Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Screams, blood trail lead to Mommy & Daddy found dead, 3 tots still asleep

Episode Date: April 24, 2020

911 calls to police report screams coming from the home of a young couple. Police find Tony Butterfield dead in the backyard. His wife is found dead inside. Their three children, all under the age of four, are in the home. They are unharmed. The search before the killer? What happened to the Butterfields?Joining Nancy Grace today: Jason Oshins - New York Defense Attorney Bruce Johnson - owner ISP Investigations-Master Sgt Region One Crime Scene Commander, Chicago Metro Area (Ret) Dr. Michelle Dupre - South Carolina Medical Examiner & Author of “Homicide Investigation Field Guide ” Dr. Daniel Bober - Forensic Psychiatrist  Nicole Partin - Freelance Investigative Reporter Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Nancy Grace is coming to Fox Nation. I want justice. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Available now only on Fox Nation. How does a young Utah couple end up dead at their own home, their children in the home. In the last hours, a major break in the case. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. First of all, let's go straight out to CBS KUTV.

Jeremy Harris, listen. This all started in the middle of the night, and it plays out like a horror story. That was the information police had when they were called to this neighborhood just after 1 a.m. West Jordan Police say officers found one person dead in the backyard, one person dead in the house, both from gunshots, wounds, and alive in that house were the couple's three children, all under the age of four. We know that two people were killed, but now we need to find out the who and the why. Now, police believe that the couple may have fought back against the person who broke into their home and killed them. They say there was evidence that that person may have been stabbed. They appear to, in our drone video, potentially that there was a blood trail that was marked with

cones leading from the backyard of the house. Now, police say this person who was responsible for this was able to get away. Well, what we are learning from CBS KUTV is that the TV station had a drone circling overhead. I guess they followed all the police to the home where the mom and dad were killed. And they could make out due to the placement, like an orange cone you see in traffic that police have put out or in parking lots, they, KUTV, followed the cones and believed there was a trail of blood leading from or to, but most likely from the home. With me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again,

Jason Oceans, defense attorney joining me out of the New York tri-state area, Bruce Johnson, owner, ISP Investigations, Master Sergeant, Chicago Metro Police, retired. Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina medical examiner and author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist on Instagram, Dr. Daniel Bober. But right now to Nicole Parton, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Nicole, I want to first start with the victims, Tony Butterfield and Catherine Butterfield,

31 and 30, respectively. Now, let me understand, they were in their home at the time they were murdered? That's correct, Nancy. 30-year-old Catherine Butterfield apparently spent the day sending out handwritten notes to her friends and family. Tony, her husband, 31 years old, had been outside building toys for the children to play with. Later in the evening, they tucked their three children in the bed upstairs in the home. Their children ages three, four, and six months. It was at around 1.15 that the 911 call went in. The neighbor saying she heard screams, she heard gunshot wounds.

Authorities headed out to the home where they found Tony in the backyard, both dead from gunshot wounds. Take a listen to our friends at Salt Lake City, Fox 13, Spencer Joseph. A West Jordan neighborhood woken up in the middle of the night to sounds of screaming and gunfire. Police arriving on scene, finding a husband and wife both shot and killed. THE HOME. POLICE SAY THEY FOUND THE CHILDREN. THE CHILDREN WERE BROKEN UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO SOUNDS OF SCREAMING AND GUNFIRE. POLICE ARRIVING ON SCENE FINDING A HUSBAND AND WIFE BOTH SHOT AND KILLED.

WE ARE CALLING IT A HOMICIDE. WE DO BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE A SUSPECT OR SUSPECTS THAT ATTEMPTED TO BREAK INTO THE HOME AND FOR WHAT REASONS WE DON'T KNOW. IN THE HOME, THREE CHILDREN, ALL AGES FOUR AND UNDER.

WE'RE DEALING WITH TWO PARENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MURDERED, POSSIBLY IN THE PRESENCE OF THESE CHILDREN. WE DON'T KNOW. POLICE ARE NOW WORKING TO PIECE TOGETHER WHAT HAPPENED. GIVEN THE YOUNG AGE OF THE CHILDREN, THAT BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT. WE'RE TRYING TO GET THEM that have been murdered, possibly in the presence of these children. We don't know. Police are now working to piece together what happened. Given the young age of

the Children that that becomes very difficult for us to do to interview, you know, Children in that age group, they say the suspect may have been injured or stabbed in the break in. Police are following leads to try and get a description of the suspect or suspects. Description of that vehicle. Police say they've never been called to this home before and have no reason to believe this is a part of something bigger. It doesn't fall into that realm. Interesting the way they say that police have never been to the home before and it doesn't, quote, fall into that realm. Interesting the way that that was put.

To Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, the children are ages three, four, and six months. Now, both of their parents are dead, murdered in the home. What can you tell us about the nature of survivor guilt? What is that? Well, Nancy, survivor guilt is essentially feeling like you did something wrong by living through a tragic event. You know, when kids are exposed to trauma, generally they don't really have a lot of memory before age three, but some of them do. So it's unknown what will happen in this situation,

but kids do tend to be pretty resilient. So it's difficult to predict the effect that the trauma will have. You know, I find it very interesting that you, in particular, Dr. Bober, when children are victims, always talk about how resilient they are. That's interesting because the children that I have known that have lost both their parents carry it around with them for the rest of their lives. And there are really, for me, just a JD, countless studies that indicate if a child goes specifically without their mother, much less their mother and father, before some say age three, some say age four, some say age ten, that they have lifelong implications of that. What implications would those be of not having a mother starting at age six months? Well, certainly that's a prime time for bonding and attachment. And so if you don't have a mother figure in your life, it could affect you academically. It could affect your future relationships. It could affect you all across the lifespan, Nancy. Depression, alcohol, drugs.

Absolutely. A higher, much higher, statistically, percentage of not finishing high school, much less going to college. Yeah. And if you don't finish high school and you don't go to college, what kind of job are you going to college and if you don't finish high school and you don't go to college, what kind of job are you going to get? So you have this job at basically minimum wage and it's hard to make ends meet with that kind of job.

So you're facing most likely a low standard of living, bordering on poverty level, and you have with you forever survivor guilt. You lived and mommy and daddy were murdered and you were home. Was it somehow your fault? Did your nightmare somehow come true? And you don't have the bonding, the attachment, the family, nothing. You have nothing after something like this happens. A six-month-old, a three-year-old, and a four-year-old. Dr. Michelle Dupree, what, if anything, do we know

of the injuries of this young mom, Catherine Butterfield, and her husband, Tony? I think I have Dr. Michelle Dupree with me. Michelle, are you there? You know, I'm very curious. Let me ask you, Nicole Parton, what was the COD, cause of death, on the mom and dad? Both of them were gunshot wounds. We know that the father, Tony, was found just outside the home, in the backyard, mom inside,

but both fatally wounded, dead from gunshot wounds. Cops found the Johnson's car at the scene. And I'm very curious about whether a car was stolen, what was stolen in the home, what we know about what occurred inside the home. I'm trying to get at motive for the murders of the Butterfields. Nicole Parton, what can you tell me about any potential motive? Police are being tight-lipped, but we do know that when they arrived on the scene, they found broken glass. They found a footprint near the garage, so signs of a forced entry. They do say and are calling this a home invasion. They're calling it a robbery, and they're saying

that the belongings of this family inside the home were all rummaged through. Now, they aren't giving us details as to what items are missing, but they are being very, very plain to say that the home was rummaged through. That's very interesting. What would have been worth two lives of a mother and a father to take out of that home? And as you heard before, there was no police call prior to this to that home. These were not drug dealers. They didn't deal with theft by receiving stolen property. Nothing like this. This is a suburban area with a mom and dad at home with their two children. So what went wrong? We also know that the Butterfields

are believed to have tried to fend off their attacker or attackers. And police say there were defensive wounds. Let me try Dr. Michelle Dupree again. What are defensive wounds? Explain how the cops could look at the bodies and determine they tried to fight. Nancy, defensive wounds are things that a person might get, usually on the arms or the legs or the hands where they try to fight off the offender. There could be things like abrasions, scratches. If a sharp force instrument was used, it could be cuts. It could be things like abrasions, scratches. If a sharp force instrument was used, it could be cuts. It could be things of that nature. You know, what does that tell you to Dr. Daniel Bober that they had defensive wounds? The mom and the dad tried to

fight for their lives, Bober. What you said, Nancy, that, you know, they were fighting for their lives and that's the evidence of defensive wounds. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about the brutal murder of a young mom and dad in their home. There are three children asleep at the time of a home invasion in a very quiet subdivision. Take a listen to our friends at KSTU. This is Fox 13 reporter John Franchi. Investigators say Tony and Catherine were shot and killed in the middle of the night. Their children were home.

A neighbor heard screaming and called police. They could hear movement inside of the house. They went into the house for a security sweep to make sure that, you know, that everyone else in the home was accounted for and those that were not supposed to be in the home. And that is where they encountered the three children. Those kids are now being cared for by family members as detectives work to bring their parents' killer to justice. We canvassed the neighborhood. We spoke with neighbors. There's obviously ring doorbell footage that we had to review. Ribbons now line the street of the home where this happened. We do believe that the Butterfields were absolute true victims during this as a result of this this act. They did not have any role in this. We don't believe that there was any criminal activity. A community searching for healing and answers. It's't believe that there was any criminal activity. A community

searching for healing and answers. It's very near and dear to all of us. You know, we all have loved ones. Many of us have children and just the impact of this crime is far-reaching. We know also that the three children, ages four, two, and six months, in the home at the time of the murder, were unharmed. We also know that there is now a GoFundMe established to support them, and they are taking breast milk donations for the youngest baby, a baby girl, still breastfeeding when mommy gunned down in the home. I want to circle back to owner ISP Investigations, former master sergeant in Chicago Metro.

Bruce Johnson, you are analyzing the crime scene that one victim was found inside, one victim was found outside. You extrapolated what you're hearing and determined that one of the victims had tried to fight back, most likely with a kitchen knife. Explain your reasoning, Bruce Johnson. Okay, the reasoning is because, number one, we know that there's defensive wounds. We know that there's a trail of blood because that either led to or from the house, which you mentioned earlier with the cones. We know that there's a struggle in the house and outside of the house. So when you're looking at a theory... Hold on. I'm hearing in my ear. I have sound. I need you to hear before we go further regarding the very narrow question I asked you, Bruce, regarding the crime scene. Take a listen to our friends at KSTU. This is Fox 13, L. Thomas.

Remnants of broken glass, a footprint on the door. Caution tape still draped nearby. This is what's left of a tragic Saturday morning shooting that left two dead and three children without parents. This is the first time that I've been back to the house since the news for friends of the deceased,

Tony and Catherine Butterfield. And I've been good friends with him and Catherine for quite a few years, so. The tragedy is indescribable. My brother called me at four o'clock in the morning on Saturday morning, and I thought he was kidding with me. I thought he was playing some sort of a joke or something. I didn't believe him. Now, as the investigation continues, police say they have leads, but no suspect, leaving

everyone hoping for positive news and justice. Tony and Catherine were just good salt of the earth kind of people. Their smiles, their willingness to help out everybody, just great people. Sad to see them go. Guys you're hearing our friends at Fox 13. That was L. Thomas speaking. You hear neighbors and relatives breaking down in tears when they get the news that these two, Tony and Catherine Butterfield,

have been slaughtered in their own home with their children asleep by home invasion. To Dr. Daniel Bober, the witness speaking said that at first he thought it was an awful joke, that someone was playing a joke on him, that Catherine and Tony had been slaughtered. Is that some sort of a defense mechanism to what you're hearing? That's exactly right, Nancy. You know, when people hear news like that, that's so terrifying, their mind cannot even grasp it. So a lot of people will go to that to protect themselves from having to deal with that level of trauma.

I want to go now to Jason Oceans, renowned defense attorney joining me out of the New York tri-state area. Jason, thank you for being with us. Thanks, Nancy. I want to try and analyze the crime scene. Jackie, can you confirm for me whether Utah has the death penalty or not? Just plug in Utah death penalty. Jason, if you analyze the crime scene, these perps, from what we can tell, break in in the early morning hours around 1 a.m. ish. All the family members are asleep. That would suggest a death penalty aggravating factor of lying in wait. In almost every jurisdiction that has or had the death

penalty, there are aggravating factors that go to a murder, such as murder for hire, murder for pecuniary or money interest, like you want to kill somebody for their life insurance, okay, or because you're a beneficiary of the will. That's considered to be even more cold-blooded than pulling out a gun at a bar and shooting. A murder of a political figure such as JFK or a police officer or a symbol of the state, not to suggest that those lives are any more important than our lives, but you're attacking the symbol of the United States or the government when you kill a cop or you kill a president or a governor. By killing a person under a certain age, like a child, or over a certain age, like a senior. In many places, that is an aggravating circumstance. Lying in wait would apply here because they had to sneak up, wait on these

people to go to sleep, and then break in. And a catch-all, Jason Oceans, as you well know, is a murder in the commission of another felony, such as rape, armed robbery, burglary, which is here they broke into the home to commit a felony therein. Any felony will do, theft, rape, anything like vandalism. If it's a felony and a death occurs during the felony, that's a felony murder and also meets an aggravating circumstance under which the state can seek the death penalty. And here is another perfect example, Jason Ocean, mass murder. More than one body under the law equals mass murder. And that is an aggravating circumstance.

And Jackie just told me Utah does still have the DP. So what about this crime scene, Jason? I should take off your defense hat just one moment and tell me the factors that you see here that are particularly aggravating. Well, Nancy, I think the analysis, as you probably said, is in the crime sheet. Breaking in the glass, you know, violent act, usually in a burglary, you're trying to access by a more surreptitious means, an open window, prying the door quieter.

You're trying to do things so that you're more unannounced. Here, I think the breaking of the glass was a clarion call. I'm getting in. I have purpose, which was to, you know, to murder. I mean, Jason, wait a minute. Think about your boy and your girl. And yes, I know they've grown up once in college, but think about it coming in your home with the doors locked in the middle of the night and murdering mommy and daddy, leaving those children without a parent. Not just one parent, but both parents. For Pete's sake, they've got to have a GoFundMe to get breast milk to feed the little baby. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

For those of you just joining us, a Utah couple, a married couple, Tony and Catherine Butterfield, slaughtered in their own home while their children slept. It's about 1.15 in the morning. You know what? You think it can't happen to you, a home invasion? If you could see this neighborhood, you may think differently. This is a tree-lined neighborhood with the houses in a perfect row, lawns front and back. I know it's like the mind tricking the eye. Back to you, Jason Oceans. The reason I say that is because in a suburban area like that,

you don't expect crime of this nature to seep in. No doubt. I'm sure if we looked at the statistics in general for that community, that type of criminal activity is seemingly beyond the pale. It shocks the conscience of the community because it's totally unexpected. And then you put in the aggravating factors of these three little children really beyond the pale. But to me, again, it's the fact that this – you mentioned felony murder, right? Breaking in and then subsequently there's murder. This to me is almost a contract murder, a purposefulness, an assassination. Something is way wrong, but these two.

This person was going in to remove the life of these two people. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jason Oceans, when you say contract murder, I think of mobsters, of dope dope hits of killing a witness to a felony these people were just regular people that don't have a drug history they're not making the reference that there was an intent from the very beginning this was not in my mind a burglary or a robbery this was intentional to murder these two people that was the the intent. I'm looking at their GoFundMe photo, Jackie. I want you to look at it too, Brett. It's of them. It's Catherine and Tony Butterfield murdered in their own home, West Jordan, Utah. And here they are. She's holding up her engagement

ring when they got engaged. It's just, do you see those two smiles? They're dead. Tragic. Murdered. Can you imagine 1.15 in the morning, Jackie? You're sound asleep and you hear either your alarm go off or you hear glass breaking. Your children are home. It's just what was going through their minds. They tried to fight back. In the last hours, we have a crack in the case. But right now, I want you to listen to salt lake city fox 13 news reporter spencer joseph the kids are now safe with relatives this is a terrible case it's a terrible thing for anybody to to have to wake up to it's a terrible thing for our officers frankly that are involved in the investigation and our crime scene folks and so we're very hopeful that we can

make an arrest on this and bring this to closure. You can see late into the afternoon the West Jordan Police Department is still on scene of this double homicide, making sure they canvass the entire community behind me for any clues. Let's go very quickly to KSL News reporter Dan Raskin. And yes, at that point police were hopeful they could make a quick arrest. Take a listen to Dan Raskin. According to police, this was not a random act of violence, but a targeted act. They say Johnson did know the Butterfields, but they are not saying how or what the motive may be. We do believe that the Butterfields were absolute true victims as a result of this act.

They did not have any role in this. We don't believe that there was any criminal activity going on on their part or anything like that. Investigators say Tony was found shot to death in the backyard, his wife Catherine inside the home. But apparently there was a struggle where it's believed the Butterfields grabbed a knife in their defense and injured Johnson. Those injuries we believe are consistent with the knife. So we believe that he was either stabbed or cut with that knife. And we also believe that those injuries are likely on his appendages, so his arms or his legs. So police are looking for

a particular person, his name, Albert Johnson. How did he know the Butterfields. They're looking for a guy with slashes to his body and a major manhunt ensues. How did he know them? What was the connection? But somehow cops zero in on this guy named Albert Johnson. We also know that this family were Sunday school teachers. Did he somehow know them through the family's church? Youth directors is what they were at their church. Did he know them somehow through the search, somehow through their church? To Nicole Parton, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, do we have any idea how this guy, Albert Johnson, knew the butterfield family we don't know exactly but authorities are telling us that he did know them but they're not giving

details concerning the relationship how he knew them we know that um both katherine and tony had been missionaries uh for the latter-day saints, a local business, their own landscaping business. So did he know them through there? Had he worked for them? Had he been acquainted through their business? We don't know, but we do know that he somehow knew this family. You know, a big, big clue in this case, Nicole Parton, turns out to be once again, the ring doorbell. So the family apparently had at least one ring doorbell on their home. What do we know about that, if anything? We do know that they had the ring doorbell. We know that it was working and active, and authorities say that they have been reviewing the footage

from the doorbell. You know, I want to just talk about that very quickly. Jason Oceans, New York defense attorney, again, take off your defense hat just a moment, Jason. The ring doorbell can catch, of course, motion. It doesn't mean somebody rings your doorbell. But if there's motion in the area, when I have to travel out of town, I love looking at my ring doorbell. I can see the dog. I can see the children coming in and out of the door, even if they don't ring the doorbell. Now, sometimes, though, Jason, because I know who it is, I can identify them.

But you don't always get a clear picture on a ring doorbell. But I'm telling you, I guarantee you, either that or a fingerprint had to be the way that they came up with the name Albert Johnson. Well, Nancy, yeah, ring doorbell can be quite addictive if you have it. But other times, as you mentioned, there's a shadow. The person's aware of it or conscious of that, the purpose. But you get their car from another ring doorbell as it goes by. So you can get the make and model. And from that, you can narrow things down, certainly in a smaller community or the hit of a number on a plate if it goes by.

That's right. Those are the additional clues that you use. And, of course, there was mention that there was a footprint. Again, that could be affirmative evidence. Yeah, I know, but footprint i sometimes that works that's the methodology you use yeah it'd be really unique like a sneaker uh tread or a car tread in the mud that you can really match up uh well we do know in the famous Orenthal James Simpson double murder case, they said because of prints in the blood of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, they could identify

the footprint was unique. It was a Bruno Mali, a designer, very expensive designer, Italian shoe. Simpson swore under oath at a depot he didn't have any. Then theirer of all people come up with a picture of him on the sidelines of a football game when he was a commentator wearing Bruno Mali shoes didn't have that at trial but it came out later we had the glove so you're right about that but I'll take a fingerprint anytime I can get one. But you said something really interesting, Jason Oceans, because you, of course, are familiar with Jennifer Dulo's disappearance in Connecticut. And what we know about that, cops did exactly what you just mentioned.

I've never seen it done so expertly. They take ring doorbell footage from a series of homes in that New Haven, Connecticut neighborhood. They put it together. Then they take footage from businesses. They take footage from school buses every time a school bus or public bus opens. There's a video. They get all this footage and it can actually trace the husband of Jennifer Dulos and his henchpersons just going along in the car. Exactly, Nancy.

It was incredible the way they did that. So I'm wondering if they did this. Of course, I'll take a fingerprint any day of the week. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about the murder of a young couple. Take a listen to KSL News reporter Dan Raskin. This is our way of showing Tony and Catherine how much we love them and miss them. A mother and daughter still trying to comprehend. There's no words. There's no words. The brutal murder of their friends and neighbors, 31-year-old Tony Butterfield and his wife, 30-year-old

Catherine. According to police, both were shot and killed by this man, 31-year-old Albert Enoch Johnson, a man investigators say broke open their door and entered their home in West Jordan early Saturday morning. Catherine was just a ray of sunshine and loved everybody, and they were just the best parents ever. Crying and asking God, why? Why? What happened? Diana Romero is also still in shock from the killing. Always with her smile on her face, with a big smile, beautiful. It's just a terrible situation. It's horrific. Their three children have been left without parents. Let's quickly go to KSTU Fox 13, John Franchi. Take a listen to this break.

West Jordan police today did not release a motive for this crime, but they are confident that Albert Enoch Johnson carried it out. We discovered he has a violent past. Mr. Johnson is certainly a dangerous person. I think it would be irresponsible to say that he's not. This is the suspect West Jordan police want to find, Albert Enoch Johnson, 31 years old, 5'10", and 275 pounds. He also has a record. Mr. Johnson does have a criminal history.

Through a search of court documents, Fox 13 found Johnson pled no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in 2010 and aggravated battery in 2011. Both of those crimes occurred in California. The documents show his nickname is Psycho Al. Police believe he knew his victims, Tony and Catherine Butterfield, but they did not describe the nature of their relationship. We don't want to give up too much where Mr. Johnson is not in custody, but we do want people to know that they did know each other. It was not random, and we believe that they were in fact targeted.

Guys, the death, the murders of a young mother and dad, three children. Why? We are just learning about a break in the case. The alleged perp, Albert Johnson, nicknamed Psycho Al, and the search is on. Take a listen now to the break in the case. This is KUTV2, Arielle Harrison. They contacted the victim's family, Tony and Catherine Butterfield, very first to let them

know that they'd gotten Albert Johnson off the streets there in California. And as you can imagine, lots of relief coming from that family. But we have that newest mugshot of Albert Johnson. He's pretty rough. He looks pretty rough, that is. And that is because we are told he tried to evade arrest. The U.S. Marshal's office helped and believed Johnson to be armed and dangerous, and he did evade arrest, tried to do everything in his power to not be taken into custody. So a court is due to a case, though, here at the department. He was arrested at 2 o'clock this morning, booked at 6. Johnson's wanted for the murders of Tony and Catherine Butterfield.

Police believe Johnson is responsible for shooting and killing the couple at the West Jordan home Saturday morning. We do know this, just the facts that we established the other day. The intruder that went into that home was definitely uninvited. Given the time of day, we definitely believe that there was some criminal intent and not good purposes in general to be there. And so we would stick along the lines with that. But things definitely went very wrong. This guy, Albert Johnson, has just been booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, French Camp, California, shortly after 6 a.m. Pacific, according to jail records, booked in relation to an outstanding warrant.

Now, he had somehow made it all the way to California, to French Camp, California. We know that a court hearing is happening. In that court hearing, I believe he will be charged officially with two counts of aggravated murder. Straight out to Nicole Parton, Crimeonline.com investigative reporter joining us. How was the guy captured? And I still don't know the connection between this guy, psycho Al, with an aggravated battery, which means, correct me if I'm wrong, Jason Oceans in your jurisdiction, that during the attack, you lose the use of a part of your body like an eye. Your nose is cut off. Your teeth are torn out. Your arm, your finger, your leg, you lose the use of that in an aggravated battery

versus an aggravated assault where you're put in serious, in fear of serious bodily injury or death. Aggravated assault with a weapon is when you are shot at or stabbed. You live. And then there's murder. Right, Jason Oceans? That's a yes, no, Jason. That's a yes, Nancy. So what I'm saying is this guy, Nicole Parton, psycho owl, listen.

Listen to what they said. He had assault with a deadly weapon, 2010, aggravated battery in California, 2011, and he's out. He is out to murder the Butterfields. What happened, Nicole? That's correct. That's what we're being told. We're being told that- Missionaries! They're missionaries.

Exactly. And it's important for me to say, police have made it very, very clear that this family did nothing wrong. There was no criminal activity within their home, within their lives whatsoever. They did nothing wrong. They were simply an acquaintance of this guy. He knew them,

but they were in no way involved in criminal activity with him. Nicole Parton, tell me, what is the latest? I know that Johnson first named as a suspect in a double homicide, but now they're looking at his wife. What does she have to do with this? That's correct. 29-year-old Sina Johnson, also with a criminal record, is being now held with helping him to escape, tampering with evidence. She first spoke to authorities, denied knowing anything.

Later, she came clean, telling them that she had spoken to Albert before, during, and after the crime. She had also attempted to help destroy evidence. Take a listen to our friend Scott McCain, KSTU Fox 13 News. Busted and booked after police say she lied to them regarding what she knew about the crime, her husband's alleged involvement in it, and his whereabouts, and that she also destroyed evidence. The couple ran a successful landscaping company, Electric Blue Yard Service, and on Easter Sunday, April 12th, less than a week before they were killed, Electric Blue celebrating five years in business. It's not known yet if Johnson conducted any business with the couple or ever worked for them,

but police say it is clear that they did know one another. Is that the connection? Did he work for Electric Blue Yard Service Service that the couple had started their own business in addition to being youth directors and missionaries? I'm just trying to take in that this wife of his allegedly lied to police and destroyed evidence. What was it? Bloody clothes? Did she lie about where he went if she knew where he went? How did they find him? Did they tap her phone? Did they look at her cell phone records? We wait as justice unfolds. I know this. Those children, compared to Albert Johnson, who may get another light plea, get in and out of jail for double murder, those three children get a life sentence without their parents.

Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. this is an iHeart podcast