Violence, Drugs and Guns

The Terrifying Story of an Online Romance

Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.
7 min readMay 30, 2022
copyright free from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Violence, drugs, and guns. These were the silent passengers riding along with thirty-nine-year-old James Larson, Jr. when he picked up thirty-year-old Preacious Brower in Kansas City, Missouri. Only she didn’t know it. All Preacious knew was that the man she had met online through Facebook Dating a couple of days before had seemed “pretty cool.” She looked forward to getting to know him as they drove the forty-five minutes to his father’s house at Lake Arrowhead.

It was Thursday, May 12, 2022.

By Friday, May 13, she thought he might kill her. Preacious thought maybe it was all the drugs he was using. Out of the blue, he punched her. He kicked her with his steel-toed boots. He hit her in the head with an ice pick and cut her with a bowie knife. He cut her hair and took away her dentures and glasses. James Larson, Jr. had turned into a monster.

The more drugs he did, the worse he became. He wouldn’t let Preacious leave. Larson refused to let her use the bathroom or give her anything to eat or drink. He made her clean up her own blood. She said he gave her a drink that “tasted like medicine.” He threatened to slit her throat if she called the police. She was terrified to stay and scared to try to leave.

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Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.
Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.

Written by Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.

Forensic psychologist/private investigator//author of serial killer book. Passionate about victim’s rights, the psychology of true crime, and criminal justice.

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