SALT LAKE COUNTY — A 45-year-old woman is facing several charges after police say she stabbed her significant other and then claimed the victim was attempting to stab himself in the back.
Johanna May Aupperle was arrested on Wednesday and faces 3 charges of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault, property destruction, obstruction of justice, and public intoxication.
According to court documents, Unified Police officers were called to a home where a victim had fled following the altercation. Police on scene found the victim had been stabbed several times in the mid-back and discovered a pair of scissors nearby.
Once at the hospital, the victim told investigators that they had been strangled, struck, and stabbed during an argument about infidelity. Investigators noted defense-related injuries to the victim's hands and bruising along the neck and throat of the victim.
Police spoke to Aupperle, who initially claimed that the action taken was due to the victim's suicidal ideations. Aupperle also denied having stabbed or harmed the victim in any way.
Following a further interview, however, Aupperle admitted to having lied initially. She admitted to striking the victim in the face, breaking the victim's glasses, strangling the victim, and retrieving the scissors to "poke" the victim.
According to detectives, Aupperle couldn't recall how many times she had struck the victim with scissors and mentioned multiple times that she didn't want to kill the victim but wanted him to "understand the pain she felt internally."
Eventually, police got Aupperle to admit that the altercation began with accusations that the victim was being unfaithful with a coworker. Those accusations allegedly turned to pushing, punching, and stabbing.
Police add that Aupperle wrote a letter to the victim that allegedly stated her regret.
