True Crime All The Time - Sarah Marie Johnson

Episode Date: September 2, 2024

Alan and Diane Johnson were murdered inside their own home just after Labor Day weekend in 2003. They were both shot while their 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, escaped the home. But friends, family, and the police were suspicious of Sarah because her story kept changing.Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Sarah Marie Johnson. Sarah had been in a relationship with a 19-year-old named Bruno Santos for about three months. He was immediately a suspect because of an altercation he had with Sarah's dad. It took some good investigative work and a fortunate event to bring the real killer to justice.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 399 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in true crime. Mike Gibson, how are you? Hey, I'm doing okay. I would say okay is a euphemism for you this week. You've had a pretty rough week. I'm trying to be optimistic.

Well, and I appreciate it. I mean, my tooth is sort of fixed now. You broke a crown. The car's fixed now. Leaky transmission. And, well, I got to pay the courts, the fee for the speeding ticket, but... That you got on the way to my house. Yeah.

So, yeah. Just some highlights. Not everything. Highlights of your strange week. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Jonathan Humbers. Hey, Jonathan. Rinbag.

What's going on, bag? MC. Michaela Spence. Well, thanks, Spence. Sarah Santos. What's up, SS? Joanne Wynn. Hey, Joanne.

Michelle Bow. Burkeen. Ah, Burkeen from the Burkine stock fortune. Misha jumped out of our highest love. Hi, Misha. Sherry Ruiz. Uh, thanks, Sherry.

Margaret Rutherford. What's up, Rutherford? And CDB Amazing. Well, you are amazing. Yeah, so we appreciate all the new support. And then if we go back into the vault, this week we selected Wayne and Julie Hodge.

Well, thanks, Hodge family. Yeah, appreciate that. We do. So we have an episode out on Unsolved where we're talking about the death of 18-year-old Ben Kita. Pretty mysterious case, Ben was found hanging from a long rope in the woods near his home in Washington State. At first, authorities thought it was a suicide, but later changed it to undetermined. But they have never been able to find any evidence of foul play. These undetermined cases fascinate me because you,

could go any direction with these. Yeah, a number of different directions, really. We also put out a brand new Patreon episode on Saturday night where we were discussing Jung Yu-Jung, a South Korean woman who was fascinated by true crime, documentaries, television, books, anything to do with true crime. It's one of the more interesting Patreon-only episodes we've done. Yeah, I thought it was, too. she essentially killed the woman and then said she did it out of curiosity about what it would be like to kill and blamed it on her fascination with true crime.

71 episodes, though. That's a lot. It is a lot of true crimes. If you haven't joined, get out there and join. Absolutely. Speaking of a lot of episodes, you know, next week is episode 400. Oh, man. And we've got a big one in store. I don't want to give it away. but it'll be here very, very quickly. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of true crime all the time? I am ready.

We're talking about Sarah Marie Johnson. Alan and Diane Johnson were murdered inside their home just after Labor Day weekend. 2003, and this is a case where pretty much everyone, family, friends, and investigators were suspicious of one person from the very beginning. And that person happened to be related to the victims. 52-year-old Diane and 46-year-old Alan Johnson seemed to have the perfect life. They'd been together for 20 years and lived in a nice home in Bellevue, Idaho. We have a lot of listeners in Idaho.

We do. Some good listeners. By 2003, their 21-year-old son Matt was in college, and their 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, lived at home. with it. Alan co-owned web, landscape, and garden centers, and Diane worked at the Haley Medical Clinic. In the summer of 2003, there was a conflict within the family because of Sarah's relationship with 19-year-old Bruno Santos. Bruno Santos had dropped out of high school and was allegedly dealing drugs. He lived across town from the Johnson.

Bruno was the focus of a number of heated arguments. The Johnson family was once close, but it seemed like Sarah's relationship was tearing her family apart. You know, there's a lot of relationships out there that put a lot of stress on families. You know, you either don't like your son's new girlfriend or you don't like your daughter's new boyfriend. And sometimes, you know, they leave those individuals, but a lot of times they don't. And you have to figure a way to deal with it. Or maybe not. Well, I think there's no doubt, right?

This was affecting the family in a very negative way. Now, why would they not have liked this guy? Okay, he's three years older than their daughter. He dropped out of high school. They thought he was most likely selling drugs. Right. There's some reasons there. Most notably the drugs.

Right. Some of Sarah's friends also didn't approve. prove of her relationship with Bruno, Sarah's friend Seringa Stark told ABC, I felt she could do a lot better. He was a high school dropout and was selling drugs and she was from a nice family. It just didn't seem like it was right. All the girls you dated, do you ever hear them? The parents say, we always just thought they could do better than you. Not to my face.

I'm sure there was some of that behind my back. Yeah. But it can't be a good feeling. to hear someone say, you know, I just thought she could do a lot better. But, you know, it seems like maybe it's true in this situation. I don't know. But, you know, going back to the family dynamics, you and I have also talked a lot about, you know, in having these discussions and especially when you start to to lay down some edicts.

Okay. How quickly are you just pushing that person? right into the arms of the person you don't like, you don't want them to be with. That's where you got to be careful. On August 30th, 2003, Diane and Allen figured out Sarah was sleeping over at Bruno's apartment after she told them she'd be staying with female friends. Alan picked Sarah up and told Bruno to stay away from his daughter. Sarah announced she and Bruno were engaged.

Allen threatened to press charges against Bruno for having sex with an underaged girl. Okay. So now we're into a very contentious mode. You know, at first it was we don't like this guy. We don't want you to see this guy. And now it's the old you're telling me you're staying with friends, but you're actually using that as a cover, something I know you said that you did many, many times. Can't deny.

But we also have a father who's threatening depressed charges against this guy for having sex with a minor, which is actually a very serious charge. Very serious. Sarah's car privileges were taken away as punishment. And they told her they were going to talk to the police, but they never did. On the morning of Tuesday, September 2nd, the Johnson's neighbors were woken up by two gunshots and a teen girl's. screams. Sarah fled her home, claiming that her parents had been shot. The police arrived and found Sarah crying outside the home. She was physically unharmed and said she fled the house at 6.25 a.m. After hearing gunshot, the police entered the home and found the bodies of Diane and Alan Johnson

in their bedroom. Diane was on the bed. Alan was on the floor nearby. Police later revealed. Alan was taking a shower. At the time of the shooting, they both died from a single gunshot wound from a rifle found at the crime scene. Diane was shot in the head and Alan was shot in the chest. So the first thing that jumped out of me was that, you know, this is pretty early in the morning. Right. Much earlier than I normally get up. Hours and hours before you get up. Very early for me, not early for a lot of people. Gunshots ring out. And we've talked about it. If you're a neighbor, do you know their gunshots?

Do you think, well, maybe it's something else? I think that is pretty quickly cleared up when, you know, Sarah comes out running saying my parents have been shot, my parents have been shot. So the murder weapon or the weapon that was used to shoot Diane and Allen belonged to a guy named Mel Spiegel who was renting their guest house at the time. Spiegel's name was not published at the time, but early sources reported that the rifle was kept in the guest house and was not owned by the family. Former Blaine County Sheriff Walt Fembley told ABC that the crime scene was disturbing. There was blood and hair on the carpet.

It was on the ceiling. It was on all the wall. There was part of a skull cap in the hallway. Man, it must have been a fairly large. caliber rifle. Well, it did some damage. It did. You and I, on our Patreon episode, talked about a woman who was stabbed over 110 times and what that crime scene must have looked like as far as the blood.

But to think about part of someone's skull being blown off and just laying there in the hallway, that is very descriptive. Very. Some reason I get that. movie with Truman Capote that movie about how he wrote that book. Which one? Because they made two at the exact same time. Remember?

One had Sandra Bullock in it and one did. The one without. The one that had what's his name? He's no longer around. Phillips Seymour Hoffman. Oh yes, yes. That one. He was a great actor. He was.

But the murder scenes in that, I don't know, flashed in my when I was hearing that. You're talking about in cold blood was the book that he wrote. But I think, you know, this county sheriff's also painting a very vivid picture of the way that blood spatters in a murder scene like this. It's everywhere. Sheriff Femling shut down the entire street and stopped a garbage truck from collecting trash from the family home. The family's garbage can contain key evidence. including a bloody bathrobe, a left-handed leather glove,

and a right-handed latex glove. And all of these items contained DNA evidence. The initial theory was that Sarah's boyfriend Bruno was involved, and his DNA would be found on these items. And I can understand why the authorities would, you know, come up with that initial theory. you had the altercation between Sarah's father and Bruno. There was a threat that, you know,

Alan was going to go to the police. Right there, you can establish a motive for Bruno possibly wanting him dead. He doesn't want to go to jail, right? He doesn't want to be tried and convicted of having sex with a minor. But authorities were also suspicious of Sarah from the beginning. Her family and friends thought that she seemed very cold and distant.

According to former sheriff Femling, I said there's something going on here. I mean, most 16-year-olds would be hiding. They would not want to sit there on a fence and watch their parents come out in bodybacks. No way. I agree. That would be devastating to watch. And it's always interesting to me to hear from, you know, authorities. What's their initials?

take on someone, right? Their actions, the way that they're coming off. A lot of times they're right. Sometimes they're wrong. But I think for a lot of these law enforcement officials, it's hard not to form an initial impression on people. It's kind of what they do. It's kind of part of their job. I say, yeah, it's part of that job. And for him, he's saying, she's just not acting right. Now, could it be that someone's in shock and they don't act the way that you think they should? Yeah, absolutely. I think that can happen. Yeah, I think it happens a lot.

Authorities initially declined to speculate on whether the deaths were a murder suicide. However, on September 3rd, investigators revealed Allen and Diane were murdered. And I could see why, you know, murder suicide might be something to consider early on. but I think they would be able to rule that out very quickly. I would think so too after they dive deep into the investigation of the gunshot wounds. Yeah. How close were they? Where did the gun end up?

All of that stuff would play into it. Neighbors told the Times news of Twin Falls that on the morning of the murders, Sarah fled into the street and screamed, My father's been shot. The Times News also reported that, Neighbors heard arguing inside the home before the gunshots went off. The police said they had several persons of interest, but no official suspects, and there were two or three possible motives.

The sheriff declined to say whether Sarah was one of those persons of interest. The man renting the guest house was out of town. At the time of the shooting, he was interviewed and was not considered a suspect. Some of the persons of interest volunteered to do it. interviews and even provide DNA samples. The sheriff noted that the state police lab was underfunded and understaffed and would need two weeks to check prints and up to two months to test DNA fibers and blood. Unbelievable.

Well, I get DNA fibers, you know, that stuff normally does take a little bit of time, but two weeks to check fingerprints. Seems a little ridiculous. It does. That seems like a long time. meanwhile Sarah's friends didn't feel like her grief was genuine. She seemed preoccupied with things like hair and nail appointments, according to ABC. I mean, I get people will react differently to losing loved ones, people they care about.

But maybe this was more noticed by their friends as just not normal for her. Well, by and large, I don't know how many people, are that preoccupied with getting their nails done, their hair done. And maybe if you're going to a funeral, okay, you want to look nice. But they obviously thought enough about it to make it know. Yeah, raise it up. That they thought it was strange. Sarah's friend, Shante Cottle, recalled how Sarah approached her during volleyball

practice and said, Shante, find Bruno and tell him that I love him, no matter what. what happened. That's kind of like a telltale sign. Yeah, it's got a little bit of an ominous tone to it. Now, you could look at that both ways, no matter what happens to me or no matter what happens to him. Right. But by this point, investigators were aware of Sarah's problems with her parents concerning her boyfriend Bruno Santos. Investigators questioned Sarah and obtained her fingerprints and DNA. She told the police she believed an intruder, committed the murders, despite there being no evidence of a break in. Sarah's aunt Linda Vivalde told ABC that her story changed every time she was interviewed. But we know that's always a problem.

Why do we hear that in every case? Now, I get it. This is a 16-year-old girl. It's going to be even harder for her to craft a story and stick to it. But it seems like almost everybody has a problem sticking to a story. And I often think it's because once the police start poking holes in the first story, okay, I got to spackle some of those holes in my second story. Time to fill the holes up with something.

And then, you know, they question something else. Okay, I'll change it up a little bit to kind of answer that part. But when has it ever seemingly turned out good for someone to, you know, tell three, four different stories? Not typical. No, normally it's not going to be good for you. Well, because you say it all the time, right? The truth is the truth. Yeah.

There's one version of the truth. You say that, then you should always be okay. As long as it's not. Incriminating yourself. In early October, the evidence from the case was sent to. the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Chief Deputy Gene Ramsey from Blaine County Sheriff's Department said

arrest could be made before the test results were even back. So that's a pretty bold statement. I think it tells you that they're on to someone. Forensic evidence found no match to Bruno Santos, but it did match Sarah. In mid-October, the lab determined Sarah's DNA. was inside a glove found in the trash. So, you know, there's a thought that, well, her DNA is going to be all over the house.

She lives there. But when you have bloody items in a trash can and specifically gloves. Yeah. And even this latex glove. Who's wearing gloves inside the house and why? And when it's determined that your DNA's inside, to me, that's pretty. me that's pretty damning evidence. Investigators questioned Sarah one last time in hopes of obtaining a confession, but she stuck to her story. Now, which version, which story, I don't know,

but on October 29, 2003, Sarah Johnson was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder. She was arrested after a grand jury returned an indictment against her. Sheriff Walt Femling said that the motive was her parents' disapproval of her relationship with Bruno Santos. He noted that Bruno had been deported because he was undocumented. Femling also said no other persons would be charged. And I don't know how many times you and I have talked about teenagers, right? Young love. And you think back to those times and how all encompassing some of the,

those relationships were and are today to, you know, individuals of that age. And we know most of those relationships are not going to last. But in the moment, some people can think that this other person in their life is everything to them. It's true. Yeah. I mean, you really think that. I can go back to some of my younger relationships. Yeah. Maybe you should. clarify that younger and just think about how you know you thought this the one this the one I'm going to be with this person forever and how can my mom and dad not be happy for me you know and and then you break up and you're like oh yeah yeah I get it I get it now well what is it uh I read somewhere I saw somewhere the other day that you know person's brain doesn't really fully stop developing and

until they're like 23 or something? I don't know. Mine's still developing. Yeah, well, you're kind of a Benjamin Button scenario. You're developing in reverse. Yes, I think I am some days. But, you know, the point is, at 16 years old, we know people of that age don't always make the best decision. No.

They think they are, but they're not. How many times would you, back in the day, would you, your parents would tell you something and you wouldn't listen to them? and then later you'd say, I only would have listened to you, you know, because they were right. Oh, they were right.

They told you they were right, but you didn't listen to them at the time. Because you thought you knew everything. Absolutely. But to think that even though, okay, you don't make the best decisions, to think that you should kill your parents so that you can be with this boy,

man, he's a man. Right. That's hard to fathom. It is. I don't know how you go from, I'm really pissed off at you because you won't let me see my boyfriend to, I'm going to kill you and I don't have to worry about it. On the morning of the murders, Bruno Santos came to the house to see Sarah.

After hearing about the shootings on local radio, he was stopped by officers. His vehicle was searched and certain items were removed by lab technicians. He was considered a witness for the prosecution. According to Sheriff Femling, they waited so long before, an arrest because they wanted to be sure of their evidence. He told the Times news that he wasn't certain that Sarah was responsible. Until the week before she was arrested, that was when the state crime lab linked DNA samples

to a glove with her blood in it, which was wrapped in a bathrobe, which was splattered with her mother's blood. Femling also confirmed that Sarah had a bruised left shoulder, indicative of recoil from the rifle. Before the shootings, Sarah allegedly opened the guest house and took the rifle, which was used to kill her parents. Investigators believed she disposed of the glove and the robe before running out into the street. And it's hard enough to think about a 16-year-old girl killing her parents, but to think about a 16-year-old girl taking a rifle and shooting both of her parents. And we know that her mother was shot in the head. We mentioned it, right? Part of her skull

cap was shot off and was laying in the hallway. And it seems like she just kind of did it like clockwork. Like there's mom, boom, you know, one shot down, went to the bathroom. There's dad, boom, one shot to the chest, done, whatever order it was. Well, it makes me wonder, you know, how much familiarity did she have with firearms and specific. rifles in this rifle. You know, not everyone knows how a rifle works. You know, was it a semi-automatic? Was it a bold action? Now a handgun, okay, you pull the trigger. Maybe there's a safety. Maybe there's not. Maybe you have to disengage the safety. But some rifles are, you know, a little more intricate than pistols. Sarah pleaded not guilty on November 3rd, 2003. In March,

2004, the judge agreed to postpone the trial, since evidence was still being processed. This was the second time. Her trial was rescheduled. In October 2004, Sarah's attorneys claimed she was improperly questioned, and her statements should not be used against her because she was under the influence of a sleeping pill. Her neighbors gave her on the morning of the murders. The prosecutor argued, she might have been tired because she stated. She stated. She stated. She stated, up all night planning the murder. Pretty good comeback. It's a good argument.

The defense also claimed that investigators ignored Sarah's right to an attorney. When they failed to notify her first lawyer, they were questioning her on September 3rd and September 12. Sheriff Walt Finlay said Sarah agreed to speak without an attorney on September 3rd. Oh, huge mistake. Yeah, big mistake. But, you know, here again, we're talking about a 16-year-old. You know, think back, Gibbs, when you were 16 years old, there's no way you would have known, especially as it relates to crime and all of that, what you do now.

Oh, of course not. You know, what you should and shouldn't do, you know, at 16, I could see you trying to talk your way out of something. It would be like Michael Keaton, thinking that, hey, I'm smart enough. You know, I can talk my way out of it. and maybe not knowing that you don't have to talk at all. That's true. Is it Michael Keaton? Family ties?

Yeah, we act like he always had a suit and tie on and was going to school like he was a lawyer or something. Yeah, I know who Michael Keaton is. I don't know what that has to do with talking your way out of a murder, but I don't remember that episode. I would show up with my little briefcase. Yeah.

Young Sheldon. Opening statements in Sarah's murder trial started on February 7, 2005. The defense asked for a mistrap when the prosecution presented a picture of Sarah with the word guilty across her face. The judge denied the request. Okay. That's something different. I don't see that very often, you know, in documentaries or even on like made for TV type

shows. It's interesting though. Yeah. They attempted it. Prosecutor Jim Thomas told the jury that Sarah left behind. evidence at the crime scene, including a bullet impact in the shower, footprints in the grass, and a hunting rifle on the floor of the primary bedroom. In the outdoor garbage can, investigators found a latex glove with blood matching the victims,

a brown leather glove with particles of gunshot resident and five bullets wrapped in a pink bathrobe. A state police investigator pulled the cans behind crime scene tape. when he saw the garbage truck approaching. And it's kind of one of those things in a case. You know, what if that garbage gets picked up? Well, maybe they never have enough evidence. Maybe. Detectives also found a pregnancy test in the trash,

which was evidence that Sarah and her boyfriend had a sexual relationship, which her parents disapproved of. Sarah was livid, that her parents wanted to turn Bruno in for statutory rate. Sarah also gave inconsistent statements. When she was interviewed, prosecutors claimed that Sarah tried to pin the murders

on a disgruntled housekeeper. Now, you're going to have to come up with a pretty innovative motive for a housekeeper to want these two people dead. Yeah. But they're bad tippers at Christmas or what? Didn't really like how you swept the floor and not in the right pattern.

You know, what was it? Kim Richards, the Johnson's neighbor, testified that Sarah ran over to her house screaming. Someone shot her parents. Sarah told her she heard gunshots, but didn't say she actually saw someone shoot her parents. Sarah said she didn't see the bodies. She just assumed they had been shot because they didn't answer when she called out to them. To Richards, it didn't seem like Sarah had just gotten out of bed because her pajamas were not wrinkled and her hair. was not messy. So I think, you know, to her, it seemed like she'd been up already and maybe had gotten

ready somewhat, maybe had done her hair a little bit or something to that effect. Some people just look good getting out of bed. And some don't. I can tell you right now, I do not look my best when I first get out of bed. I would probably have to be in that same camp with you. Belview Marshall, Randy Trimble testified that Alan was found face down and was still wet from the shower. Diane was under the covers in a position consistent

with her being asleep when she was shot. When asked if he saw any blood on Sarah, Trimble said no. He also testified that the lid of the garbage can was not tested for prints. Raoul Ornelis, the second officer at the scene,

testified that he spoke to Sarah who said she had been asleep. for several hours and woke up to the sound of a gunshot, she wasn't sure if it was real or a dream. So she went back to sleep until she heard the second gunshot. She went to the door of her parents' bedroom, called out to her mom, and received no reply. She heard the shower running and assumed her dad was showering.

She was afraid, so she ran outside. She claimed that as she ran, She heard a body falling and a screen door closing. Okay. So she's saying she heard her dad fall and somebody go out going and she heard somebody going out of the screen door. That's what it sounds like. Yeah.

What I understand is her saying she heard the shower running and assumed her dad was showering. Well, if that's the case, why wouldn't she go to her dad? She's afraid. Right. Doesn't make sense, does it? Well, I guess if she thought someone was in the house. she was afraid, but when Ornella spoke to Sarah, she cried, but she never asked if her parents were

okay. He also did not see any blood on Sarah. And I always think some of this stuff is pretty telling. I mean, I think for most people, one of the first questions that you would ask is, are they okay? Yeah, are they alive? And when you don't ask that, it comes off as you're not asking because you already know the answer. Right. Detective Steve Harkins from the Sheriff's Department testified that when he spoke to Sarah on the morning of the murders, he didn't consider her a suspect,

but after learning about the evidence found in the garbage camp, he questioned her a second time as a suspect. Sarah told him, she owned a pink robe and said, she wore latex gloves when she was younger. When asked if she had thrown anything away recently, she said she would never kill her parents per the Times news. That's a strange comment to make off of that question. Yeah, strange answer to that question for sure.

And to me, strange to say, I wore latex gloves when I was younger. Trying to set it up if they found the latex gloves. Those must have been the ones I wore when I was younger. Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting. when asked about the bullets in her room, Sarah said she wasn't involved and hated guns more than anything. She tried to shift suspicion to her family's housekeeper, claiming the woman had stolen from the home and her mother was going to file a police report. Okay, so we talked about what kind of motive could a housekeeper have. That would be a motive if you had actually stolen and you didn't want to

be charged with that. Yeah. But why would you take that risk being charged with murder versus theft? People have killed for less. Well, we know that. That's true. But Sarah also admitted she was having problems with her parents after they caught her staying at her boyfriend's apartment.

Bruno Santos was a person of interest. And he spoke to investigators over 100 times. That's a lot of interviewing. It is. But you could see why he would be a person of interest. Sure. Sarah's attorney Bob Pengburn questioned Detective Steve Harkins about Bruno Santos's drug use and alleged gang connections. Harkins testified that he looked into Bruno extensively and had no information. He was in a gang.

He did acknowledge Bruno was involved in drugs. And I think you're getting the first glimpse here of, maybe where the defense is trying to go. Okay, you're saying that Sarah committed the murder, but what about Bruno? Wouldn't he have had just as much, if not more of a motive, to want the Johnson's death?

And we mentioned that Bruno was deported. That happened on September 12th, 2003, but he was brought back to Idaho to testify. He was in jail on unrelated drug charges. and face deportation after his testimony was complete. Another investigator testified that Bruno was cooperative and submitted blood, hair, and nail clippings. There was absolutely nothing connecting him to the murders. So he's in the clear.

Yeah, I would say so. If police come out and say we have absolutely nothing connecting a person to the murders, I would say they've cleared him. Detective Stewart Robinson from the Idaho State Police, testified that many items were not collected as evidence, including towels and carpets from the bathroom, the lids of garbage cans that contained evidence, tiles from the bathroom shower, the comforter from the victim's bed, and blood from the wall above where Diane was found. Earlier, Robinson testified that he believed it was a mistake, not to collect the comforter and items from the nightstand. And to me it seems like a mistake. And to me it seems like a

mistake not to collect all of this stuff. Why wouldn't you collect it? Well, I mean, there is no doubt that this is a crime scene. I mean, we talk about a lot of cases where police go in, they're not sure if something is a crime scene or not. But that's not what we're talking about here. We have two people shot and killed. Why would you not want to collect everything you could? And if for some reason it later turned out to be a murder, suicide. Well, so be it. At least you,

you know, you did all that work. What's the worst thing that could happen is that it turns out to be wasted. Yeah. But I just don't understand why in so many of these cases, the decision is made not to collect evidence. Why wouldn't you want to have as much as you possibly could? It goes to that, oh, what's that old saying?

More, uh, better to have more. than not enough. I'm, I'm sure that's an old saying. I don't know. Or that's something you just made up. But I mean, it is better to have more than not enough.

I would say that's true in every scenario. I'd rather have more money than not enough. I'd rather have more food than not enough. There you go. Eleven neighbors testified about what they heard and saw on the morning of the murders. They heard rifle shots around 620. A.m. followed by screams. One neighbor thought to scream sounded fake and forced. That's what they said. Wow. Now, I don't know if I could determine a real scream versus a fake scream, but maybe I could.

Or does the neighbor now know that the daughter's being tried? I'm not trying to impugn this neighbor. No, but I get it. I thought the same thing. So now she's like, yeah, it kind of sounded fake to me. Because I do think that can happen sometimes, right? Do you see something differently later on after you know that the police suspect this person? I think for sure you do. Do you look at a televised interview and say, oh, that person, you know, they're not upset? Not a lot of times people can tell that right away. But I think there's some bias that happens once someone's.

charge. Yeah. Bruno Santos got on the stand on February 15th and said he had nothing to do with the murders. Defense attorney Mark Rader told the judge outside the jury's presence, is quoted by the Times news. Mr. Santos is not a person with clean hands. He has the strongest motive to kill in this case. He has the strongest motive to lie.

And I'm not sure that any of that is untrue. I don't think he was a guy with clean hands. hands. I think he was into some dirty stuff, some illegal stuff. He also did have a pretty strong motive to kill and lie. But he's not the one on trial here. And just because you do have a strong motive doesn't absolutely mean that you had something to do with it. But how does the jury take it? That's the key. Right. Yeah. I mean, that's up to the defense attorney to really sell it. Right. And that's what he's trying to do, take the focus off of Sarah and maybe, you know, plan some reasonable doubt in the form of Bruno Santos.

But in this case, you know, he didn't tell the jury this, right? He only told the judge outside the jury's presence. And I'm sure that was because he wasn't allowed or he would have told the jury that. For me, that's where I'd like to be able to just say, uh, to the jury's. jury, something like this, and then for them to say, go ahead and just strike that from your memory that was, you know, what I'm trying to think of the correct legal term that is used. Yeah, I know what you're getting at. The problem I have with that is that people can't always do that. Once you hear something, just because a judge says you have to disregard that, do you really,

or does every juror disregarded? Are they able to? I don't think so. And that's why, if you could, as a defense attorney, if you could sneak it in there,

you know, you're going to know, it's going to be locked in part of the jury's head. My feeling is that, you know, the defense attorney knew. That was something that he couldn't do.

Bruno testified that he and Sarah were together for about three months. He was asked about the incident where Alan came to his home, the weekend before the, murder. Bruno said Alan threatened to hit him and put him in jail if he did not leave Sarah alone. He saw Sarah at a volleyball game the following Monday. He said she was acting a little weird

and told him she was grounded. Three months together for three months. Yeah, it stands out, doesn't it? Yeah. This is not a five-year relationship. No. This is a relationship that's been going on for three months and becomes a motive for murder. Yeah, she chose somebody she's been seeing for three months over 16 years with her parents. But you can just see a dad, right, finding out that his 16-year-old daughter is sleeping over at this 19-year-old guy's house and going over there to confront him. I think it happens a lot. I think a lot of dads listening can put themselves in those shoes and would probably do. do something very similar. Yeah. I'm pretty sure if that, and I know it never did, but you would

bust the door down if that ever was your scenario. Yeah, I don't know what I would do, but I for sure would not be a happy camper. Bruno was at home sleeping on the morning of the murders, which was corroborated by his mother, sister, cousin, and brother-in-law. He decided to drive over to Sarah's home once he heard about the murders. He was arrested and taken to the last. He was arrested and taken to the hospital where he submitted hair, blood, clothing, and to a gunshot residue test. His entire body was also photographed. So, I mean, you'd have to say he was about as cooperative as someone could be. Now, did he have a choice in all of that?

That part I don't know. Bruno testified that Sarah was at the hospital at the same time. She came up to him, hugged him, told him not to work. and said she was sorry. Mel Spiegel, who was renting the Johnson's guest house, testified that no one outside the family knew where he stored his gun. That's a big piece right there. Well, it's pointing to the fact that there was only three people inside that house

who knew where the guns were stored. Two of them ended up dead. So who does that lead? Now, it doesn't mean Sarah couldn't have told somebody. Hey, go to that house. Look here. You're flying the gun. Sure. Sure. Absolutely. Former housekeeper Janet Silton testified that she cleaned the Johnson home on August 26, 2003. Sarah said that Janet should be investigated for the murders. Claim that she stole items from the home on the day she cleaned it. She also said that at 2 or 2.30 a.m. on the morning of the murders, she and her parents were woken up by voice. outside. One of the voices was identified by Diane as Janet Silton. Janet testified that she

didn't take anything from the Johnson's, but the defense questioned her about previous grand theft auto and assault and battery convictions. She served five years and was released in 2003. So again, as we often talk about when we delve into the details of the trial, the defense, attorneys are not there to make friends. You know, they are going to do whatever they can do to cast a shadow on anyone remotely involved in the situation. That's their job. A fingerprint analyst testified that she was not able to recover identifiable fingerprints

from the Johnson home or the murder weapon. None of the prints matched the fingerprint records of several. persons of interest, including Sarah Johnson. The lab received nine fingerprint cards, but they could only identify two of Allen's fingerprints taken from a sliding door in his bedroom and the shower door. No prints were found on the murder weapon,

the boxes of ammo, the gun scope, or two large kitchen knives found at the foot of the bed. But there was two gloves found in the trash can. Yeah. And a regular glove. which would help explain why Sarah's fingerprints were not found on any of that stuff. DNA expert Cynthia Hall testified that Sarah's DNA was found on items from the garbage can, including the latex glove, the blood spots found on the bottom of the wool socks.

Sarah wore matched Diane's DNA. And fingerprints are important, but, you know, in the grand scheme of thing, DNA trumps the day, right? Where you have it, DNA is often the most damning evidence. You think about blood on the bottom of the socks that Sarah was wearing. It's proven to be Diane's blood. Okay, well, how did that blood get on Sarah's socks if she never entered the bedroom and ran out of the home instead in fear of her life. It's a strong point. You have to explain that away if you're the defense and I don't know

how you do it. Sarah's uncle Jim Valvald spent the weekend with the Johnson's and was present during the confrontation at Bruno's house on August 30th. He testified that later that day, Sarah went to the guest house to do homework, but he didn't see her take any books with her. Okay. So what did she go there for? Well, I think the implication is she was either getting the gun or scouting for the gun or getting it ready. Sarah's Aunt Linda testified that she was canning pickles with Diane two days before the murders when Sarah came into the kitchen and asked her mother for the key to the gun save. Diane told her to get it from her death. And I actually found this a little strange. You have a 16-year-old asking for a key to the gun save. Mom says, get it from your dad. So maybe this does help explain some of the questions that I had earlier, which were, you know, what was the level of familiarity that Sarah had with guns?

And maybe it was a little more extensive than I was thinking. I mean, based on the shots fired, it's not. It seemed like she had some experience. because of her accuracy. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking that as well. But I'm thinking what's the reason that you're needing to get into this gun safe? Yeah, and maybe like some people do besides guns, they keep other valuables in a safe.

And maybe part of the backstory was she wanted to get something out of that safe unrelated to an actual weapon. Yeah, it could be. And we just don't have the information. I store a lot of stuff in my gun safe. I have, you know, some of your fingernail clippings, your hair, skin cell scrapings, just anything where I would need to plant your DNA. Well, I'll be sure to leave you something for the safe before I leave here today. That's where I keep it.

A representative of a Texas base lab testified that hair taken from the hunting rifle matched Sarah's DNA profile. Sarah's former cellmate Autumn Fisher testified that Sarah hated her brother, because he got all the money after the murders. Why would she get the money? Yeah. It's hard to collect life insurance or inherit money when you're thought to be the murderer, especially if you're convicted of being the murderer.

Fisher said Sarah was obsessed with money and claimed her parents' insurance policy was worth more than a million dollars. Sarah also mentioned that investigators were suspicious of her brother. She alluded to the idea that her ex-boyfriend could have committed the crimes, saying that when it was all over, Bruno would be in prison. So, obviously,

she's casting suspicion on Bruno, but she's also throwing her brother under the bus as well. Yeah, she is. Another cellmate, Melinda Gonzalez, testified that Sarah said she was going to have more money than God. after she got out of jail and received her inheritance. I guess she was really disappointed when she found out she's not getting any money.

Melinda Gonzalez asked Sarah what happened repeatedly. Gonzalez believed Sarah slipped up once and said, per the Times news, Sarah was talking and said, when I killed, I mean when the killers killed my parents. Outside the jury's presence, Gonzalez testified that after she and Sarah watched a team,

TV show about forensic evidence, Sarah turned to her and said, oh shit, I'm going to get convicted. Now, you know, it's something that we often talk about. You have these people who are cellmates. They're in jail for this, that, or the other. Do they have a vested interest in ratting out their cellmate? And oftentimes they do. So you have to take the state. they make with a grain of salt. But, you know, if these things are true, they don't make Sarah look good. Now, Melinda did acknowledge that the statement was made during a later segment that really had nothing to do with forensic evidence.

A blood spatter expert testified that the pink rope had blood from both Allen and Diane on it and concluded that it was worn by the killer during the shooting. the expert believed the shooter wore the robe backwards, which would actually be a very smart thing to do. Yeah. Almost like a hospital gown, right? You're exposed in the back, which I never understand why they can't come up with a gown

that doesn't leave your ass flapping in the wind, but you know the spatter is going to come at you, towards you. So by wearing it backwards, you're covering up more of yourself. Yeah, more protection. Matthew Johnson was the final witness for the prosecution. He testified that Sarah had a rocky relationship with Diane, but was closer to Alan. Alan was Sarah's biological father and Matt's adoptive father.

Their parents would have done anything for Sarah and tried to make her happy. But she told Matt many times. She didn't like Diane. A week before the murders, Matt attended a family wedding. At the Johnson home, he and Diane discussed Sarah's relationship. They discussed pressing charges against Bruno, but thought that it should be a last resort. And I kind of get that thought. You know, you're upset.

You don't like the fact that this relationship is happening. But by taking that step, is that going to sever. any hopes of having a good relationship with your daughter. And I think it's possible. Sure. Initially, Matt told Sarah, he thought Bruno could have shot their parents. Sarah said Bruno loved Alan like a father. And how can that be?

The relationship was, what, three months old? Too new. Too new for something like that. The defense began their case on March 1, 2005. In their delayed opening statements, the defense told the jury no blood, no guilt. That's what the evidence will show you if it hasn't already. The defense argued that Bruno was involved and could have recruited someone to help him.

According to the Times news, forensic scientist Michael Howard testified that he didn't believe. Sarah was the shooter because referring to Diane's wound, this was a very explosive event. You simply cannot be in that shooting environment. and not get blood on you. And it was said. No blood was found on Sarah's pajama pants, T-shirt, or the top of her socks. But is that because the robe shielded all of that?

I don't know how long the robe was. Howard testified that he ruled out murder suicide based on blood spatter and gunpowder patterns on Allen's wound, which showed the gun. was at least two feet away when he was shot. As reported by the Times news, Dr. Todd Gray, the chief medical examiner for the state of Utah, testified that Alan was near death in shock, his body starting to shut down the blood supply, and the heart rate goes up. He likely had bleeding in his lungs and in his airways and coughing

high-velocity spatter out of his mouth. Alan had an injury. that would produce death, but it was not immediately fatal or incapacitating. Dr. Gray testified that Alan would have been able to move from the bathroom to the bedroom after being shot. So what is he saying? Alan could have shot himself. He was near death, but would have been able to get into the bedroom and still shoot Diane?

So this is the chief medical examiner for the state, right? Yeah. And I'm having trouble deciphering exactly what he's saying. But it seems to me as though he's saying, Alan could have still made it to the bedroom. Now, whether that means he could have shot Diane, I don't know if he's saying that or not. Forensic scientist Keith Enman testified that the DNA of an unknown male

was found on several pieces of evidence at the crime scene, including the rifle and spent cartridges. And I don't know what to make of this, Gibbs. I mean, again, we don't know how many people could have handled this rifle. And for that matter, handled the bullets. And therefore their DNA would have been on the spent cartridges.

But, you know, you got to look at it from a jury's perspective. Because that's all that really matters, right? At the end of the day. What did they make up? After the jury, went into deliberations. Drug charges against Bruno Santos were dismissed after a judge ruled that

officers illegally searched him. Bruno was arrested on August 30th, 2004. He was riding in a vehicle as a passenger and it was stopped and searched. Officers found meth in the vehicle. On March 16th, 2005, Sarah Johnson was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Sarah issued a statement, which was published by the Times News, I am grieving the loss of my parents. I have lost my family, my community. I want to thank the people who believe in me

and support me, especially my guardian and adoptive family. On June 30th, 2005, Sarah was sentenced to life without parole. In late June 2007, judges in the Idaho Supreme Court upheld the verdict. Sarah had argued that she didn't have

proper representation at trial. And that's something that we see a lot of people who are convicted bring up. Sure. That's a very common reason for appeal. Reason for appeal. In May 2017, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected Sarah's appeal ruling that her sentences do not violate the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. So she was arguing that life in prison without.

parole is cruel and unusual punishment. And I'm sure for her it is. But what about what she did to her mom and dad? Pretty cruel right there. Yeah. The court agreed that the recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings forbid mandatory life sentences for juveniles, but these rulings didn't impact Sarah's case because the judge considered her age as a mitigating factor. So my thought is, yeah, the judge took it into account. This girl's only 16 years old, but look at what she did. The state Supreme Court ruled that Sarah is not entitled to new DNA testing and her claims of ineffective counsel were not sufficient for a second appeal. Sarah is still incarcerated in the state of Idaho. You know, as we wrap this one up, Gibbs, when you look at this case, the timing of events

was extremely important. If Sarah had waited to to flee the house. Or if the police had responded to the scene just a little bit later, the garbage can might have been collected, which could have destroyed the evidence that led to her conviction. Yeah, I think it would have definitely been a different case. You know, without the bathrobe, the glove, and then the latex glove, I think the prosecution's evidence would have been a lot thinner. I think that's pretty safe to say.

Would have been a little tougher. But we talk about it all the time, right? These cases are scary. You know, to think about a 16-year-old girl, putting a relationship that is a mere three months old ahead of the lives of, you know, her dad, her stepmom. I mean, to most of us, that is so unthinkable. But again, what goes through? the mind of a 16 year old who thinks she's in love and is willing to do anything to keep that

going or to keep her boyfriend from being charged or or whatever it is now it's a safe bet that relationship would have run its course in a matter of time sure it would have how much time I don't know, very little chance that they were going to get married and, you know, live in a house with a white picket fence and have the two and a half kids, two cars, all that stuff. But again, just like jumping into the mind of a serial killer is tough. Jumping into the mind of a 15, 16, 17 year old is pretty tough as well. Sure it is. But I think, you know, these murders.

were so calculating. They were so gruesome. The judge obviously took all of that into account when sentencing this young girl, 16 years old, to life in prison without parole. And you have to ask the question, if she was willing to do that, what else would she have been willing to do in the future? I mean, you can't say she wasn't a danger to society. Oh, she definitely was. But that's it for our episode on Sarah Marie Johnson. We got some voicemails. You want to check those out? Let's hear them.

Gidey, Mike and Gibby. This is Jackson from Melbourne, Australia, or my nickname is Jacko down here. So if you guys were from Oz, you'd be Fergo and Gibbo. But yeah, I just wanted to call in and leave a voicemail. Just a quick message to my mom, Janelle, to say, I love you. and thank you for putting me onto the podcast. I've been listening for a good couple of years now, just listening to the Gary Ridgeway episode at the moment.

So pretty close to being caught up, so I thought I'd finally ring and leave a voicemail and, yeah, hopefully hear it, and hopefully mum can hear it too for getting me into the podcast. So thanks again, guys, for all your hard work. Raise up lights, rise up lights or razor blades. I thought I'd slap that one in for you too. Cheers.

Yeah, that's what it is. Pretty good. Rise of flights. Shout out to his mom. Yeah. Or mom. And your mom is amazing. She likes to listen to the podcast as well.

You sound like John Lennon. That is in no way an Australian accent. That is more Paul McCartney John Lennon than anything. You don't know. I do know. There's a small little part of Australia in the center to the left. to the left, that they all sound like, it's called John Linden. They all sound like Beatles?

Yes. They pick the beetle they want to be. Can you just face it, face the fact that you are terrible at accents? I don't want you to stop doing them. I don't know. I just want you to face facts. Very good. Again, some of these I can't even make out.

That's how bad they are. That's how it's supposed to be. Some of them are just, like, your own made-up language. But that's-do have that. You know, it's really cool that his mom turned him on to the podcast. And I definitely wanted to get it on. Yeah. Hi, Mike and I'm Jackieby.

This is Joy. I'm calling from the United Kingdom, New Puffel. Love you guys. I love the jokes. Love the banter. I listened to the podcast on Kimberly Rico. I was little through because I just felt like she told the whole world and half of the entire continent

and nobody stops to speak to Stephen about it. Like, I understand her friends. I don't know, to me I'm not just good people because she kept on telling people about the mothers and nobody ever stopped to take her in her what season. I think this woman is trying to choose

in a she trying something sinister. I just had to get it off my chest. But yeah, love you guys. Like I said, I've been listening to the podcast for about two months now. Um, yes, be loving. Take care, guys.

I definitely always think, keep your head on the show and give your time to take it. I think that's such an American thing. I don't remember that. But yeah, you know what? Take care, guys. Bye. That's not even really an American thing.

It's just a thing. That's just a furgy thing. Or ferger. A ferger? I like that. Ferger. Do you? I go Ferger.

I hear you like to go further. So we had Australia, UK. That's right. I dig it. I dig it. Yeah, that Kimberly Rico thing, I had such a tough time with it because she did tell so many people. I don't know if we've done a story where a person has told that many people like what they're going to do.

I know. In the form of murder. And I always wonder, like, you know, what do these people think? Ah, she's just blowing smoke. You know, she's not really going to do that. So I don't need to warn anyone. But obviously, they would probably feel horrible after it. to all comes out.

We had one thing in the mailback. Connie Sullivan, our good friend, send us an Amazon gift card. Dibs. So we need to get together to find out what we want to get. I said Dibs. I heard what you said. But we have to share.

Since I already have it electronically, Dibbs doesn't really count in this scenario. But maybe we'll get something for the studio or Twizzling. beef jerky. I feel like it's going to be like a UK thing for some reason. Could be. It's always like a UK thing.

Could be whatever I wanted to be. I don't want to be Twizzlers because you're not going to eat Twizzlers if you can get your beef jerky. Well, the Twizzlers were for you, beef jerky for me. Oh, okay. That's a good deal. I don't really care for Twizzlers that much. I know you don't. I eat them all.

So that is it for another episode of True Crime all the time. So for Mike and Gabi. Stay safe and keep your own time ticking. Thank you.