A St. Paul man told police he heard voices in his head Thursday afternoon while a priest was taking him to Regions Hospital for a mental health evaluation and strangled the 76-year-old in a car on the side of a road, a charge filed Friday says.
Nathan Wondra, 32, called 911 around 12:40 p.m. and said he was having a psychotic break and had “choked out” an elderly priest in a vehicle along Interstate 94 in St. Paul, the charge says. St. Paul police identified the man Friday as Lawrence Johnson of St. Paul.
Nathan Wondra (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Wondra told dispatch that voices in his head told him to kill the man to save humanity, and that he choked Johnson with his arms around his neck and killed him. He said that he had not been breathing for around a half-hour, the charge says.
Minnesota State troopers were sent to I-94 near Prior Avenue on a report of an assault and located a silver Mitsubishi parked on the road’s shoulder. Wondra was in the front passenger seat, and Johnson was in the driver’s seat. Wondra said he had just murdered someone, the charge says.
Wondra told the trooper that he had been hearing voices and having visions for the past five days. He said Johnson was taking him to the hospital when he heard voices that told him to kill him.
Medics responded and worked on reviving Johnson while he was transported to Regions Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:35 p.m.
Wondra was arrested with blood on his left wrist and shirt. St. Paul police officers recovered a large Bible on the passenger floorboard that Wondra “hoped he could have returned as it had been a gift,” the charge says.
Johnson was ordained in 1975 and has been retired since 2009, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“I ask you to join me in praying for the repose of the soul of our brother, Father Larry Johnson,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda wrote in a message to clergy of the Archdiocese. “… Please know that you, and the soul of Father Johnson, are in my prayers as we learn more about what happened in the coming days and work through this very tragic and difficult situation together.”
Father figure
Officers brought Wondra to police headquarters, where he agreed to speak to investigators.
Wondra said he met Johnson at Wondra’s workplace about a year ago. He said the priest would text and check in on him, and they would have lunch together maybe once a month. Johnson was like a father figure to him, he told police, according to the charge.
Wondra said he had spent the night at Johnson’s apartment for the first time the night before and that they went to Mass in the apartment chapel that morning around 9 a.m. Wondra lived at the Leo C. Byrne Residence for retired priests, which is near the University of St. Thomas.
After Mass, Wondra wanted Johnson to drive him to Regions Hospital. Wondra described having a “weak moment” and the voices in his head told him “it was his last chance to save humanity,” the charge says. Wondra asked Johnson to pull to the side of the road.
Wondra said he strangled Johnson with his hands around his neck and that the strangulation took a long time and that Johnson suffered, the charge says. Wondra said he first used both hands to choke Johnson, but he later put his left arm around his neck in a headlock to choke him. Wondra checked Johnson for a pulse a couple of times during the killing.
Wondra said a man parked behind them on the side of the road, approached the passenger side of the car, looked in and stood there for a bit before returning to his car and driving away.
Wondra said he called 911 because it was the “right thing to do and he wanted to take responsibility for what he had done,” the charge says. He said the voices did not tell Wondra to call 911, that he did that on his own. He said the voices stopped after he killed Johnson.
Wondra admitted he knew choking Johnson was wrong, but the “voices in his head told him (Johnson) needed to be a martyr for something bigger,” the charge says. Wondra said he had been fasting to rid his body of Satan and that it was “like there was a demon inside him.”
Wondra admitted that it was possible that something like this could happen again, and he didn’t want officers to remove his handcuffs during their interview, the charge says. Wondra said he had not been previously diagnosed with any mental health issues. He said he’d been trying to naturally work through his anxiety problems.
When left alone in the interview room, Wondra wondered aloud how this saved humanity, the charge says. He said he should have stopped and talked to Johnson who was trying to help him. Wondra said Johnson was a “good guy.”
Johnson worked at Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Chaska, St. Martin and St. Walburga in Rogers, St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins, St. Joseph in Red Wing, Presentation of Mary in Maplewood, St. Gregory the Great in North Branch, Sacred Heart in Rush City, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Ascension in Minneapolis, St. Scholastica in Heidelberg, Minn., St. Wenceslaus in New Prague, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Bloomington, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Lives with father
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Wondra’s father told investigators that Wondra lives with him, and that he had not noticed any mental health issues or recent changes to his son’s behavior. He added that Wondra had not been feeling well lately, according to the charge.
Wondra was charged with second-degree murder and was scheduled to go before a judge Friday afternoon. He remained at the Ramsey County jail in lieu of $2 million bail.
Minnesota court records show Wondra does not have any past criminal cases.
Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.
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