GRESHAM -- A man who claims he put a bullet in his sleeping wife's brain to end her suffering from a terminal disease is a skilled manipulator, his ex-wife told a Gresham newspaper.

According to The Outlook, ex-wife Cheryl Larson is not surprised that court documents show murder suspect John Roberts lied about the crime and was embroiled in a world of drugs, infidelity and debt.

Larson told the newspaper that her 18-year marriage to Roberts was filled with emotional manipulation and that he has been seeking revenge ever since she divorced him in 1993.

Read: The Outlook article

On Tuesday, suspect John Roberts pleaded not guilty in the case and was held without bail. He was arrested on February 2 for shooting Virginia Roberts in the head with a .38 pistol. He called 9-1-1 from their Gresham home after the shooting and later told police his wife wanted to die because she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gherig's disease.)

Court documents released Monday showed that the 51-year-old victim had been diagnosed with a motor neuron disease causing chronic pain, but doctors had said she had no life-threatening or terminal disease.

"I'm very sad my wife is gone," Roberts said Tuesday.

Also in court Tuesday, a judge recused himself from the case, saying his father suffered from ALS.

John Roberts' brother Greg, who testified in front of the grand jury Friday, said he was certain John shot Virginia, because she asked him to commit the mercy killing. Greg Roberts on Monday told KGW that "We told the truth about their devotion to each other. “We don’t know what to make of the indictment, a lot of its brand new to us and it’s very upsetting.”

Under Oregon criminal law, there is no mercy killing statute and Roberts was indicted for first-degree murder on Monday.

Investigators said a doctor's report from November showed Virginia in overall good health. Virginia was originally from Guatemala and her family said they were shocked and that their religion forbade suicide.

Doctors give victim clean bill of health

She had previously suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome, and one doctor told Virginia her condition could worsen, or get better since every patient reacts differently to such motor neuron diseases.

In January, a doctor examined her mentally and physically as she applied for disability pay. Dr. John Ellison found her to be in overall good health.

Police found no documentation that Virginia was ever diagnosed with ALS.

"We'd be remiss in doing our job if we didn’t do a thorough investigation, if we didn’t look at all the evidence and say ‘what is this telling us?’” Claudio Grandjean of the Gresham Police said.

“The evidence will speak for itself."

KGW

Younger brother Scott Roberts, however, told a darker tale compared to his brother Greg, saying John was untrustworthy.

Scott Roberts said John concocted a story that Virginia had cancer two years ago. Scott described his older sibling as "deceitful and vindictive."

Scott Roberts also said that John had lied to him about past business deals.

Defendant John Roberts admitted police he had cheated on Virginia during their marriage and also sought sex with a Portland prostitute.

Detectives said debt collectors made two calls to the home during their search to collect on bills for a brand new big screen television, DVD player and computer that Roberts recently bought.

"My heart went out to him a little bit because I thought of him being in jail, mourning his wife, having to live with the fact that he killed her,” neighbor Jolene Lang said.

"But now that we've found that he's lied about that of course it has played with my emotions quite a bit. I'm quite angry about it. I hope the justice system will work and he'll get what he deserves."

Notes indicate murder-suicide plan

Court documents showed detectives found a note addressed to police at the home indicating the crime may have originally been planned as a murder-suicide.

“You will find our bodies in our bedroom which is down the hall and the last door on the right,” it read. “My wife has ALS and did not want to suffer any more. I chose not to go to jail.” 

Another note was addressed to “friends and family -- Virginia has taken this to a different level. If I had half the physical pain she suffers with constantly or the mental anxiety that she suffers with … I know what I would have done long ago.  Anyone who knows Vicky what a hard worker she is and how she never complains.

"We decided this plan of action over four months ago.  Agreeing to help Virginia not have to suffer any more was an easy decision. The hard decision was whether to go to jail or to join her. I’ve decided to join her.”

But detectives said Roberts told them he abandoned that plan after Virginia told him not to do it in a "supernatural visit" 15 minutes after she died.

A third note, police think was written by Roberts' daughter from a previous marriage complained he was constantly drunk. Police also said they found a jar of marijuana at the home.

Nowhere did police find any evidence of Virginia expressing a death wish.

A friend of Virginia's told police the two had made plans for an upcoming lunch together a day before the murder.