By The Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 5:44 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man was charged on Wednesday with shooting his wife after an argument, sawing her body into pieces and hiding her remains in plastic bins in a friend's garage.

Steven Roger Johnson, 34, of St. Paul was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Manya Jewel Johnson, 32. According to the criminal complaint, Johnson admitted that he killed his wife on Sunday after she told him that she was leaving and taking the couple's 18-month-old son with her.

Johnson told police that he had been drinking when he shot his wife in the head and “used a saw to dismember her body in the shower and he placed her in several plastic bins,” the complaint stated.

Johnson said he then cleaned his home to hide any evidence and took the bins to his friend's garage in the St. Paul suburb of White Bear Lake, police said.

The friend did not know what had happened until Johnson told him later, and the friend called authorities.

Johnson was in custody on Wednesday and unavailable for comment. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

According to the charges, St. Paul police went to the Johnson home on Monday to check on Manya Johnson.

When officers arrived, they were told that White Bear Lake police had received a call from Johnson's friend, who reported that Johnson told him Manya Johnson was dead and her body was in the garage.

While St. Paul police were at Johnson's home, he showed up with a woman who worked with Manya Johnson, and they told police that they were looking for Manya. Johnson told police he had left his job to look for his wife after getting a text message saying she had not shown up for work.

Manya's co-worker and Johnson told police they found her car in a park-and-ride lot.

As an officer was talking with Johnson, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension called the officer and said authorities had found the dismembered body.

Johnson was then arrested, the complaint stated.

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