wilder of Virginia to 20 years and six months Friday after he was found guilty of the murder of Faith Ann Johnson, his 44-year-old girlfriend, according to multiple reports.
The 40-year-old Wilder pleaded guilty in March 2023 to killing Johnson back in Oct. 2019 by crushing her and concealing her body from her concerned husband for days, Law & Crime reported. (RELATED: Remains Of Teen Missing For Six Months Found In Buried Chest In Neighbor’s Yard: REPORT)
Wilder was also ordered to pay $6,000 to the Johnson family, according to the city of Norfolk’s press release.
“My girlfriend is dead. I am pretty sure that I am the culprit,” Wilder confessed to a 911 operator back on Oct. 25, 2019, a few days after the murder happened, per the city’s press release. Police found Johnson’s body at Wilder’s apartment, and authorities deemed she had been “crushed to death while lying on a firm surface,” Law & Crime reported.
Wilder told police he and Johnson previously had fought with each other and did drugs together, The Virginian-Pilot reported. The 40-year-old maintained they had been doing drugs together on the day of her death and that she might have died from an overdose, according to Law & Crime. Wilder said he does not remember what had precisely happened due to suffering a blackout caused by drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana and crack cocaine, per The Virginian-Pilot.
A Norfolk man was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for the murder of his girlfriend and for keeping her body in his apartment for two days before turning himself in.https://t.co/bYd6u64Zrd
— The Virginian-Pilot (@virginianpilot) December 1, 2023
He told police he did not initially report her death out of fear, The Virginia Pilot reported. Johnson’s husband reported her missing Oct. 22 after not seeing her for four days.
Wilder’s use of Faith Johnson’s debit card at a 7-Eleven shop after her disappearance and the shop’s video surveillance of Wilder driving up to the store in Johnson’s car and making a purchase helped lead police to finding him and arresting him, according to the city of Norfolk.