20/20 - Blood on the Door

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

A mother's unrelenting crusade to find justice after her 21-year-old daughter is fatally stabbed in the hallway outside her apartment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...ces

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, it's Brad Milkey. This week on the Crime Scene Weekly, we're talking about a mom who gained national attention for faking her own kidnapping. Sherry Papini is back in the spotlight, but now she's changing her story and trying to change her custody arrangement with her kids. Listen to the latest from the case on the Crime Scene Weekly. seen weekly. An all new 2020 starts right now. He just kept stabbing and stabbing. I remember trying to defend myself like this with my hands.
Starting point is 00:00:37 And that's where I got the cuts on my hands. Jason was confronted by the assailant. Someone came into their apartment, had assaulted him and his roommate. Because she was stabbed so many times, you think, this is personal. This is someone who wanted her dead. When you go into her apartment, what does this seem like?
Starting point is 00:00:57 You could tell that there was a struggle in there. She fought hard. Jonna went door to door trying to get assistance. At one point, I was praying that wasn't her. They had made a mistake. Now revisiting the scene of a nightmare. He pushed me back this way and I fell on the bed like this. I took off and I ran as fast as I could this way. Did it trouble you that he ran away from the scene to get help instead of
Starting point is 00:01:28 trying somehow to help her? Scared. He wants to get away. So he ran from here over this way to the convenience store. I didn't have anything to do with this. Why the fuck would I? Why would I take this test? I'm Officer Diana Kidd. I work for the Knox County Sheriff's Department. It was around 4 15 a.m. on the night of December 6th. It was real windy that night.
Starting point is 00:02:17 We didn't have a lot of calls coming in. We felt like we were wrapping up our night because it was only a couple more hours till we get off. And then we get the dispatch call that says there's a young man that had ran to the Waggles. 290 with the victim just occurred at Waggles, 328 North Cedar Bluff. Standby for updates. It's early morning in December when the clerk inside this convenience store gets a startling visitor. A young man who's bloody pleading for help. He's barefoot and appears to have been seriously injured. He's heavily bloodied. He's been in the fight.
Starting point is 00:03:05 A gentleman had called in from the Wagles on Cedar Bluff and stated that he had been attacked. When he ran up to the Wagles, he had blood all over his clothing as he entered into the gas station. He had a stab wound to his face. He had cuts on his hands. He was stabbed in the chest. So he did have obvious signs of trauma on his body.
Starting point is 00:03:28 Does he need an ambulance? Yeah, that's what he said. OK, can I talk to him, please? Sure. Sure, he wants to talk to you. All right, what's your name? Jason Amamy. Jason?
Starting point is 00:03:38 A-M-A-M-I. Now, what happened? I just felt somebody stab me right in my chest. Somebody stabbed you? In my face. And that's the first thing I do is get up and run. He'd heard some noise. He came outside. He came out into the hallway.
Starting point is 00:03:52 And he had seen someone in the hallway, which then came to him and attacked him. He eventually got away from the attacker. And Jason had ran out the door. He had on clothing that he was sleeping in, which was just a pair of shorts. He had left so abruptly that he didn't even take time to get his glasses or his shoes
Starting point is 00:04:12 before leaving the apartment. He just ran out as quickly as possible to flee and get help. And while Jason Amame tells the clerk that he was able to get away, shockingly he says he wasn't alone in that apartment. His roommate's still in there. Apparently somebody broke into his house. Is his roommate okay? He doesn't know.
Starting point is 00:04:34 Is he okay? He was screaming very loud. Now where's your address at? Radora Road. Radora? R-H-O-D-O-R-A. R-H-O? Park Park.
Starting point is 00:04:47 SIRENS MUSIC When the call came out, we then went to the apartment complex to check on the girl and kind of see what we could find there. 21 year old Johnna Barry is barely clinging to life. They found Johnna laying just inside an entrance way. She was face down and had multiple wounds to her body. wounds to her body. MUSIC
Starting point is 00:05:27 You were one of the first responders here. Yes ma'am. What do you remember about Johnna Berry? What kind of shape was she in? She was not in good shape. As soon as you opened the door she was laying in the corridor. At the bottom of the steps her apartment was at the top of the steps. And she was covered in blood.
Starting point is 00:05:43 MUSIC That it was her hair. She's got beautiful blonde hair. the top of the steps and she was covered in blood. That it was her hair, she's got beautiful blonde hair and it stuck with me because at the time I thought she might have red hair because there was so much blood. Just kind of moaning, making a few sounds but was unable to talk due to her injuries. She did have a very large wound on her neck. She also had multiple stab wounds across her injuries. She did have a very large wound on her neck. She also had multiple stab wounds across her body.
Starting point is 00:06:07 Over 25 wounds to her body. It was very obvious that Jonna had been in a fight for her life and that it was a very violent struggle. For me, it was one of the worst crime scenes that I have been involved in since being in law enforcement. When you go into her apartment, what is the scene like? When we go up the steps and go into the apartment looking for the suspect or anybody else that's
Starting point is 00:06:41 injured, the knife was in the floor and it had blood on it, hair on it, and it was bent. There were six units in the apartment building. There was blood on each of the doors within the six units, and we could tell from that, Jonna was the person who went door to door trying to get assistance. It's four o'clock in the morning. It's not the middle of the night per se. One individual thought someone was breaking into his apartment. We called 911. He looked out his peephole of his door. Do you see anybody outside? I look out to you and a peak hole. What's your name? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:07:51 Give me a second, Mommy. He didn't see anyone. It's because Jonna was crumpled on the ground below that peephole, absolutely heartbreaking. Unfortunately, the call dropped and there was no other activity. Once the residence was cleared and we noticed no one else injured in the apartment, we go back down the stairs. I go back to her. So I leaned down and was talking to her, asking her if she knew who done this. If she knew where they went. I was just asking her all kinds of questions, you know,
Starting point is 00:08:26 try to help us find out who done this and what had happened. She would move around a bit but she couldn't answer me. So by this time I just kind of held her hand and waited on EMS to arrive. That night, two young people come face to face with an intruder. Jason manages to escape, but Jonna, who was too injured to speak, did not. We were wondering what led to this horrific tragedy. The attacker has vanished. The motive unknown. Are our children safe? Are we safe? There, we had no idea who did this. Police launch a full-scale manhunt across the Knoxville community. Inside that foyer, Johnna Berry is still alive, brutally wounded and struggling to hold on.
Starting point is 00:09:43 I just held her hand and waited on EMS to arrive. I remember distinctly that it was raining when I got to the scene. Jonna dies in the ambulance, her fight ending before she ever reaches the hospital. What do you think that may have meant to her or to you to even just be there to comfort her? I hope it helped her and to me it would mean a lot if that was my child there.
Starting point is 00:10:22 It was 4 a.m. in the morning on December the 6th. We got a phone call from Knoxville, UT hospital. The gentleman on the other end of the phone, he asked to speak to Mike, which was very unusual because nobody called my cell phone and asked to speak with my husband. She handed me the phone and somebody on there said, are you Michael Barry? And I said, yes. Do you have a daughter, John? And I said, yes.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Just to let you know, your daughter was murdered. I heard him say, John has been murdered. John has been murdered. At one point, I was praying. It wasn't her. They had made a mistake. Yeah. My youngest son lives here. So I called him and I said, hysterically,
Starting point is 00:11:22 it's Johnna. Something's happened. You need to get to UT. This had to be a nightmare for everybody. And I said, hysterically, it's Jonna. Something's happened, you need to get to UT. This had to be a nightmare for everybody. It was. It rained all the way. It was like the angels was just crying. This is something that you never forget.
Starting point is 00:11:47 It's just something that you never forget. After nearly four hours on the road, Jonna's parents finally make it to the hospital. When we got there, my youngest son was in the parking lot. He said, it's true, Mom, it's Jonna. Did you have any idea what happened at that moment? No. Yeah. The boys identified her body, which was very upsetting to me. She was in bad shape. Yes. I wish that I could spare them the heartache
Starting point is 00:12:22 and the memory that they'll have forever. Jonna smiles at the camera girl. Jonna grew up in a tight-knit family in Bristol, Tennessee. Take me back, tell me what kind of a little child she was. Jonna was a very happy child. She was very ambitious. She did dance and cheerleading. Two older brothers. She had two older brothers. They were very protective of her. You had a beauty salon and I imagine she was running around. Yes, she would get manicure. I polished her little nails. She always wanted makeup on and her hair done. She was she was my best friend. She was your best friend. She was.
Starting point is 00:13:14 After high school, Jonna heads off to East Tennessee State University where she gets a degree in child psychology. What was it that she aspired to? What were her aspirations? She wanted to devote her life to children. She wanted to help them in any way she could. As Jonna grows older, her dreams for her future grow bigger and she meets her fiance, Jason White. Jonna got engaged when she was 20. Kind of young. It was young but she knew what she wanted wanted and she worked hard to get it. Johnna loves children, and that passion leads her to Knoxville, where she begins working toward a master's degree in child psychology.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Most here consider this a safe slice of America, next to the Tennessee River. About 35 miles away, you'll find Dollywood, nestled in the great Smoky Mountains. She's going to school, she's moving, about to get a new degree. That's a lot. But she was so ambitious. She was constantly on the move. How does she go about finding a place to live? She was in the process of looking for an apartment, but we hadn't found the exact thing. So she stayed with a friend from college.
Starting point is 00:14:32 She ran into the bedroom. That friend was Johnna's roommate, Jason Amame. I'd known Jason for a couple of years prior when she was in college. He was somebody you were familiar with. Yeah, we knew him and he was a good friend. It was just a temporary thing. Were you at all questioning or concerned
Starting point is 00:14:53 about Jason Amame? Jason was stabbed also, but Johnna's brothers and her dad wondered why Jason didn't help her. And police have their own questions. They sit down for the first of several interviews with Emmamy. He was able to explain to us that he woke up in the middle of the night because he heard a scream. Jason knew that Jonna did have nightmares,
Starting point is 00:15:18 so at first he assumed that she could have just been having a nightmare. But as he got up, he noticed that there was a male figure backing out of Jonna's bedroom. Jason was confronted by the assailant. He was stabbed about six to eight times. At that point, Jason didn't hear any more screams for Jonna. He wasn't sure if she had escaped the apartment or not.
Starting point is 00:15:39 He just ran out as quickly as possible. You have an initial reaction to any attack, and that's gonna be fight, flight, freeze. To unravel the mystery of Johnna Berry's murder, police zero in on a critical piece of evidence found at the scene. When officers go inside the apartment, they see so much blood.
Starting point is 00:16:02 It's everywhere. Then they see a bloody shoe print, a single shoe print soaked in blood. Could this be the clue that unmasks the killer? I love you guys. Who would want to hurt somebody that was so pure? Christmas was Johnna's favorite time of year, her family says. And just hours before the murder, she and her mom were on the phone talking about picking up gifts for the holidays. I said, I did some Christmas shopping today and she said, Oh, I did too. We talked a little more and we said, good night and I love you and I'll talk to you tomorrow. The night she died, she had been wrapping
Starting point is 00:17:05 Christmas gifts for children. Johnna had them separated, you know, in little piles, they said, with the kids' names on them. It just seemed so tragic right before Christmas. Fear gripped the city of Knoxville, a young woman savagely stabbed in her own home and her killer on the loose. 21 year old Johnna Berry and her roommate
Starting point is 00:17:30 were stabbed in their Brendan Park apartment. It really left the community feeling unsettled. I'm a news anchor here at WATE in Knoxville and I have covered the Johnna Berry case since the very beginning. This seemed to be a crime out of nowhere. There were so many questions and people were wondering what on earth is going on.
Starting point is 00:17:53 To this day, John is mom Joan can't shake the image. Her daughter, bleeding, terrified, pounding on doors and nobody answering. When you heard that she frantically ran asking for help and nobody answered their doors, what did you make of that? It angered me at first. You know, I can understand someone not opening the door
Starting point is 00:18:21 at four o'clock in the morning. You know, I can understand that. People don't want to get involved. Why couldn't you be more like Johnna and want to help people? She would have helped anybody. Some of the folks in the apartment complex possibly could not have heard the knock on the door due to it being in the middle of the night and the bedroom being located so far away from the front door. Some people we learned were not at home. Detective's begin a full scale investigation. And there's one thing that is impossible to ignore. The sheer amount of blood in Johnna's apartment.
Starting point is 00:18:56 How bloody was this crime scene? There was blood in not only in Johnna's bedroom, Jason's bedroom, blood in the living room, blood on the back door, blood on the back door, blood out the back of the apartment going down the stairs. Blood is on the doorknob, blood is on the floor, blood is on the door. Looked like there had been some type of fight in Johnna's bedroom. This had been a struggle.
Starting point is 00:19:22 Yes, you could tell that there was a struggle in there. You could tell that she fought hard. Numerous samples of blood were taken from the crime scene. The blood samples were sent to the TBI for analysis. This is the exit that the perpetrator took the night of the crime. We can see that this door is ajar. There's no evidence of a forcible break-in. Detectives wanted to find out how the person got into the apartment
Starting point is 00:19:53 without no forced entry being there. Was the door left unlocked? Did they have a key? Were they let in? There was some speculation that Jonna had been on the phone with her fiance and perhaps in the excitement of wrapping the gifts and just having these other distractions that she forgot to lock the door. Could it have been a friend of theirs that was in the apartment? Was it somebody that had gotten upset with Jason or Jonna? So there's a lot of different theories that were being thought about of what could have
Starting point is 00:20:24 happened. Investigators also discover curious items in the apartment, like a hat and a CD case they believe belonged to the killer. The Atlanta Braves hat, the CD case, all of those things were leading us to believe that someone else possibly had entered the apartment since these things did not belong to either one of the occupants of the apartment.
Starting point is 00:20:49 The murder weapon was discovered in the hallway directly outside of Jonna's bedroom. The knife was in the floor, and it had blood on it, hair on it, and it was bent. The hair that was found on the knife appeared to be from Jonna. We knew right away that the knife came from inside the home. It was part of a matching set that was from the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:21:10 What stood out to me the most about the weapon is how damaged it was. The handle was broken. The blade was bent. I could only assume that it had hit bone, that it was used multiple times, that it was very violent, just given the force to break the handle. While the murder weapon reveals a violent struggle, there's a single piece of evidence left on the blade which might point to the hand that held it. There was a partial fingerprint
Starting point is 00:21:36 that was found on the knife. There was an unknown DNA that was found on the knife. Now that's got to be important because now that's going to be something that's going to lead you to somebody. Oh yes, very important. If we can match a fingerprint or a partial fingerprint to someone that would help. Our guys photographed it, sent that off to the lab to see if they would be able to get the fingerprint off of there and see if it was in any kind of system or database that they had. But police aren't finished yet. In Jason's room, they discover a piece of cardboard and on it, a damning piece of evidence.
Starting point is 00:22:12 There was a very pronounced shoe print. And what stood out about the shoe print the most is that it was in blood. Detectives also take note of the shocking number of times that Jonna was stabbed. Jonna's autopsy revealed that she suffered over 20 stab wounds, some of them to her neck, head and face, as well as her chest, back and legs. She had close to 26 stab wounds.
Starting point is 00:22:39 The nature of the crime, it was a very intimate personal crime. It kind of led to maybe thinking it was somebody that knew her, that had gotten mad at her, maybe a crime of passion. So we were looking at people who were close to her. Because she was stabbed so many times, you think this is personal. This is someone who wanted her dead. This had to be someone who knew her.
Starting point is 00:23:00 And that's when detectives begin looking closely at the two Jasons in Jonna's life. Could one of them know more than he's letting on? Everything that we learned about Jonna as a person was just that she was an absolute sweetheart. There was nothing that we learned about her that would give us any indication that she had any enemies or was anyone to hurt her. Investigators are busy tracking down anybody in town who might have had a connection to Jonna. Despite being in Knoxville for only six short weeks, she was known to quite a few people.
Starting point is 00:23:51 Jonna worked at a local hospital and the individuals she was working with were of troubled youth and we weren't sure would it be possible that one of the patients heard her speaking about her personal life or knew where she lived. that one of the patients heard her speaking about her personal life or knew where she lived. Jonna also worked part-time at a jewelry store in the Westtown mall, and detectives learned that she had some concerns about a suspicious car. When she left the mall one night, there was a car circling the parking lot. She thought maybe somebody that she had spoken to in the store where she worked maybe was following her. We looked at surveillance video, never did come up with anything from the mall.
Starting point is 00:24:32 As far as the hospital goes, that was sort of a dead end. It never produced any kind of information either. Johnna had no enemies. Nobody ever expressed being angry with her or she never had any trouble with anybody. We had no earthly idea of who could have done this. We really focused mostly on her closest circle. The first people that we wanted to clear from Johnna's murder were Jason, the roommate,
Starting point is 00:25:04 and Jason, her fiance at the time. The violent nature of the attack, the numerosity of the wounds, all hinted towards some sort of personal relationship that she may have had with somebody. Joan Berry says her daughter met Jason White at a party when they were both students at East Tennessee State University and the romance moved quickly. We're very fond of Jason. She got engaged at Christmas and she couldn't wait to show me her ring. She wanted more than anything to be his wife and be a mom and raise a child with him and have them grow old together.
Starting point is 00:25:45 She was so excited to marry him. After graduation, Jason moves to Michigan to get his law degree, while Jonna moves to Knoxville to continue her studies. He was in Michigan, and every night she would go to sleep with them talking. And then when she would go to sleep is when he would hang up. In speaking with Jason White, he had explained to us
Starting point is 00:26:11 that he talked to Jonna that night. Detectives learned through his cell phone records that his cell phone appeared to be in Michigan the entire time. No, there was no suspicions in my mind. I had never crossed my mind that Jason White ever did that. Very quickly within the investigation, Jason White was cleared as a suspect. Police are also interested in talking to the other Jason
Starting point is 00:26:35 in Johnna's life, her roommate, Jason Amame. So how are you doing? I am doing really good. Police interview Jason the day after he gets out of the hospital, where he was treated for wounds to his chest, face, and hands. Once Johnna's fiance was ruled out, all eyes went to her roommate. And one of the first questions investigators asked him was, do you have a romantic interest in Johnna?
Starting point is 00:27:03 As far as your relationship with John. How long have you known her. Probably over 5 years. Did you guys ever date. Now. Also in Oxford she places. I said I'd be happy to let you live with me and it would be a problem. She's got her fiance.
Starting point is 00:27:25 This is another guy. What did you make of the arrangement for her to move in with a guy as a roommate? I was fine with that. I've known Jason for a couple years. He was a boyfriend of one of her good friends, too. And even her fiance, Jason White, he didn't have a problem with it. He tells Detective Delgado that on the night of the attack, he was watching TV when Jonna decides to go to bed.
Starting point is 00:27:49 She probably went to sleep about 10.30. I probably went to sleep 12, 12.30. What do you remember after that? I just remember waking up, hearing screams. I looked at my alarm clock. I was there and I, seeing a four, so probably at 4 a.m. sometime. Jason says it's not the first time he's been awakened
Starting point is 00:28:12 by Jonna screaming at night. She sleeps very light. She told me when she first moved in, she said, you know, if I wake up and I'm scared or something, you know, just come in and check on me and make sure I'm okay. At first, he assumed that she could have just been having a nightmare, but as he got up and he was leaving his room to enter her bedroom,
Starting point is 00:28:32 he noticed that there was a male figure. Next thing I remember is I'm on my bed, and he's on top of me. I just remember fighting with him, he punched me in my face. I kept telling him, I was like, what do you want? He just kept telling me, shut up, shut up. And then I felt a sharp pain right here. And that's when I knew he had a knife.
Starting point is 00:28:54 He grabbed the knife to try to get it away from the individual. He kicked the individual in the growing area. The individual went back against the bedroom wall. He saw an opening that he would be able to get out of the bedroom. At that point, he didn't hear any more screams from Jonna. He wasn't sure if she had escaped the apartment or not.
Starting point is 00:29:12 But at that point, he just ran out of the apartment as quickly as possible. He ran out of the apartment. Did you take anything with you? I didn't even think about it. What were you wearing? I was wearing blue workout shorts, which I wore to the gym, and a pair of boxers. Okay.
Starting point is 00:29:30 And that's all I was wearing. I just ran straight out the door and right across the street, and I was banging on some of the doors at the other complex. Investigators zero in on an important point in Jason's story. He came face to face with his attacker, Johnna's killer. He felt confident that he would be able to identify the person, provide a sketch of what this individual looked like.
Starting point is 00:30:03 provide a sketch of what this individual looked like. This is Tom. Tom, this is Jason. Hey, how's it going? Tom's going to help you with the composite. Using Jason's detailed description of that attacker, police are able to generate a photo-realistic computer composite of their suspect. So he's able to give you some details about what this intruder looked like. Yes, because he was face-to-face with that person, so he's really the only living survivor that can give us a description of the individual.
Starting point is 00:30:30 Despite Jason's cooperation, investigators say they still have lingering questions about Johnna's roommate. There was no forced entry and I think that that led investigators to probably focus a little bit more on Jason Amame. Also, you know, we had to look at the murder weapon came from within the apartment, within their own knife set. So, you know, Jason had access to that. Could he have gotten the knife and used it to commit this crime? Could he have cut his own finger? It'd be pretty hard to stab yourself in the face close to your eye,
Starting point is 00:31:05 but we couldn't rule that out. Is Jason a victim or a suspect? Investigators take him back to the scene of the crime. Will his story hold up? He just kept stabbing and stabbing. That's at the point to where I noticed he finally had a knife. The walkthrough was really important for us. Look for inconsistencies regarding what he was telling us about the scene, what happened that night. This episode is sponsored by Get Contact. Do you remember back in the days of cell phones when the only people who had your number were
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Starting point is 00:33:16 ["The Last Supper"] John and I talked about her wedding plans. We looked at several venues. We did purchase the wedding gown, and I'm grateful that Johnna got to experience that in her life. Just days ago, Joan Berry was helping her daughter plan a dream wedding. But after Jonna's violent murder, her mom is now planning her daughter's funeral. When we got to the cemetery, it was raining, and Jonna was buried in her engagement ring. She still had some blood around her cuticles and her fingernails.
Starting point is 00:34:06 So I cleaned her nails and that was the last thing I could do for her. She had so many plans for her life and she was gonna live life on her own terms and that was taken from her, brutally and violently taken from her. Her brother was supposed to play the piano at her wedding. Right.
Starting point is 00:34:32 And now he's playing at her funeral. How does a family switch gears like that? You don't have no choice. We had no choice. But there's an unexpected guest at the funeral. Just 48 hours after he was released from the hospital, We had no choice. But there's an unexpected guest at the funeral. Just 48 hours after he was released from the hospital, Jonna's roommate, Jason Amame, attends the funeral.
Starting point is 00:34:52 And so do detectives. There was a lot of chatter about the fact that Jason had run from the scene and leaving Jonna there essentially to die. People thought he had to have some kind of role in this because of his actions or inaction. Did it trouble you that he ran away from the scene to get help instead of trying somehow to help her?
Starting point is 00:35:15 It did for a while, but you know, after you have time to process things and really think about it, you know, I thought he was just trying to get out too, you know, because he was attacked. Detectives want an exact picture of what happened inside Jonna and Jason's apartment. With his detailed play-by-play, Jason takes them as close as possible
Starting point is 00:35:41 to being in that room when the attack happened. Date is December 9 9, 2004. Time is 1559. We had him look around to see if anything was missing, if anything had been stolen or disrupted. There was an Atlanta Braves baseball cap that was found in Johnna's bed that was not there before, was not owned by Johnna, was not owned by Jason Amame.
Starting point is 00:36:08 The partial shoe print on the cardboard, the Atlanta Braves hat, those things were leading us to believe that someone else possibly had entered the apartment. In the sheriff's office video of the walkthrough, you can see that Jason's wounds from the attack are still fresh and visible. Still, he's able to calmly describe the evening's events in great detail. I came home from the gym and the door was locked. John was sitting right here.
Starting point is 00:36:37 The walkthrough was really important for us to watch his body language, listen to him, look for inconsistencies regarding what he was telling us about the scene, what happened that night. He tells police the same story he did in his interview the day of the murder. Jonna went to sleep first, he went to bed around 12.30, and then was awakened around 4 a.m.
Starting point is 00:37:00 I heard a scream, but I didn't say a word. My door was totally closed, my room. I woke up just from my sleep here and I remember walking this way. He says he opened his bedroom door which was closed. He was confronted by someone. He he is right there. And I'm still looking down. And I remember doing this and having him face me and grab me like this. And then he pushed me back this way. And I fell on the bed like this.
Starting point is 00:37:38 At first, he was confused. He wasn't sure if he was being punched or being stabbed. He just kept stabbing and stabbing. And that's at the point to where I noticed he finally had a knife. I remember trying to defend myself like this with my hands. And that's where I got the cuts on my hands. Jason described pushing them back
Starting point is 00:37:57 towards the wall of the bedroom. That information was corroborated by blood smear on the drywall. Jason says he no longer heard Jonna screaming and didn't know if she had escaped the apartment or not. I took off and I ran as fast as I could this way. He said that when he left the apartment, he had to unlock the front door to get out.
Starting point is 00:38:17 And as I ran through here and got the door open, I just ran, I didn't even stop in here. I ran down through here and down the stairs. So, Johnna's roommate goes running from this apartment complex. What route did he take? Johnna's apartment is located over this way, so he ran out of the apartment complex. He saw a figure off in the distance.
Starting point is 00:38:42 He thought it was the person that was still chasing him or looking for him. He came this way and looked closer at it. He saw a figure off in the distance. He thought it was kind of like somebody going up. And it's walking like this. After knocking on doors at a neighboring apartment complex but not getting any help, Jason takes off down the road. I think the biggest information that we got from the walkthrough was he felt like he was being pursued. And you kind of started to understand how and why he made it all the way to the 24-hour
Starting point is 00:39:29 convenience store before he could summon help. I remember going just right next to these bushes here. I remember scaling right about this point right here. And when I got to the door here, I looked inside and noticed the clerk. I got to hear the folks in there, folks in the jail tell me. After that minute-by-minute account that was consistent with his earlier statements, detectives are now less convinced that Jason could be the killer. But is he telling the full truth? When Jason was confronted by the polygrapher, he became very upset.
Starting point is 00:40:21 Turn your chair around. Let's talk. Yeah. Your scores were substantial, right? And new physical evidence leads to more questions than answers. There was Jonna's DNA, Jason Amame's DNA, and there was an unknown DNA that was collected. They realize there's a third party that was in that room. And a twist so wild, not even seasoned investigators could see it coming. I felt very confident. This has to be our guide.
Starting point is 00:40:58 Why would anybody want to cop to a crime they didn't commit. ["The Last Supper"] A family still looking to track down a murderer tonight, nearly three years after their daughter and UT co-ed is killed in her apartment. What is that like for you as a family to have your daughter murdered and no one arrested for it? That was the only thing on my mind from morning to night. That's all I could think about.
Starting point is 00:41:34 When it comes to this mother wanting to find answers, she would stop at nothing. We need to know who did this to Donna. We need answers. We would follow up with the tips that we would get. Ruling out suspects. All I'm trying to tell you is the truth. And I'm not telling you.
Starting point is 00:41:53 Jason, you haven't told it to me. And I've told you the 100% truth. And seeing what's left. There was an unknown DNA that was collected from several locations inside and outside of the apartment. Now that's got to be important because now that's going to be something that's going to lead you to somebody.
Starting point is 00:42:13 You get the case of Jonna Berry and you're running samples. Give me an idea of how that works. There's no other person, literally no other person in the world but you that could have left that sample. You know what happened to this girl. Here in Knoxville we don't have a murder every day. Here in Knoxville, we don't have a murder every day. When something like this happened to Johnna Berry, it kind of shook up the neighborhood. Brendan Park Apartments calls itself a peaceful retreat here in West Knoxville.
Starting point is 00:43:03 But one early December morning, that peace was shattered. 21-year-old Johnna Berry had been brutally stabbed in her own apartment. In a million years, I would never have thought that this would have happened to my daughter. my daughter. 21 year old Johnna Berry and her roommate were stabbed in their Brendan Park apartment on December 6th. The roommate who survived was able to call police, but Johnna didn't make it and her killer is still on the loose.
Starting point is 00:43:40 Based on the description that Jason gave us, we had a composite sketch made. This is who sheriff's investigators are trying to identify. He's in his 20s Based on the description that Jason gave us, we had a composite sketch made. This is who sheriff's investigators are trying to identify. He's in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 150 pounds. The thing about the composite, it has some really distinguishing features. Kind of almond-shaped eyes, widow's peak, kind of a blunted nose, but a white male. If you think you have information that could help the case, you're asked
Starting point is 00:44:07 to call the Sheriff's office. Leads were coming in, but leading nowhere. Meanwhile, Jonna's mom turns her grief into frustration. The weeks go by, no arrest. What is that like for you as a family to have your daughter murdered and no one arrested for it? We called every day. We would call the detectives.
Starting point is 00:44:38 There was that feeling that detectives in the sheriff's office weren't doing enough, when in reality they were working this every day. There just weren't any answers. Johnna Berry's family is still upset over a lack of closure. I can tell you that the two detectives assigned to the case were running nonstop, chasing down leads, going through tip lines. All of those things were happening,
Starting point is 00:45:05 but the end result wasn't there. It was very hard for me not to have an answer for Johnna's parents. And speaking with them on a daily basis, letting them know there's nothing new, there's no more leads. I became so worried that it would become a cold case and we would never get answers.
Starting point is 00:45:25 I kept it in the media, I did everything that I could. You turned your grief into action. I did, I did. Yesterday, they were at the track in Bristol today, a church in downtown Knoxville. She called me every time she was doing something different. Hey, we're going to put flyers at the cleaners, can you come? Hey, we're going to put flyers at the cleaners. Can you come?
Starting point is 00:45:43 MUSIC Joan used her own money to put billboards all over town, including a heavily traveled stretch of I-40. We had several billboards with Jonah's pictures with a picture of the composite on them and $70,000 reward. MUSIC on them and $70,000 reward. A local grocery store chain had information about seeking help to solve the unsolved murder on their delivery trucks. We handed out flyers.
Starting point is 00:46:15 A family and volunteers put flyers on cars in the neighborhoods around through there. I don't think I could ever be as strong as Joan. She wouldn't stop. She digs in and she just goes. That was the only thing on my mind every day, from morning to night. That's all I could think about was who would kill Donna.
Starting point is 00:46:43 While the investigation has made little progress in naming a suspect, things are moving ahead on the forensics front. Inside Jonna's apartment, there was a very pronounced shoe print and blood. We ended up sending off the cardboard that the tread pattern was on. and we got information back from that that this tread appeared to be this type shoe Faded Glory, most of sold at Walmart.
Starting point is 00:47:15 The shoe print ID is the most promising evidence so far, leading detectives to their strongest suspect. We got a tip a few streets over from the apartment complex that an individual had been involved in some crimes, some thefts, and that led us to an individual named Michael Percival. He lived in a trailer park, probably within a few miles of the apartment complex. When we went into the trailer to talk to him, the carpet cleaner was sitting there next
Starting point is 00:47:51 to the living room. A carpet cleaner isn't necessarily suspicious in and of itself, but what if somebody was using it to clean up blood tracked in on the bottom of their shoe? Detectives ask Percival if they can look at his shoes. Detective Delgado retrieved the shoes from Michael Percival and she noticed the tread on those being similar to the tread that were found in the apartment, Jason Amamy's room.
Starting point is 00:48:19 She kind of elbowed me and showed me the tread and we were both kind of like, holy cow, this could really be the shoes. I saw Captain Hall, and he said, we've got him. He still had the shoes, Kevin. He still had the shoes. Everything looked like it was lining up for us. Michael Percival was the individual responsible
Starting point is 00:48:42 for Johnna's death. But does the shoe fit? We can't believe what he's saying. You know, it doesn't make any sense. And there are more questions for Jason Amame as his patience wears thin. I'm trying to get married here. I don't get a lot of feelings from that. I feel like a monster. This is the next phase in my therapeutic work. Nicole Kidman returns for the Hulu Original 9 Perfect Strangers Season 2. Breathe in. Breathe out. This is safe.
Starting point is 00:49:21 We take you back to a core trauma. Breathe in. breathe out. She is manipulating us. Breathe in, breathe out. Why are you resisting? Is it too late to get a refund? The all new season of 9 Perfect Strangers is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu and Disney+. New episodes May 21st.
Starting point is 00:49:40 The cultural phenomenon, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is back with an all new season now streaming on Hulu. Where is everyone at? Mom Talk has gotten to a really hostile point. Demi is willing to kick Jessie out of the group. I feel like I'm walking into a lion's den. It's going to get messy, for sure. Mom Talk is turning on each other left and right. The police are here.
Starting point is 00:49:59 I can't see this going any other way but a pure bloodbath. This is so toxic. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives now streaming on Hulu. Detectives Hall and Delgado have just gotten a big lead in John O'Berry's murder case. They're led to a 19-year-old named Michael Percival. His shoes appear to match that bloody shoe print left behind at the crime scene.
Starting point is 00:50:31 I felt very confident. This has to be her guide. Both of us were kind of big-eyed. It was just like we've got it solved. We couldn't believe that he kept the shoes. Investigators bring Percival in for an interview. And in a shocking admission, the teenager says he witnessed the murder. When Michael first admitted to being at Johnna's house,
Starting point is 00:50:53 he explained that this was part of a drug deal gone wrong. He said that he went there with a drug dealer to collect money from Johnna and Jason for drugs that they had purchased. He said that he entered the apartment and this individual that he came with was stabbing John and Jason inside the apartment. But as detectives keep questioning him, they say his story just isn't adding up. There was nothing to indicate at all that Jason or Johnna were involved in drugs, so it was very inconsistent with what we knew
Starting point is 00:51:25 about the victims. Jonna was never involved in drugs. She was very straight-laced. Investigators take a closer look at Percival shoes that they believe might have been at the crime scene. We sent those off for analysis and the analysis came back. It was not an exact match.
Starting point is 00:51:45 Those were not the shoes. This was another dead end. Michael Percival was ultimately cleared. Why would anybody want to cop to a crime they didn't commit? We learned through the investigation that Michael Percival liked attention. Now back at square one, investigators are reexamining the case. There's this one person detectives keep coming back to, and it's Jonna's roommate, Jason Amame. While evidence such as the CDs, a baseball cap, and that bloody shoe print suggest a third person might have been in the apartment,
Starting point is 00:52:21 detectives still have questions for Jason. We wanted to 100% make sure that Jason wasn't involved in this in any way. Even if there was another person involved, that he didn't let them in. So police ask him to take a polygraph test. He agrees and the test is videotaped. Are you ready to take the test?
Starting point is 00:52:43 Sure. All right. If you would, let me take off my sweatshirt. videotaped. One of the main reasons that we asked Jason to take a polygraph is just simply to see like how cooperative he would be with it. No. Did you have prior knowledge that the person who stabbed Johnny O would be at your apartment that night? No. But then things take a sudden turn in the interview room when the polygrapher begins
Starting point is 00:53:12 to interrogate Jason. Jason, I want you to listen to me. Yes. You know, I think you're a smart boy, but you did a par on that test. Did I really? You really did. Turn these tears around and let's talk. Yeah. You're a smart boy, but you did a farro on that teddy.
Starting point is 00:53:26 Did I really? You really did. Turn these here and let's talk. Yeah. Why do you think you fell on the teddy? I was 100% sure. The polygrapher basically started interviewing Jason Amame and accusing him of being the killer. perhaps over something that you said or something that happened there. And you just laughed it out. Never.
Starting point is 00:54:07 All I'm trying to determine is the truth. And I'm not going to tell you that you haven't told it to me. What am I lying about? I have told you the 100% truth. It was the first time we really saw Jason react emotionally in the sense you could tell he was very angered and offended by the question. Are you saying I did it? I'm saying it certainly looks like it. It was confrontational.
Starting point is 00:54:32 The polygrapher was not just asking questions, but was essentially involved in a heated interrogation. One hundred percent. I didn't have anything to do with this. I don't care what that box says. I voluntarily took this. If I had something to hide it, why would I take this test? Why would I do this? Calm down. I'm getting out of here. I don't even know how to do this. I feel like a suspect now. Calm down. Calm down. He's very, very upset. It took a little bit to get him calmed down. Police are reviewing Jason's test results when they discover there's an error. The polygraphist said that he failed the test. When we had two other polygraphers look at the results, they basically said that he passed the test.
Starting point is 00:55:23 Besides passing the polygraph, detectives also aren't able to link that bloody shoe print or partial fingerprint on the knife to Jason. So he's ultimately clear. Jason was originally from Colorado and shortly after he relocated back to Colorado. Michael and I traveled to Colorado and visited with him. He answered our questions and had time for us. I'm sure this has affected Jason's life too. Jason has not only suffered the trauma of the attack, but he's also facing public scrutiny
Starting point is 00:55:58 and innuendo. Jason was a good kid who got caught up in this and the circumstances of it and made a decision of flight that was involuntary and took a lot of heat and a lot of flack for that and has. Weeks after the murder, a new bombshell development when lab results come back from blood at the crime scene. come back from blood at the crime scene. There was Jonna's DNA, Jason Amame's DNA, and there was an unknown DNA inside and outside of the apartment. Could this DNA belong to the killer? Detectives are racing to find out.
Starting point is 00:56:37 That was the key to getting the person that did this. Wow. They're going to be able to find who murdered her. I see memories of Jonna everywhere in the house, right? Yes. These are Jonna's in the house, right? Yes. These are Jonna's little baby shoes. They rest here? That's where they stay here all the time.
Starting point is 00:57:11 Even though years have gone by since their daughter's murder, this is my pride and joy. I love this. In nearly every corner of every room, mementos of Jonna. This is Jonna's room. We call it Jonna's room. Jonna's room. And I still have her wedding gown. You still have it.
Starting point is 00:57:33 I still have her wedding gown. All these years later. After 20 years. This is it. This is it. That's beautiful. This is the dress. Her wedding gown. All the beading This is the dress, the wedding gown.
Starting point is 00:57:45 All the beading. Look at the train. She looked beautiful in it. Yes. 20 years old. She had picked out a wedding band for Jason, and we bought it. So John's dad wears the wedding band. He wears it every day.
Starting point is 00:58:06 Well, I still got it. She worked so hard and did so many things. That was a small gesture. I'm glad that she got to experience being engaged and planning a wedding. Weeks after Jonna's murder, investigators still don't have a suspect, but then a break in the case.
Starting point is 00:58:33 DNA results have just come in. There were three DNA samples found at the scene, Jonna's, Jason, and an unknown male perpetrator. The unknown sample, it was found in Jonna's bedroom. It was also found in the living room, and it was found on the back door and outside on the back deck. And we know that they exited out the rear of the apartment
Starting point is 00:58:59 because the unknown DNA is not only on the back door, but it leads down the back stairwell. We found no unknown DNA on the front door leading out the front door. Detectives also make a key discovery on the murder weapon. There was an unknown DNA that was found on the knife. The race is now on to find out who the DNA belongs to. We thought they're gonna be able to find who murdered her. But after running that unknown DNA through a law enforcement database,
Starting point is 00:59:30 investigators get some disappointing news. The DNA comes back to us. There's no one in the system that that comes back to. They don't know who it belongs to. It seemed unusual to us that a person would commit a crime with such violence if they didn't have some sort of other violent history. They ran the DNA and no match.
Starting point is 00:59:54 No match. While meeting with investigators, Joan learned something else that shocks her. Tennessee doesn't take DNA if you're arrested for a violent crime, only if you're convicted. I was absolutely shocked, and I even said, wow, well, that needs to be changed. And that's exactly what Joan does. For more than two years, hoping it might lead to her daughter's killer, she pushes for a new DNA law. I would go to the Capitol and introduce myself and ask them if they would support the DNA law. I would go to the Capitol and introduce myself
Starting point is 01:00:26 and ask them if they would support the DNA law. We're talking about any violent crime such as murder, rape, even robbery. Those people arrested would have to submit their DNA. Joan is a fighter and she rose up like a phoenix. Johnna Berry was her name and her parents, Joan is sitting in the back of the chamber here with me today, have been on a crusade. Well a victory today for family and friends of murdered
Starting point is 01:00:51 UT student Johnna Berry. I think this is a very important bill for every citizen in the state of Tennessee. You pushed and pushed and you got this law passed in Tennessee. You changed the law. Yes, we did. Johnna's law. It's called the Johnna Berry Act. But ironically, even after changing the law, Joan discovers there's still no match with that unknown DNA in her daughter's case. How did you find the strength to keep pushing?
Starting point is 01:01:23 This was the most important thing in the world to me, to find out who murdered Johnna. When it comes to this mother wanting to find answers, she would stop at nothing. To keep her daughter, Johnna's, name out in the public, Joan goes on national talk shows. Joan, what has it been like all these years? There's no words to explain what we've gone through. She even goes on the Montel Williams show seeking a psychic's help. Really need to know, we need to know who did this to Donna. We need answers.
Starting point is 01:02:00 Heartbroken warrior. That's who Joan is. That was my prayer always to have an answer. And I believed in my heart that God would answer my prayers. Even if it took a while? Mm-hmm. And one day he said, what are you worried about? It's going to be okay. As the investigation into Jonna's murder went on, it really expanded. Thousands of tips came in. We would follow up with the tips that we would get. Every person that we came in contact with,
Starting point is 01:02:33 we asked them to voluntarily commit to a DNA sample. We looked into any person that we possibly could, but it was just dead end after dead end. Then about two and a half years after John O'Berry's death. So in this lab we actually have dual purpose. A forensic scientist makes a key discovery. I said oh wow this might be something. Our chief of detectives called and said that we all needed to get together. They needed to talk to us.
Starting point is 01:03:00 And he's like get here as soon as you can. A family still looking to track down a murderer tonight nearly three years after their daughter and UT co-ed is killed in her apartment. The main thing that you're going on is DNA evidence. Yes, we have the unknown DNA. It was really our only connection to the person that was connected to this crime. We thought, will we ever have this case solved? Then the case makes a turn. Someone called in a tip after looking at the composite sketch and they said, that looks like someone I know. And that someone is Taylor Olson. Looks very similar.
Starting point is 01:03:50 Yes. Taylor Lee Olson is 22 years old. He lived about 15 minutes from the crime scene and he was known to have committed some petty crimes, also harassment, theft. He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest out of another jurisdiction. We arrested him, asked him about the crime.
Starting point is 01:04:12 Does he present in any way at all to you that he might have a connection to this? He said that he didn't know anything about the crime. He voluntarily gave us his DNA. Given that Taylor Olson only had smaller, petty crimes, he didn't really fit the profile of who we were looking for. We just thought, hey, you know, this is just another person that looks like the composite sketch.
Starting point is 01:04:36 Olson's DNA is then sent to a lab to compare it to the unknown DNA found at the crime scene. It comes back. It is a match to the blood of that unknown person found at the crime scene. So in this lab, we actually have dual- Jennifer Millsaps, the forensic scientist at the lab, made the match.
Starting point is 01:04:57 I looked at it a couple times. I wasn't too sure. I wanted to make sure that it actually was a match and I hadn't confused something. So we actually ran it twice to verify it. That must've been a big moment. Oh yeah, it was huge. Amazing.
Starting point is 01:05:11 Probably one of the happiest moments of my life. We were all very excited, high-fiving each other, celebrating. Gave Brad a big hug or something because we just, we couldn't believe it finally happened. You get a phone call. There's a match. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Starting point is 01:05:30 So I said, I want to put you on the speakerphone because I wanted Mike to hear too because I didn't trust what I was hearing. It was the blessing that God had answered my prayer. So when we come back to town, we learn that Taylor Olson has a couple more outstanding warrants for his arrest, a burglary and a theft. At that time, detectives don't have a warrant to arrest him for murder. So we go into mode of looking for him and trying to locate him on those arrest warrants.
Starting point is 01:06:05 He was found, ironically, in the mall where Johnna worked in the parking lot of the mall. He was inside the trunk of a car. He was trying to hide from the officers. So we took him into custody. Let me see. You had your suspect. We had a suspect.
Starting point is 01:06:24 We wanted to give him an opportunity to explain why his DNA or his blood was found there in the crime scene. What's up, Tyler? How you doing, man? I'm good. It was very important to us that he didn't have any upfront knowledge that we were going to talk
Starting point is 01:06:39 to him about Jonna or the DNA. Do you know why you're here? Where you going? What for? to him about Jonna or the DNA. Do you know why you're here? What for? Had you ever heard about the Jonna Berry homicide case before? So you'd never seen Jonna Berry before? Detectives decide to. No, I never met her. Detectives decide to confront Olson with the DNA evidence. After I sent your sample off to the TBI lab, they got us a report back. It's a match for your DNA being in John Barry's
Starting point is 01:07:17 apartment. Is this a joke? No. I really don't know. Trust me, it's not a joke. No. I really don't know anything about it. No. Trust me, it's not a joke.
Starting point is 01:07:24 Is there any reason that you can explain your blood being in John O'Berry's apartment? My blood was in John O'Berry's apartment. Right. You're serious? Yeah. He was very adamant that he was not there. He denied any involvement.
Starting point is 01:07:45 You think he killed someone? I'm just talking about the evidence, is what I'm talking about. I've never killed anyone. We knew he was there, of course, because of the blood, his DNA being there. So we're here to give you an opportunity. Okay.
Starting point is 01:08:04 To, you know, tell us what happened, his DNA being there. So we're here to give you an opportunity. Okay. To, you know, tell us what happened, why you were there, do and why your blood was there. I have never been there. I don't even kill her. I haven't killed no one. I've never killed anybody. Never.
Starting point is 01:08:18 There was no doubt in my mind at that point that this was the person that we'd been looking for. We have your blood there. So I'm pretty much f**ked up. I'm giving you the opportunity to explain. I don't have an explanation. Finally, you know, we were just like, hey, he's just going to keep going and going with his story and nothing's ever going to change. It almost seemed like he thought that he was going to get away with it.
Starting point is 01:08:43 Olson is questioned three days in a row. And on the final day, investigators are about to make a breakthrough. I've been sitting out here in the hallway listening to this **** what you're talking about, and I'm just about sick of it. Why did you do this to this girl? And finally, he said, OK, I was there.
Starting point is 01:09:02 I can't believe this happened. You got the knife away from that person? Went kind of crazy? Yeah. Yeah. Oh. Oh. FX presents, Welcome to Wrexham.
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Starting point is 01:10:21 You want both free? Yeah. OK. This is your opportunity to tell, because this is your last chance. Your last chance to get your voice out there. You tell your side of it. We already know her side. On his third day of taped interrogation,
Starting point is 01:10:36 Taylor Olson continues to deny any knowledge of John O'Berry's murder. Why don't you tell me what happened when you were inside? I don't know. He would just say, I don't have an explanation. Don't have an explanation. So finally, you know, we just said, like, enough's enough. I've been sitting out here in the hallway
Starting point is 01:10:59 listening to this b---- you're talking about. And I'm just about sick of it. You know what happened to this girl? Look at this about sick of it. You know what happened to this girl? Look at this. You were there. You know what happened to her? We know you were there. The evidence shows you were there. Why did you do this to this girl?
Starting point is 01:11:18 Huh? Why'd you do that? And that's when you really saw Taylor change. Like once he saw the crime scene photo, this is what happened, this is what you did. Like, you need to talk about this. Finally, with evidence of the crime staring him right in the face,
Starting point is 01:11:34 Taylor Olson began sharing his own account of the night of the murder. I just didn't understand what happened. I just... Did you have blood on you? Were you cut? I don thought I got too drunk. Did you have blood on you? Were you cut? I don't remember if I was cut.
Starting point is 01:11:48 Eventually, more details begin trickling in. As Olson says, he was out that night with a friend named Noah Cox. Man, Noah went out and took a CD player out of a car. And we kind of got lost from each other. Someone came out when we were breaking into cars and yelled at us, ran off. I don't know where the hell he was. Now, wandering around on his own, Olson says he suddenly found himself outside
Starting point is 01:12:19 Jonna's apartment. He says he goes up back steps of Jna and Jason Hamamie's apartment. I was looking for some keys and then someone said who are you or what are you doing or something? And I was like you know chill out and then I just heard like a yell and then I just felt the pain. He goes in Johnna's bedroom. Johnna wakes up. He says they get into a confrontation and that she has a knife, stabs him on the arm,
Starting point is 01:12:58 fought with her over the knife. She did fight back hard. She fought for her life. That's why the stabbing kept going on and on. You got the knife away from that person and just went kind of crazy. I guess they were sleeping with it. I just freaked out. As for Jason Amame, Olson says he had no idea that another person was in the apartment. I didn't even remember anything about the guy until
Starting point is 01:13:38 the news said it was two people. I didn't realize everyone got hurt like that. Did you just go in there and things just went wrong? I really don't know her, man. I've never met her. There's no reason for him to select that apartment other than the fact that it was the first apartment he came to that had an open door.
Starting point is 01:13:57 And Jonna, according to her mom, was a stickler for locking the door every night. Nobody knows why the door was unlocked on that night. After nearly three years of unanswered questions with investigators looking at people in Jonna's life and complete strangers alike, Olson's confession is startling. And to wind up having a random person, a break in, nobody who's really connected to her,
Starting point is 01:14:29 that's not common, is it? No, not really. It wasn't. It was a surprise to us and I think everybody else was kind of surprised too. Now that Knox County detectives know Taylor Olson's full story, he prepares to tell his mom and sister the truth. Would you rather talk to your mom on the telephone or would you rather talk to her in person? I'd like to see her.
Starting point is 01:14:52 She really is being a mom. You kind of have to feel for her, what's going on, what has my son done? What happened, Tay? Did you break up, Taylor? I love you. That was an accident. Are you sure? Taylor, Taylor I need to know.
Starting point is 01:15:13 It's okay, I want to know the truth, okay? Dude, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. Okay. You'd rather have the truth, okay? I have to. I have to offer you one? When did you tell him the truth? How did that come about?
Starting point is 01:15:31 I got my bloods on the knife and my bloods like in the back door. Then why did they let you go? Did they get the DNA back? Okay, and it matches? Taylor, listen, I'm gonna help you. I want to make sure that this is for real and that you did it.
Starting point is 01:15:49 No, I don't know. And at that point, you feel their brokenness over this horrific crime. Taylor, I want you to know something. I want you to start praying because there is a God. Do you hear me? And he loves you and will forgive if this is true. I'm so sorry, Mom.
Starting point is 01:16:11 Taylor. After coming clean to his family, Olsen now faces the press. Did you mean to kill her? No. Why'd you do it? Was it an accident? It was an accident.
Starting point is 01:16:23 But you stabbed her 26 times. And his look was one of complete surprise, shock, baffled. I told reporters it was an accident. How is that an accident? Accidents happen one time, not 20 plus. No, that angered me that it was an accident. Well after 33 months of wondering and waiting, Johnna Berry's parents finally came face to face with the man charged with killing their daughter. 22-year-old Taylor Olson, he's
Starting point is 01:16:55 facing seven counts including first-degree murder. But just as Taylor Olson is about to go on trial, he does something that utterly rocks everyone involved in the case. You finally are getting to court and then you get shocking news. Our top story tonight, this man, 22 year old Taylor Lee Olsen of Knoxville is behind bars. Now today's announcement providing some relief to Johnna's family who have spent years and countless hours searching for her killer. What was that like for you to see him and to come face to face with him in court?
Starting point is 01:17:43 You look at that person and it's like, I know you're not supposed to hate anybody, but I hated him. Cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom for today's hearing, but inside, 22-year-old Taylor Lee Olson did not enter a plea when he was arraigned. Olson faces a seven-count indictment,
Starting point is 01:18:00 including three counts of felony murder and one count of first degree murder. They're planning for a trial. And then we get word Taylor Lee Olson is dead. He hanged himself in his jail cell. I got a call the Monday after Easter that he had been found in his jail cell, that he had fashioned a ligature with sheets.
Starting point is 01:18:29 You finally are getting to court, and then you get shocking news. He's taken his life. When I got the news, I became very upset. I even cried. What were the tears for? Just tears of relief because we don't have to fight the system. But Joan Berry wants confirmation with her own eyes that her daughter's killer is really gone.
Starting point is 01:18:58 I called the DA's office and I said, I know you probably think I'm just a crazy old woman, but I want to see him dead, just the way I had to look at my daughter dead. Joan and Mike wanted that. We met in the conference room in the district attorney's office and showed them photographs of Taylor Olson's autopsy. To some people it might sound cruel, but I think it gave me some closure. I think that the Berries needed to see
Starting point is 01:19:32 the photos of Taylor Olson because they were deprived of the right of trial. Though there's no trial, the case isn't exactly over because in writings left behind in his jail cell, Taylor Olson tries to argue his innocence from beyond the grave. I read a bunch of letters that I didn't do it and hung himself. That's a coward's admission of guilt. Olson writes a long note called The Story where he tries to shift blame by bringing back a familiar name.
Starting point is 01:20:07 Taylor Olson said he didn't do it and that Noah Cox, his friend, is the one who committed the crime. Noah Cox was the individual that Taylor said he was with when they were breaking into vehicles and were separated. In an audio recording with investigators Noah Cox denies breaking into cars with Olson that night and he's adamant that he was never in John Avery's apartment. Mr Cox were you present in the apartment when John Avery was murdered? No sir. The whole story just really doesn't make sense. We had talked to Noah Cox. He had submitted to a DNA sample. His DNA didn't come back as a match to the unknown sample. There was no evidence showing that Noah Cox
Starting point is 01:20:50 was ever in that apartment. There's no other blood samples, fingerprints, nothing to indicate that anyone but Taylor was there. Taylor Olson's partial fingerprint was ultimately found on the murder weapon. Was there any part of you that felt any sadness for the outside for his family to families lives have been ruined.
Starting point is 01:21:17 Painfully I'll never see my daughter again now they'll never see their son again. again now they'll never see their son again. Through their pain, Joan and Mike Berry stay busy, focusing on the laws they've changed and all the victims they've helped. Now here we are at the TBI where there is big change. There is change. There's now a memorial to Jonna at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations in Knoxville DNA Lab. Long after we're gone, she'll be, she'll still be helping others.
Starting point is 01:21:48 To be able to have made that kind of change in a state law, that must be gratifying even in the midst of your heartbreak. It is very gratifying, but it's also sad that this had to happen to my daughter. And when Joan and Mike aren't tirelessly fighting for victims rights, every son of the vote on the bill, every son of the vote has every son of the voted. Do you do remember that one? August 26 or 21st birthday. They take time to savor the bright, wonderful memories
Starting point is 01:22:26 their daughter left behind, including a note written to each of them on her high school graduation day. I still have the letter, so I'd like to read it to you. And it says, dear mom, I want to thank you for being my mom. You have always been the one I could turn to. No matter what, the only true friend that I've ever had. I only hope that someday that I'll be a mom as good as you are. I hope that I have made you proud and I hope I will continue to make you proud in the future. I love you your daughter
Starting point is 01:23:13 She loved life, you know, I can still see her in her little red convertible with the top down and Her ponytail blowing in the wind. Johnna's smiling at the camera girl. Johnna's dead, but she's not dead in my heart. Plant flowers in her memory. Sometimes I'm outside, I think butterflies remind me. So she's still with you. She is.
Starting point is 01:23:49 Such emotional words from a mother David after her daughter's murder. Joan Berry actually started a support group to help families and victims of violent crime. And Deborah as you know she also continues to advocate for DNA arrest laws. Today 34 states require that DNA is collected after arrest. That's our program for tonight. I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night. Hello, it's Robin Roberts here. Hey guys, it's George Cephonopoulos here. Hey everybody, it's Michael Strahan here. Wake up with good morning America.
Starting point is 01:24:22 Hey everybody, it's Michael Strahan here. Wake up with Good Morning America. Robin, George, Michael, GMA, America's favorite number one morning show. The morning's first breaking news, exclusive interviews, what everyone will be talking about that day. Put some good in your morning and start your day with GMA. Good morning America. Put the good in your morning. GMA 7A on ABC.

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