Man sentenced for wife’s murder didn’t call 911 for days after beating, affidavit says
A Sedgwick County man, who in 2020 fatally beat his wife, sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious then left her to suffer for two days before calling for help, has been ordered to serve 74 years, one month in prison for these and other crimes.
Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Williams on Friday sentenced Craig Johnston to 889 months in the October 2020 death of his 40-year-old wife, Amber Slankard of Sedgwick, according to Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Johnston, 44, pleaded no contest in June before his jury trial to three amended counts — second-degree reckless murder, attempted rape and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy — and one count of aggravated sexual battery, according to his plea agreement.
He also pleaded guilty in June to three offender registration violation charges, the agreement says.
Johnston called 911 on Oct. 23, 2020, saying he came home from a cigarette run to find his wife lying unresponsive in the basement of their farm home, in the 7900 block of West 109th Street in the town of Sedgwick, in northwestern Sedgwick County.
Initially he told authorities that Slankard fell down the stairs and refused to go to the hospital when he offered to take her.
But a woman who was the last person other than Johnston to see Slankard alive told police the couple “had been fighting about Johnston watching porn” and that Johnston had admitted to her that “he ‘blacked out” and hit Amber numerous times in the head” in a fit of rage, an affidavit released by the court says.
When law enforcement confronted him about the woman’s account, Johnston confessed to beating his wife in the head and face, the document says. He told authorities he “snapped” and struck his wife four times “as hard as I could to shut her up” on Oct. 21, 2020, according to the affidavit.
He sexually assaulted her the following day. He called 911 after 9 a.m. the next morning, on Oct. 23, 2020, the document says.
First responders found Slankard unconscious in the basement and took her to a Wichita hospital, where she was given a poor chance of survival. She died less than 11 hours later.
In addition to injuries from the sexual assault, Slankard had blunt force trauma to her head, several bruises and bleeding around her brain, according to her autopsy report.
In an interview with The Eagle shortly after her murder, Slankard’s loved ones described her as a lifelong animal lover and veterinarian technician who adopted pigs, fostered pets and volunteered with the Wichita Animal Action League. Court records indicate she and Johnston had been married for less than a year when he killed her.
