‘America’s kindest husband’ who went viral for romantic note he left wife is now suspected of killing her

A man who shot to internet fame as ‘America’s kindest husband’ has fallen under suspicion of killing his wife after he was convicted of a shocking child sex crime. 

Timothy Murphy Johnson, 40, won praise across social media in 2015 when his wife Molly shared a sweet message he had left for her on their bedroom mirror, titled: ‘Reasons I love my wife.’ 

His list included Molly being his ‘best friend’ and ‘never quitting on herself or me’, alongside less orthodox compliments such as ‘she’s gone to the strip club with me.’ 

Molly passed away two years later from an apparent suicide caused by an overdose, however her friends and family told The Times they now suspect Murphy-Johnson killed his wife, drawing parallels between how she died and the sickening way he kidnapped a 16-year-old girl last year. 

Molly shared a sweet message her husband left her on their mirror on the social media site Imgur in 2015, titled: ‘Reasons I love my wife’ 

Prosecutors said Murphy-Johnson, alongside his girlfriend Olivia Ashford Henn, 21, kidnapped a 16-year-old girl in early June 2023 and held her captive for over six weeks. 

Throughout her ordeal, Murphy-Johnson tied her to a bed naked, cut her with a knife, and forced her to take drug overdoses, all of which was filmed by the former ‘America’s kindest husband.’  

After Murphy-Johnson received a life sentence this year, his ex-wife’s loved ones said they came to question whether Molly had actually committed suicide. 

They told The Times that despite the sweet message he had left Molly on their mirror, she was known to be trapped in an abusive marriage and would often say Murphy-Johnson beat, raped and threatened to kill her. 

Murphy-Johnson was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year after kidnapping a 16-year-old girl and holding her captive for over six weeks, subjecting her to sickening abuse including sexual assault and drug overdoses 

His girlfriend Olivia Henn, 21, (pictured) was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crime, while Murphy-Johnson was sentenced to life imprisonment 

She had confided in friends that her husband had forced her into prostitution and raped her, and even claimed in a court filing that he threatened to kill her with a drug overdose and make it look like a suicide. 

One of Molly’s childhood friends, Anna-Marie Anderson, told the outlet: ‘I believe Tim either provided her with drugs or forced her to take them. 

‘She was brilliant, extremely educated on medication and drugs, and in my opinion, she would not go out that way.’ 

In messages sent to friends uncovered in the investigation, Molly said she was planning to divorce her husband but was ‘scared’ of him, and often sent pictures of her bruises to her friends. 

In one of the messages, she said: ‘He (Murphy-Johnson) just offered me some drug that will kill me, so I can get it over with already… guess I’ll just make it easier for us both.’ 

In messages sent to friends uncovered in the investigation, Molly said she was planning to divorce her husband but was ‘scared’ of him, and often sent pictures of her bruises to her friends

Molly’s family said she was ‘brilliant’ and was highly intelligent, but became trapped in an allegedly abusive marriage that ended in her tragic overdose 

The couple had met on dating website OK Cupid in 2012, and Molly abandoned plans to study for a master’s degree to join Murphy-Johnson in San Francisco soon after when he got a new job. 

Molly’s father Bob Gelman said his daughter called him twice to ‘rescue her’ after the move, but said ‘it was about that time that Tim proposed to Molly.’ 

‘Molly had to pay for her own ring, which Tim kept. I suggested that they wait at least a full year before they married given their relationship’s history. They eloped a few months later,’ he said. 

When they moved to Los Angeles, Gelman said he found out Molly had ‘checked herself into a mental hospital to get away’ from her husband, but his hopes that she would leave her marriage were short lived. 

‘Sadly, Tim managed to sweet talk her into returning to him,’ he said. 

He said soon after, ‘Molly had to quit her job because of the visible cuts and bruises on her body’, and said he ‘was pimping her out — having her have sex with other men for money.’ 

In their investigation into her death, Molly’s friends said they discovered explicit images of her on adult websites such as Pornhub, where she was advertised as an ‘escort’ and described as a ‘naughty nerd.’ 

Murphy-Johnson was a successful computer programmer who wrote software that is still used in gaming production, but was fired from his company for ‘repeated performance problems, conduct issues and attendance concerns’ 

With her suicide now under scrutiny, Molly’s loved ones surfaced her court filings against her husband, where she claimed he ‘threatened to kill me (and make it look like a suicide’ 

Aside from his old internet fame as the ‘kindest husband’ in America, Murphy-Johnson was known as a successful computer programmer. 

He was just 16 when he founded his own company, Artificial Studios, and went on to play a leading role in the development of 3D features in gaming with his software Reality Engine. 

He moved to America when Artificial Studios was bought by Epic Games, but was fired by the company for ‘repeated performance problems, conduct issues and attendance concerns.’ 

During their troubled marriage, Molly reportedly told friends her husband developed a crippling addiction to opioids that caused him to ‘lose his sh**.’ 

Just seven months after Molly’s mirror picture went viral, she applied for a restraining order against her husband, claiming he ‘threatened to kill me (and make it look like a suicide.’ 

‘(Murphy-Johnson) physically assaulted me by kicking my back/stomach, punching my head/arms, pushing me down and stealing my purse, money and phone to prevent me getting away,’ she claimed in her filing. 

Gelman said his daughter soon ‘begged me’ to rescue her, but withdrew her application in August 2017. By that November, he had her last conversation with her. 

‘I got a call from her a few days later. She was back with Tim. He had her in psych hospitals in LA. She said she needed me to send her $20,000 for hospital bills,’ he said. 

‘I never got to see or speak to Molly again.’ 

Murphy-Johnson’s relatives said his marriage to Molly was ‘chaos’, but denied that they believe he killed her as they described it as ‘a sad, toxic mess’ 

Molly was found dead in her bed on the morning of December 16, 2017, however Gelman said his son-in-law didn’t tell him his daughter passed away and he only later found out from Molly’s former boyfriend. 

‘Tim tried to have her cremated immediately. I insisted on there being an autopsy,’ Gelman told The Times.  ‘Eventually she was cremated, and Tim took all of her remains. I never received anything of her to bury.’ 

Murphy-Johnson told friends his wife left a suicide note, however the coroner’s report made no mention of a note, and the level of fentanyl in Molly’s system was less than half of that normally found in a suicide victim. 

Despite the issue of forced drug use raised in Molly’s marriage, the coroner said, ‘concern of emotional abuse and manipulation are outside the scope of what the coroner’s department can evaluate.’ 

In response to Molly’s loved ones casting doubt over her ‘suicide’, Murphy-Johnson’s relatives said the claims were ‘baseless’ and said their marriage was ‘chaos.’ 

‘Molly had a serious drug addiction to fentanyl, as well as depression and a history of suicide attempts. Tim saved her life on more than one occasion … so I don’t believe he killed her,’ said the relative, who remained anonymous. 

‘To be frank they both thought the other was trying to kill them. It was chaos. It was a sad, toxic, mess, two people with deadly drug addictions and mental illness for one terrible relationship. 

‘He did love her very much and her death is what led to him descending into madness. I can’t make excuses for anything Tim has done. I believe he suffers from serious mental health issues.’ 

They added that ‘if there is any evidence’ to back up Murphy-Johnson’s alleged role in his wife’s death, ‘then it should obviously be sent to the authorities.’