Dad Murders High School Friend Over Fears Of Being Fed To Bigfoot

An Oklahoma man allegedly strangled and killed his friend because he thought the victim intended to feed him to bigfoot, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and local media reports.

The 53-year-old suspect, Larry Doil Sanders was arrested and charged on Sunday, July 10, with the first-degree murder of Jimmy Glenn Knighten.

On Saturday, Sanders and Knighten had gone fishing at the South Canadian River, where an argument broke out between the two friends.

During his bizarre confession to two special agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Sunday, Sanders said he struck and strangled Knighten because he (Knighten) "intended to feed him (Sanders) to sasquatch/Bigfoot."

After the murder, Sanders went home and confessed to his daughter, who is dating Knighten’s son.

"LARRY claimed that while at the river, he discovered JIMMY intended to feed him to sasquatch/bigfoot," according to an affidavit obtained by The Oklahoman.

“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 affidavit said.

A map that Sanders drew led investigators to Knighten’s body was found in the river on Sunday, the affidavit said.

"He appeared to be under the influence of something," Sheriff John Christian told KTEN. “His statement was that Mr. Knighten had summoned ‘Bigfoot’ to come and kill him; that’s why he had to kill Mr. Knighten.”

Sanders remains in the Pontotoc County Jail on no bond on a charge of first-degree murder. His next court date is July 26.

"He’s just a good old country boy," said Stacey Kelley, Knighten’s ex-wife and the mother of his son. "He is a person that would genuinely love you to death."

"He (Sanders) had come back in Jimmy’s pickup and Jimmy wasn’t with him," said Kelley. "[My son] was asking where his dad was and [Sanders] said, ‘You’re dad’s not coming back.’"

Kelley said Knighten and Sanders recently reconnected years after high school.

"I am heartbroken for [Sanders’] family and especially his kids," said Kelley. "Not only are they tied to Jimmy, but now they have to live with the fact that their dad is the one that did this."

"Jimmy had the biggest heart of anybody," said Kelley. "He is still a person, and he has a family, and they have feelings. It’s not just a news story and it’s not a Facebook joke. And he’s not any of these things. He is so much deeper than that."