Murder trial begins: Man noodling in Oklahoma killed after friend saw 'Bigfoot tribe'

ADA — A murder trial is underway for a believer in Bigfoot who confessed to choking a friend to death to keep from being eaten by the creatures.

Larry Doil Sanders was arrested on July 9, 2022, after returning alone from a fishing spot on the South Canadian River, about 100 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The body of the victim, Jimmy Glenn Knighten, was found the next day.

Sanders, now 55, and Knighten, 52, had been friends since high school. They had gone to the river that hot Saturday to go noodling, a type of fishing by hand.

At issue in the trial in Pontotoc County District Court is whether Sanders knew right from wrong at the time. A judge, not a jury, will decide.

His defense attorney gave notice in 2022 that Sanders will raise at trial "the defense of mental illness or insanity at the time of offense."

Such a defense is extremely rare. "The public believes that the insanity defense is used on a regular basis when actually it is used in less than 1% of criminal cases," a forensic psychologist wrote in 2016, along with a former prosecutor, for The Oklahoma Bar Journal, a publication for lawyers.

That forensic psychologist, Shawn Roberson, will be testifying for the prosecution.

If found not guilty, Sanders will be sent for evaluation to a state mental facility in Vinita. He could be kept there for the rest of his life. If found guilty, Sanders will be sent to prison.

Testimony began Tuesday. Here are three takeaways from Day 1:

Defendant said he spoke to creatures after killing

District Judge Steve Kessinger heard from four witnesses about Sanders' admissions.

Sanders said he killed Knighten because his friend had summoned a Bigfoot tribe at the river to eat him, according to the testimony. He also said he believed he was being set up as a sacrifice.

Testifying the longest was Justin Brown, a special agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

More: OSBI: Oklahoma noodler confesses to killing fellow fisherman over Bigfoot fears

Sanders confessed to keeping Knighten in a chokehold until his friend stopped breathing while the creatures watched, the agent recalled. Sanders said he then raised his hands to show "them" he was the victor, the agent testified.

Sanders said he pointed to Knighten and told the creatures that "weak is evil," the agent recalled.

What happened at the convenience store

The two had stopped at the Merriman Country Store in Allen to get beer around lunchtime on July 9, 2022, a few hours before going fishing.

Witness Rochelle Spray was working that day as a cashier and cook. She testified Sanders appeared to be under the influence of something and was looking around the store. She recalled a co-worker told Knighten that Sanders was acting strangely and to watch him.

She recalled Knighten "just kind of giggled about it."

Victim's son, defendant's daughter are boyfriend-girlfriend

In a tragic twist in the case, the defendant's daughter, Laramie Sanders, and the victim's son, Airyn Knighten, were at the time and are now in a relationship. Both testified for the prosecution and sat together afterward in the courtroom.

They were at the victim's house in Allen when Sanders returned from the river in the victim's pickup to tell them what he had done.

"I said, 'Where's my dad?'" Airyn Knighten testified. "And he said, 'He's not coming back.'"

What's next

The judge will hear Wednesday from the key defense witness, a clinical psychiatrist.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma noodler killed over Bigfoot fears: Murder trial begins