PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A 32-year-old man who fatally strangled a woman with a belt in a Southeast Portland motel room has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Joshua Scott Carlson was charged with murder in the April 2017 death of 42-year-old Valerie Johnson at a Motel 6.
He pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and was sentenced last week.
Prosecutors say Johnson’s friend said Johnson had been dating Carlson for about a month and that at one point she saw Johnson with a black eye. Prosecutors say Johnson explained that Carlson had punched her while high on methamphetamine.
Carlson came to the attention of police when they found a stolen SUV that day in the motel parking lot.
After a high-speed chase officers found Carlson hiding on the roof of a home. When they went inside the motel room, they found Johnson’s body.