Man allegedly stabbed to death by wife died of ‘sharp force injuries’

A man who Las Vegas police say was stabbed to death last weekend by his wife — who was quoted as telling paramedics after the attack that she was the devil — died of multiple sharp force injuries, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

He was identified Friday by the coroner’s office as 50-year-old John Frankin of Las Vegas, though a police document released earlier this week identified the man as Johnny Franklin.

Frankin’s death has been ruled a homicide, and his 40-year-old wife, Octavia Carter, faces a murder charge in his death.

Just before 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, the couple’s children — ages 8, 10 and 11 — ran into the management office of the Budget Suites of America at 4205 W. Tropicana Ave. asking for help for their injured father. Police have said the children witnessed the attack.

Inside Suite 3080, paramedics and police would find Frankin dead on the floor next to a bed, stabbed multiple times in the chest and cut across his neck, according to Carter’s arrest report.

“I killed him,” Carter told paramedics that morning, the report states. “I am the devil. God made me this way.”

The woman was expected to undergo a competency evaluation after twice refusing to be transported to the Las Vegas Justice Court for her arraignment. During the evaluation, a judge will decide whether Carter is competent to stand trial.

Carter, who suffered a deep cut on her right hand, was taken to University Medical Center last weekend before she was booked into the county jail. On the way to the hospital, paramedics told police, “Carter would go into a trance like state, rocking back forth.”

“Carter would come out of the state periodically to ask about the welfare of her children, then begin to cry or go back to rocking back and forth,” the report states.

Denied bail, she remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center as she awaits an evaluation scheduled for Jan. 10, jail records show.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.