A man was arrested for allegedly murdering his fishing partner out of fear his friend would “feed him to Bigfoot,” according to the authorities.
Larry Doil Sanders, 53, of Atwood, (pictured) confessed to strangling Jimmy Knighten, 53, to death while they were noodling in the South Canadian River in Pontotoc County on Saturday.
Pontotoc County is located approximately 84 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
Sanders and Knighten left to go fishing on Saturday, but only Sanders returned home later that evening.
Upon arriving home, the suspect told his daughter of what had happened. The daughter told her mother, who then called the authorities, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by NBC News. When Pontotoc County deputies arrived, Sanders was at the residence but was not able to remain still.
Sanders told an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation official the reason why he strangled Knighten during an interview that he believed his fishing partner was going to “feed him to Bigfoot,” per the arrest affidavit.
LARRY claimed that while at the river, he discovered JIMMY intended to feed him to sasquatch/bigfoot,” the affidavit said. “LARRY indicated JIMMY attempted to get away from him so that the sasquatch could eat LARRY. LARRY would not let JIMMY get away. LARRY punched JIMMY and struck JIMMY with a stick. LARRY and JIMMY fought for an extended amount of time on the ground. LARRY confirmed he killed JIMMY by choking him to death near the river.
“The Pontotoc County deputy sheriff who arrested Sanders on the outstanding warrant Saturday reported he ‘seemed to be under the influence of illegal drugs,'” the Oklahoman reported.
The suspect was later charged with first-degree murder and is currently in custody at a Pontotoc County facility, a jail representative told NBC News.
Sanders faces his next court date on July 26.
Noodling is a type of fishing where an individual catches catfish with their bare hands.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.