|
|
|
||||||||||||||
| It appears only the purported confession and hearsay evidence was used to convict Johnson and he certainly had highly ineffective counsel. |
| A search of articles on the Johnson case resulted in no mention of any real evidence that he killed anyone. Based on his so called confession real evidence apparently was deemed unnecessary, as was always the style of Missouri courts during the Ashcroft Dark Ages. Published on December 11, 1991, Page C1, The Kansas City Star
Source: ART BRISBANE CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Another American psycho. How long has it been since the last one, anyway? Just eight weeks ago, a former merchant seaman came unhinged in Killeen, Texas, and killed 24 persons. Two weeks later, a disgruntled University of Iowa physics student murdered five more. Soon thereafter, a crazed postal worker whacked several more. Now it was happening again: Yet another American psycho in the land of the free and the home of the brave.....
CALIFORNIA, Mo.Expert to testify in vet's trial A clinical psychologist, whose testimony has helped acquit numerous Vietnam veterans charged with violent crimes, is scheduled to testify at the trial of accused killer James R. Johnson. John Wilson of Cleveland State University says he has met with Johnson, a combat veteran. He says he thinks Johnson suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition many veterans experience after returning from combat. Article 10 of 14; 2364 words Missourian concludes his testimony WASHINGTON - Although some Democratic senators cast doubts on John Ashcroft's repeated pledges to uphold laws he once fiercely opposed, others Wednesday seemed to concede his eventual confirmation as attorney general.Ashcroft answered seven more hours of questions, finishing his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The tone in the hearing room during his second day was at times acrimonious, at other times more accommodating. The past words and votes of the former..... Article 9 of 14; 1285 words
The seeds for the case that John Ashcroft would make against Ronnie White becoming a federal judge were planted on a winter's evening in 1991 when a Vietnam War veteran quarreled with his wife in California, Mo.Police were called and, as James Johnson would later tell investigators, he snapped. He went on a shooting binge that held the central Missouri town under siege for a night and left four persons dead - including a sheriff's wife who was gunned down in a prayer.... Article 6 of 14; 1360 words Source: KEVIN MURPHY The Kansas City Star WASHINGTON - Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White said Thursday that attorney general-designate John Ashcroft "seriously distorted" the judge's record when Ashcroft led an effort to defeat him for a federal judgeship in 1999.White was the most-awaited witness in the third day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Democrats hoped his testimony would sway votes away from Ashcroft, a former Republican senator from Missouri.... Article 7 of 14; 704 words Sheriff urges lobby against judge nominee A Missouri sheriff said Thursday he is urging fellow law officers to lobby against the nomination of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White to the federal bench. Moniteau County Sheriff Kenny Jones wrote in a letter to colleagues that his reasons are personal: White was the lone dissenter when the high court upheld the death sentence of James Johnson, convicted of murdering Jones' wife in a December 1991 shooting rampage that also claimed the lives of another sheriff and two.... St Louis Post Dispatch 12/15/91 In the early morning hours of Tuesday, as flak-jacketed police searched for James R. Johnson, his 17-year-old stepdaughter, Dawn Becker, made that comment about him. Becker's words - blurted before her mother told her to stop talking to reporters - provides one window into the family troubles that boiled over and led to the deaths of four people and the wounding of another... MAN SUSPECTED OF KILLING 4 GIVES UP IN CALIFORNIA, MO. VICTIMS INCLUDE 3 OFFICERS Terry Ganey and Tom Uhlenbrock Of the Post-Dispatch Staff St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) December 11, 1991
Victims Remembered As Hard-Working RAY WOOD, a firefighter in this central Missouri town, stood outside the county jail as police officers from across the state scurried through the streets with Uzi-type automatic weapons slung over their shoulders. The police were searching for the killer of one of his grade-school teachers, Pamela Jones, 38.... 'Quiet,' 'Normal Guy'Friends Of Suspect In Slayings Are Stunned By Virginia Young Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau JAMES R. JOHNSON'S friends and neighbors described him Tuesday as a quiet man who sang in the church choir, liked to play pitch and was a skilled mechanic. ''I have to force myself to believe he did this,'' said R.C. Seifert, 70, of Jamestown. Seifert and six other men in blue jeans or overalls stood on the main street corner in Jamestown late Tuesday morning, trying to figure out what might have caused Johnson to go on a shooting.... JURY URGES DEATH FOR MURDERER AP William C. Lhotka of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed information for this story. A jury recommended the death penalty Friday for a man who blamed Vietnam flashbacks for a 1991 sniper rampage around California, Mo.,that killed three law officers and a sheriff's wife.
Dickerson ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and scheduled sentencing for April 23. She has the authority to reduce the jury's recommendation.... VETERAN GUILTY IN 4 MURDERS JURY REJECTS HIS CLAIM OF STRESS FROM VIETNAM A jury was to begin hearing evidence today on whether a Vietnam veteran should get the death penalty after the jury convicted him Thursday of killing three law officers and a sheriff's wife. The jury convicted the man, James R. Johnson, of four counts of first-degree murder after deliberating just under two hours Thursday afternoon. Johnson, 43, had claimed he was reliving wartime battles when he killed three law officers and a sheriff's wife... PARENTS ENDURE SON'S TRIAL, OTHER SORROWS
James R. Johnson was abandoned by his biological mother, who was a prostitute, and was separated from his older brother. He was 2 when Ward and Mary Johnson took him from the Missouri Baptist Children's Home in St. Louis for adoption.
ACCUSED KILLER TELLS OF VIETNAM EPISODE Johnson, 43, admits killing three law officers and a sheriff's wife but has pleaded innocent by reason of mental disease or defect because of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the 31/2 months he spent in Vietnam during the summer of 1970.... Special prosecutor Kenny Hulshof has tried.... KILLER CALLED VICTIMS `VIET CONG' ON TAPE A Vietnam veteran who had just killed three law officers and a sheriff's wife called his victims "Viet Cong," but also expressed personal anger at the sheriff, a jury learned Saturday. Prosecutors called their final witness but planned to wait until Monday to rest their murder case against James R. Johnson, 43. In a tension-filled tape recording of the negotiations that led to his surrender, Johnson said he felt alone and surrounded by enemy troops. But he also sobbed... WOMAN DESCRIBES A DAY SPENT WITH MAN WHO SHOT 5 PEOPLE An 83-year-old widow told a jury Friday she had a pleasant day and nice conversation with a man hours after he gunned down five people. Dorothy Mae Miller testified at the murder trial of James R. Johnson that he appeared on the back porch of her home Dec. 10, 1991. At the time, more than 100 law officers were combing the area for the suspect who had killed three officers and a sheriff's wife, and wounded a deputy.... MAN ACCUSED OF SLAYING WOMAN, LAW OFFICERS CITES WAR FLASHBACK James R. Johnson awoke from a flashback of a Vietnam "free-fire zone" without realizing he had killed four people in central Missouri, his attorney told a jury Thursday. But prosecutors used their opening statement in Johnson's murder trial to portray the 1991 shooting of three law officers and a sheriff's wife as a personal vendetta against the Moniteau County Sheriff's Department. The killings took place in and near California, in central Missouri.... BOMB THREAT EMPTIES COURT IN CASE OF KILLING RAMPAGE A bomb threat interrupted jury selection Tuesday afternoon in the trial of James R. Johnson, charged in a deadly December 1991 rampage in California, Mo. Circuit Judge Mary Dickerson dismissed all parties in the Johnson case until this morning, and a bomb squad from the Missouri State Highway Patrol was called to search the evacuated Laclede County Courthouse. A caller claimed a bomb would go off at 4:30 p.m., prompting the evacuation, but nothing was found....
Murder trial grips a town James R. Johnson charged with killing 3 law officers, sheriff's wife. LEBANON, Mo. - Fourteen months ago, California, Mo., was paralyzed with fear when a gunman killed three law officers and the wife of the sheriff in a bloody pre-Christmas shooting spree. James Rodney Johnson, a Jamestown, Mo., resident and National Guard mechanic, is charged with the four killings, and faces the death penalty in a trial that began here Monday. Now it's the small courthouse here that's almost paralyzed with crowds of spectators, lawyers and reporters.... Article 2 of 17; 440 words Published on December 12, 1992, Page C2, The Kansas City Star Man spoke of killing Viet Cong after lawmen slain, tropper says
The taping used at the trial should have prove Oberweather's testimony was perjured. TESTIMONY CONFLICTS IN KILLINGS The Associated Press St. Louis Post-Dispatch December 12, 1992 James R. Johnson, a combat veteran, told a hostage negotiator a year ago that he had killed some Viet Cong the night before, when he is charged with killing three law officers and a sheriff's wife, a state trooper testified Friday. But another Missouri Highway Patrol trooper, Sgt. Harvey Oberweather, said that after Johnson surrendered on Dec. 10, 1991, he had given a detailed account of how he had shot the four people but had not mention Vietnam... Article 4 of 17; 315 words Published on September 30, 1992, Page C2, The Kansas City Star
JEFFERSON CITY - Lawyers agreed Tuesday to move James R. Johnson's trial for the slayings of three law enforcement officers and a sheriff's wife to Laclede County. Special Prosecutor Kenny Hulshof said he and defense attorney Wally Bley agreed to move the trial to Lebanon after Circuit Judge Mary Dickerson ruled that it wouldn't be held in Moniteau County. "We have verbally agreed that Laclede County will be where the case will be sent," said Hulshof,.... Article 5 of 17; 440 words Published on August 18, 1992, Page B6, The Kansas City Star Move of murder trial asked because acoustics are bad Source: The Associated Press
Article 7 of 17; 382 words CALIFORNIA, Mo.Shooting defendant divorced James R. Johnson and his estranged wife have been granted a divorce. Johnson is charged with killing four people in a shooting rampage last December. Judge Gary Schmidt of Moniteau County Associate Circuit Court granted the divorce Tuesday and approved an agreement in which Johnson received the couple's real estate. His ex-wife, Jerri, received various bank accounts. The judge also restored Jerri Johnson's maiden name,.... Article 8 of 17; 372 words Plea is not guilty in deaths of officers, sheriff's wife Defense expected to cite stress endured by defendant in war. CALIFORNIA, Mo. - James R. Johnson, who is charged with killing three law officers and a sheriff's wife in December, pleaded not guilty Monday. Johnson was arrested Dec. 10 after a bloody two-day spree in this county seat. Johnson made no statement Monday. He was dressed in bright orange jail clothing, and was shackled and cuffed... Article 9 of 17; 425 words
|
| Earlier articles in the Johnson case appear below. |
| Article 11 of 17; 628 words Published on May 20, 1992, Page A14, The Kansas City Star Replacing judge is latest delay in murder case James Johnson still hasn't had a hearing. Source: TOM MILLERJefferson City Correspondent CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Another legal maneuver has stalled court proceedings for James R. Johnson, who is accused of killing three law enforcement officers and a sheriff's wife. In the months since his arrest on Dec. 11, 1991, Johnson has yet to appear in court for a preliminary hearing, during which it will be determined whether there is enough evidence to hold a trial. On Monday, in what was to have been a mental competency hearing, Judge Jack Bennett was disqualified .... Article 13 of 17; 143 words
Article 14 of 17; 676 words Lawsuit delays murder case Action in filed federal court says defendant was denied counsel when assets were frozen. CALIFORNIA, Mo. - All was set: The lawyers were in place, the murder defendant was carefully escorted into the courthouse, and the courtroom was packed with townspeople and reporters. But an unexpected and seldom-used legal maneuver quickly halted the preliminary hearing for James R. Johnson, who faces four murder charges. Hours before the scheduled hearing Wednesday in state court, a petition was filed in federal court contending Johnson's civil rights were being violated.... Article 17 of 17; 289 words Published on January 17, 1992, Page C1, The Kansas City Star Man charged in deaths of lawmen apparently attempts suicide in jail JEFFERSON CITY - A man accused of killing four persons last month apparently tried to kill himself Thursday by dropping weights on his head at the Cole County Jail. James R. Johnson, 42, was not injured seriously, however, and was returned to the jail after being treated at a Jefferson City hospital for a cut on the head. Johnson is charged with killing three lawmen and the wife of a sheriff in and near California, Mo.... Article 4 of 8; 697 words Published on December 12, 1991, Page A26, The Kansas City Star Communities work to cope with tragedy 'We're trying to address...fears,' pastor says. Source: SCOTT CANON Mid-America Correspondent CALIFORNIA, Mo. - A gray haze hung over the Moniteau County communities of California and Jamestown Wednesday as people began dealing with the news that one of their own was charged with a shooting spree that snuffed out four lives, put two others in jeopardy and drew an army of rifle-toting police to hunt him down. James R. Johnson, raised in the California area by his adoptive parents, turned himself in Tuesday night. On Wednesday, the community tried to find logic in a disaster that..... Article 5 of 8; 1494 words CALIFORNIA, Mo. - With a suspect in jail and a town returning to normal, one question lingered Wednesday. Why? What possessed a man to go on a human hunting trip, killing three law officers and the wife of a county sheriff? Investigators continued to focus on the notion that trouble between James R. Johnson and his 17-year-old stepdaughter ignited the explosion of violence. Some people speculate that law officers became targets after asking questions.... Article 7 of 8; 743 words Published on December 11, 1991, Page A12, The Kansas City Star CALIFORNIA, Mo. - On most December days, two busy highways - U.S. 50 and Missouri 87 - carry their traffic through California, under the garland and past the banners that herald the holiday: Season's Greetings, Peace on Earth. But this community of about 3,000 held anything but holiday cheer Tuesday as hundreds of law officers scoured the town looking for a frightening, elusive killer. Responding to broadcast warnings, California residents stayed inside or left town.... Article 8 of 8; 1605 words Suspect in Missouri shootings surrenders 3 law officers, sheriff's wife die in rampage. CALIFORNIA, Mo. - James Johnson, suspected of shooting to death three lawmen and the wife of another, surrendered Tuesday evening after spending the day holed up at the home of an elderly California woman. While heavily armed law officers crept from house to house during the day searching for him, Johnson shaved, ate lunch and followed their progress through television reports. The woman, Dorothy Miller, told authorities she spent most of the afternoon trying to persuade Johnson.... Return to Johnson Execution Main |
| For all your shopping needs frm A-Z SHOP AFFORDABLE MALL USA |
More Shopping and Services While you save shopping you are also donating funds to help others. |
| El Dorado Springs, Mo. 64744 | Missouri | 64744 |
 mocommonsense@yahoo.com |
||
|
. |
| Home | govpolinks | legalinks | innocent | johnson02 |