Sarah johnson murder trial

One recent study shows that only four girls have been convicted of such a horrific crime here in the United States over a period of 24 years. As the trial began in February , lead prosecutor Jim Thomas believed his team had the forensic evidence to convict Sarah but worried whether they could prove that a bright, athletic high school girl suddenly became a killer.

Defense attorney Robert Pangburn still thought Santos was involved in the crime, "Bruno very easily could have recruited cohorts of his. The trial took a toll on family and friends as many were called to testify against Sarah.

Her brother Matt spoke in court of the open warfare between Sarah and their mother. Constant fighting, bickering back and forth! Sarah's lawyer, Robert Pangburn, built his entire defense on a "no blood, no guilt" strategy. He thought the fact that Sarah had no blood on herself proved that she could not have possibly pulled the trigger. Yet there was none on her. Absolutely none. After a five-week trial, Sarah's fate was in the hands of an Idaho jury. Her family, nearly at the breaking point, was convinced of her guilt.

Then, the verdict: guilty on both counts of first-degree murder. Sarah was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, plus 10 years for murdering her parents with a gun. She has no chance for parole. Time has done little to ease the devastation for Alan and Diane Johnson's family and friends who continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones.

Diane's mother, Pat Dishman, struggles with the words to explain how she feels. Johnson sentenced to two life terms. Judge addresses year-old convicted murderer for an hour. Sarah Johnson's family members gave each other hugs and shed tears following the year-old Bellevue resident's sentencing Thursday afternoon to two fixed life prison terms, plus 15 years, for shooting and killing her parents, Alan and Diane Johnson, on Sept.

The sentence was handed down by 5th District Judge Barry Wood, who said he believes the young woman is a threat to society. Wood talked for nearly an hour about the rationale behind his ruling. Most of the time, he addressed the shackled Johnson eye-to-eye. You had a nice family, nice school, car, freedom. You had it all," Wood said. You had all kinds of ways to not go down this road, and, yet, you elected the worst possible courses of conduct. And it's the most devastating, harshest option.

There is a lot of evidence here to suggest you are a significant safety risk I have to come down on the side of protection of society in this risk analysis. The risk to society outweighs your individual needs and wants. Wood handed down the sentence following a day and a half of testimony from Johnson's nuclear and extended family, her adoptive family and from law enforcement officers who worked on the lengthy investigation that led to her arrest.

The sentencing caps 21 months that included investigations, court hearings and a seven-week trial. While Johnson's adoptive mother and sister said they would be there for Johnson if she were released from prison, her brother and extended family sought a permanent prison sentence.

We didn't choose to be involved in this case. She put us here. She's the reason we've had to go through this horrific case.

For everyone who has had to deal with this case, the question is: Why? Why did you do this? That's all anyone wants to know. Why did this have to happen to two decent people. Whatcott said that Johnson did not give her parents the chance to live out their lives the way they should have, and "there is no reason why she should be given the opportunity. Defense attorney Bob Pangburn asked the court to impose a year fixed prison term.

Johnson was convicted by a jury of 12 Ada County residents on March 16 for using a high-powered hunting rifle to shoot her sleeping mother in the head and then shoot her father as he emerged from the shower. The shootings occurred at the family's Bellevue home. I can not return the lives of your parents. I can only go forward. As he explained the reasoning that went into the sentence, Wood made clear that he agreed without question with the jury's guilty verdict, and he stressed that he believes Johnson would pose a continued risk to society if she were released from prison.

He pointed out that Johnson displays no history of significant mental illness, was raised in a good home and was not an abused child. To this day, she denies any involvement in the murders. A lesser sentence would trivialize these two lives. Society can not tolerate, and will not tolerate, a child rebelling against their parents and killing them, the very people who were trying to protect you.

In determining a sentence, the court appointed a Twin Falls psychiatrist to evaluate Johnson. Richard Worst evaluated her for nine hours. Worst pointed out that living in jail for the last two years has already affected the development of the still-growing young woman.

But the crux of Worst's evaluation was that Johnson did not admit any involvement in her parents' deaths. She did not admit anything.

Until she admits to the crimes, there will not be a way to treat her, Worst said. Wood attempted to re-create part of the scene that led to the Johnson killings.

The jury found you were," Wood said. It is really strong. You had a chance to abandon, to step out of this senselessness. Presumably, you had a conversation with your father before you shot him. And you had to look him in the eye. You shot him in the lung.

We're not talking, for instance, about a residue methamphetamine case. We're talking about one of the most severe crimes known to man. It's all about Sarah, and it's all about Sarah now. And Wood, too, asked the central question of the two-day sentencing hearing.

It's the ring that can't be taken out of the bell. Everybody in this room is asking why, why, why? It defies explanation, except for the explanation of your selfish protection of your relationship with your former boyfriend ". Johnson guilty of killing parents. Sentencing scheduled for May 19 in Blaine County. Johnson on two counts of first degree murder for shooting and killing her parents Sept. Alan and Diane Johnson were found shot and killed at their home, and their daughter, Sarah, is the only person known to have been in the home at the time.

Sarah Johnson's hands and body trembled visibly as she waited for a verdict from 12 Ada County jurors, who deliberated for 11 hours, beginning Monday afternoon. As a bailiff handed the verdict to a clerk, the year-old's hands were together and on her forehead, as if in prayer.

She wept openly, and her entire body shook. The jury also found the teen guilty on two counts of using a firearm in committing the crimes. She was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom, her face beet red against her signature pink sweater.

Johnson could spend the rest of her life in prison for the crimes. The year-old faces up to two life terms, plus two year terms for each firearm enhancement. At a bare minimum, Wood could impose two year prison terms that run concurrently, for a total of 10 years. Thomas characterized the prosecution's victory as "bittersweet. But the county's deputy prosecuting attorney, Justin Whatcott, qualified his colleague's response.

Justice was served today, but Diane and Alan Johnson are still gone and the family is faced with the killer being a member of their own family. I don't think this will make them happy or bring them any closure. Prosecutors claimed that at the age of 16, Johnson shot her mother in the head with a. They surmise that the teen shot her parents over a dispute about a year-old man she dated for three months. Johnson's defense attorney, Bob Pangburn, claimed someone else killed the couple.

Before the verdict, Pangburn was optimistic. Afterward, he maintained his client's innocence. Following the verdict, The Times News reported, a defense investigator gave a Times News corespondent a signed statement from Sarah Johnson: "I am grieving the loss of my parents.

I have lost my family, my home, my friends and my community. I want to thank the people who believe in me and support me, especially my guardian and adoptive family. Diane Johnson's parents, Pat and Dean Dishman, said the trial was difficult on everybody.

I prayed a lot," said Pat Dishman, who qualified that the family still loves Sarah Johnson. She described her brother and sister-in-law as "very good people, somebody who just can't be replaced.

He and Diane were just such awesome people We still don't understand it, and I don't know if we ever will. She characterized Sarah Johnson's conviction as "something that had to be done. When Johnson's verdict was read, Alan Johnson's brother, Brian Higgason, and Sarah Johnson's brother, Matt Johnson, openly wept and released pent-up emotions from six weeks of a trying family ordeal.

Despite Sarah Johnson's conviction, there are questions about the Sept. Idaho Attorney General Investigator Scott Birch, who assisted prosecutors, called the case "one of the more complex" ones he has seen. How did Sarah Johnson get in her parents' room? Did she enter through the sliding glass door from the outside or from the home's hallway? What were the mechanics of the crime? Following the verdict, members of the jury were reported to have met with Judge Wood and were also reported to be in a state of emotional distress.

They declined to meet with reporters. Johnson was arrested Oct. She will be jailed in Blaine County until her May sentencing hearing. Femling said she could have been transported back to Blaine County as early as Wednesday afternoon. Sarah Johnson's brother and relatives shook their heads as the year-old defendant squeaked, "No, I do not," when Judge Barry Wood asked whether she wished to take the stand on charges she killed her parents, Alan and Diane Johnson.

I side with the girl actually. Like her pajamas since there was apparently a latex glove in her robe. Also, just because it was her robe means nothing. It just means that my robe was used. If I wear my robe, then my DNA will be found on it. After a while and more tests, it was proven that he in fact did NOT kill his wife but she committed suicide. The justice system sucks sometimes and they convict innocent people. You were not serious, right? In case you were, let me break it down for you.

Why would this mysterious intruder ditch the robe in the outside trash can on the curb upon leaving the home? After three very noisy gunshots from a high powered rifle, why would this mysterious intruder leave by the front door?

As for the gunpowder, the teenager murdered her parents wearing a shower cap on her head it was recovered from the plumbing , her bathrobe was worn backwards over her pajamas, a leather glove on her left hand and the latex glove on her right hand.

Forensics proved: 1. The t-shirt the daughter was wearing had dried green paint on the front only. Flecks of that paint were found on the inside back portion of the robe. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. He also had a cocky personality. At some point, Sarah decided to quell the controversy by disposing of her parents.

Investigators were probably disappointed to rule out their first suspect, Bruno Santos. Mel Speegle, who Sarah had probably hoped to implicate, gave police a solid alibi. Bruno Santos, age 19 Evidence galore. Plumbers recovered the shower cap, which Sarah had flushed down the toilet. Santos wanted to prove he had nothing to do with the murders. Sarah received two sentences of life in jail without parole.

Wrong on all counts. Sarah Johnson in court circa Life has been no dream for the motivation for all this misery, either. Right, because parricide is bringing our society to its knees through its ubiquitousness.

Wood noted that the attacks were unprovoked and unpredictable, which he said made her even more dangerous than a typical offender. Johnson maintained her innocence in her parents' deaths. I am deeply grieving the loss of my parents as well as the loss of my family, my home, my friends and my community," Johnson said in a final statement to the court in the penalty phase.

Ashley Smith photo. Murderpedia Juan Ignacio Blanco. Sarah Marie JOHNSON The defendant openly displayed her emotions at various points in trial testimony, scowling in disagreement or smiling at complimentary remarks made about her. Photo by Willy Cook Sarah Johnson entered the courtroom crying before the verdict was announced and continued to sob as the two guilty verdicts were read. Sarah Johnson Johnson maintained her innocence in her parents' deaths.