A man who once went viral for leaving a touching note for his wife on their bedroom mirror has now been charged with her murder. Timothy Murphy-Johnson, 40, gained internet fame in 2015 after his wife, Molly, shared a candid list he wrote titled “Reasons Why I Love My Wife.” The list included endearing phrases like “she’s my best friend” and “she never gives up on myself.”
But just two years later, Molly died of an apparent overdose; a tragedy initially considered a suicide. Now, friends and family suspect his death may not have been what it seemed. According The times, Murphy-Johnson and his girlfriend, Olivia Ashford Henn, 21, kidnapped a 16-year-old girl in June 2023 and held her captive for six weeks.
Prosecutors revealed disturbing details about the teen’s ordeal, saying Murphy-Johnson tied her to a bed, cut her with a knife and forced her to take drugs, all of which she reportedly filmed. After Murphy-Johnson received a life sentence, people close to Molly began to question the nature of her death, with disturbing parallels between the allegations of abuse towards the teenager and his past behavior towards Molly.
Friends and family of Molly have spoken out about the abuse she allegedly suffered during their marriage. Despite the loving note Murphy-Johnson had once written, insiders say Molly often felt trapped and fearful, revealing that she endured physical and emotional abuse. She reportedly confided in friends, describing how her husband had assaulted her, forced her into prostitution, and once threatened to kill her with an overdose that would appear to be suicide.
A friend, Anna-Marie Anderson, said The times, “I believe Tim provided her with drugs or forced her to take them. “She was brilliant, very educated on medications and drugs and, in my opinion, she would not end up like this.” According to messages found during the investigation, Molly had planned to leave Murphy-Johnson, but expressed a deep fear of him and frequently shared photos of her bruises with friends.
In a chilling message, she wrote“He just offered me a drug that will kill me, so I can get this over with now…I guess I’ll make it easier on both of us.” Molly’s father, Bob Gelman, told how his daughter had asked him twice to help her escape their relationship, but soon after, Murphy-Johnson proposed and she accepted.
Gelman shared that she had to buy her own engagement ring, which Murphy-Johnson kept after their marriage. After moving to Los Angeles, Molly supposedly He had to quit his job due to visible bruises on his body. During their relationship, explicit images of her appeared online, where she was promoted as an “escort.”
In the months before his death, Molly filed a restraining order against Murphy-Johnson, alleging that he “threatened to kill me (and make it look like a suicide).” He detailed physical abuse in his presentation, including kicking, punching and stealing his belongings to prevent him from escaping.
When Molly died in December 2017, her father found out about her passing not from Murphy-Johnson, but from her ex-boyfriend. Gelman insisted on an autopsy, but Murphy-Johnson then cremated his remains and kept all of his ashes. Although Murphy-Johnson claimed that Molly left a suicide note, no such note was found in the coroner’s report.
Additionally, the level of fentanyl in his system was well below what is normally associated with suicide cases. Despite concerns about forced drug use, the coroner stated that issues of emotional abuse were beyond his scope of assessment. Meanwhile, Murphy-Johnson’s relatives He disputes the allegations, calling them “baseless” and attributing Molly’s death to her struggle with fentanyl addiction and mental health issues. “To be honest, they both thought the other was trying to kill them.
It was chaos. “It was a sad, toxic mess,” a family member shared anonymously, suggesting that Molly’s death was not due to a crime but rather a tragic culmination of their troubled relationship. The family member added that any credible evidence should be directed to the authorities. As the case continues to raise more questions than answers, Molly’s friends and family search for justice and closure, determined to uncover the truth behind her death.
