An “evil” Los Angeles man microwaved his Pomeranian to death and stabbed his wife until she bled out, locking her body in a room before fleeing the scene of his horrifying crime.
John Levin, 47-year-old from Glendale, was sentenced to serve 16 years to life in prison for killing his wife and dog in two brutal acts of cruelty in 2009. Jurors found Levin guilty of second-degree murder for killing his 35-year-old wife, Michelle Levin, after he pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty for microwaving his dog in 2013.
Officers said they found the home littered with dog excrement, rotting food and pills scattered on a table when they testified in a preliminary hearing.
“I am told that it is a sin to not forgive and to harbor vengeance in your heart,” Michelle Levin’s father, Frank Raymie, told Levin in a Pasadena courtroom. “If that be true, then I will die a sinful man. I want you to spend a long time in jail.”
“You are evil,” Michelle’s friend, Tracey Naranjo, told Levin in court.Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Janice Croft also sentenced Levin to eight months in prison for an animal cruelty charge, and ordered Levin to be placed on parole for life after serving his prison sentence.
After stabbing Michelle and killing her dog the 47-year-old attempted to flee the scene before he was arrested trying to cross the Canadian border days after the body of his wife and the Pomeranian’s remains were found in their shared flat in North Glendale, Los Angeles.
Michelle’s body was found with stab wounds and had been locked in a second-floor bedroom. It had been there for three days before Levin was caught on the border.
Levin’s attorney, deputy public defender Katherine Nicole Bonaguidi, told Croft that he was addicted to the pain medication Soma and was under the influence of the drug during the horrifying killings.
She added that Levin had no criminal history prior to his drug addiction and that he worked for eight years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Montrose Search and Rescue Team.
Croft dismissed claims Levin may have been under the influence of the muscle relaxant when he killed his wife and dog. “He wanted to move on with his life,” she said of him leaving his dying wife. “He knew exactly what he was doing.”
Deputy District Attorney Debra Archuleta requested $5,136 in restitution for the state’s victim compensation program, and the funeral costs for Michelle Levin.
Michelle’s father told the court that he would never forgive the man for what he did to his daughter adding that Levin tore apart his family. “I want you to have a long sentence,” her father said. “You sentenced my daughter to death.”
