PHOENIX—On Jan. 28, 2015, Willard John, 36, of Cibecue, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge James A. Teilborg to life imprisonment. On July 11, 2014, John was found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder.

The facts of this investigation revealed that John, a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, brutally stabbed his wife to death on March 19, 2012, on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, using a pair of household scissors. The evidence at trial showed that John had a lengthy history of abusing his wife.

The investigation was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with substantial assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The prosecution was handled by Dimitra H. Sampson.