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Oklahoma man who claimed friend tried to get Bigfoot to eat him sentenced to life in prison

<i>PONTOTOC COUNTY POLICE/KOCO via CNN Newsource</i><br/>A man who admitted to killing his friend and blaming it on the fear of being eaten by Bigfoot during a 2022 noodling trip was sentenced in the slaying.
Lawrence, Nakia
PONTOTOC COUNTY POLICE/KOCO via CNN Newsource
A man who admitted to killing his friend and blaming it on the fear of being eaten by Bigfoot during a 2022 noodling trip was sentenced in the slaying.

By Josh Wallace

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    PONTOTOC COUNTY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A man who admitted to killing his friend and blaming it on the fear of being eaten by Bigfoot during a 2022 noodling trip was sentenced in the slaying Tuesday.

Agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation were asked to investigate after police said Larry Doil Sanders, 55, admitted to killing Jimmy Knighten on June 9, 2022, according to a news release.

Officials said the two men were noodling in the South Canadian River when a confrontation ensued, and Sanders began hitting and strangling Knighten. Originally arrested for an outstanding warrant, Sanders was jailed on June 10, 2022, and Knighten’s body found the same day.

According to KXII, Sanders told authorities that Knighten had summoned Bigfoot to attack and kill him, reportedly telling Pontotoc County Sheriff John Christian that he was in danger of being eaten by Bigfoot.

KXII reported in April that Sanders testified strange things happening the day of the killing and claimed to see a 12-foot-tall Bigfoot downstream, then heard Knighten howl into a drainage pipe.

He said he began to feel suspicious and thought Knighten was going to drown him and feed him to Bigfoot.

Sanders was convicted of first-degree murder in April. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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