By Gemma Strong
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A man has been convicted of murder after recording himself torturing and killing a woman. Janice David, 34, was found naked, with her body tied to the steering wheel of a car in April of 2022. Her killer, 39-year-old Earl Johnson, had recorded himself on Instagram Live as he viciously stabbed her to death. Hundreds of people are believed to have seen the appalling footage online. Last week, an Louisiana jury found Johnson guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the live-streamed killing, per People magazine. The State’s attorney Dana Cumming said during closing arguments that while recording the Instagram Live, Johnson was heard saying: “She was going to say I raped her, they’re going to believe her over me. If I’m going down, I’m going to live forever,” per WAFB. The jurors in East Baton Rouge are believed to have watched the whole harrowing video, which was 16-minutes long. “I did not create this evidence; he did. And he wanted everyone to see it because he wanted to be famous and he wanted his son to be famous,” Cummings said in court. Johnson has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with his lawyer Hafiz Folami claiming Johnson and his victim went on a drug-fuelled days-long bender before the murder. Folami told jurors, according to WAFB 9 : “You have to listen carefully and think about every single thing that I’ve listed as far as what he’s done, the erratic speech, the waiting on police to come get him, you have to think to yourself, what normal person does that?” However, according to the outlet, several mental health professionals deemed Johnson to be sane of mind during the murder, including Dr. Laura Brown, a forensic psychologist, who determined that he knew the difference between right and wrong. In addition, several other psychologists and psychiatrists evaluated Johnson and found he was sane and competent. It only took the jury just over an hour to find Johnson guilty of first-degree murder. His sentencing is scheduled for 10 December. It comes after a man was arrested for murder after allegedly posting an Instagram Live of himself holding a handgun with two female bodies lying on the floor . The two unnamed women were later found dead by police officers inside the apartment after a tense stand-off back in 2021. Vacaville Police Department, based in northern California, later confirmed that 29-year-old Raymond Michael Weber had been arrested and sent to the Solano County Jail on two charges of murder. Outlining the circumstances in a post on social media, the force said they were responding to a ‘call of a welfare check’ at apartments at about 12.42am on January 30. A woman had called to say a man was inside and possibly armed. She said he had ‘live streamed himself on social media’ from inside the apartment and the video appeared to show the man carrying a handgun with two women lying on the floor, not moving. Police said that it was later revealed that the man was previously wanted for an outstanding warrant for various offences including domestic battery and assault with a deadly weapon. When officers arrived on scene they found the man had barricaded himself inside the apartment. The SWAT Team and Critical Incident Negotiation Team were deployed and after negotiation efforts failed the apartments were evacuated as distraction devices and chemical agents were deployed in an attempt to have the man surrender. Eventually, officers entered the apartment and found the man hiding inside. After a brief struggle – during which an officer utilized a Taser – the man was taken into custody.
