May 12, 2019 • 43 mins
Episode 22 - Rushed Execution Series
Part Four - Stacy Johnson
In April 2017 Arkansas' Supply of the drug Midazolam was going to expire, to avoid wasting the drugs they had that are hard to get, The governor thought rushing eight executions in four days would be best....
Part four covers the case of the fourth inmate scheduled for execution, Stacy Johnson.
Strictly Homicide is researched, written, hosted and produced by Nicki T.
Original Music by Mr. T
Theis episode's promos include:
Unresolved
Somethings Not Right
Sources used for research on this series:
Police Reports, Court Documents and the following public information:
Arkansas Times Article written by Benjamin Hardy (2015)
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2015/08/13/udpate-arkansas-has-purchased-lethal-injection-drugs-including-midazolam
Two articles written by Liliana Segura (2017) for The Intercept Article
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/26/how-a-daughters-search-for-her-biological-father-led-her-to-an-execution-in-arkansas/
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/12/arkansas-death-row-executions-kenneth-williams/
The Marshall Project Article written by Maurice Chammah
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-drug-shortage-has-slowed-the-death-penalty-treadmill
Arkansas Online piece written by Brandon Riddle, Emma Pettit, and Maggie McNeary
https://www.arkansasonline.com/arkansasexecutions/
Part Four - Stacy Johnson
In April 2017 Arkansas' Supply of the drug Midazolam was going to expire, to avoid wasting the drugs they had that are hard to get, The governor thought rushing eight executions in four days would be best....
Part four covers the case of the fourth inmate scheduled for execution, Stacy Johnson.
Strictly Homicide is researched, written, hosted and produced by Nicki T.
Original Music by Mr. T
Theis episode's promos include:
Unresolved
Somethings Not Right
Sources used for research on this series:
Police Reports, Court Documents and the following public information:
Arkansas Times Article written by Benjamin Hardy (2015)
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2015/08/13/udpate-arkansas-has-purchased-lethal-injection-drugs-including-midazolam
Two articles written by Liliana Segura (2017) for The Intercept Article
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/26/how-a-daughters-search-for-her-biological-father-led-her-to-an-execution-in-arkansas/
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/12/arkansas-death-row-executions-kenneth-williams/
The Marshall Project Article written by Maurice Chammah
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-drug-shortage-has-slowed-the-death-penalty-treadmill
Arkansas Online piece written by Brandon Riddle, Emma Pettit, and Maggie McNeary
https://www.arkansasonline.com/arkansasexecutions/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
One piece of smart technology could helpsolve a murder mystery in Arkansas. Two
Pine Bluff teens are in jail tonightfacing murder charges. Police say they are
in custody in connection to the shootingdepth of two seventeen year old. He's
a bizarre story in Russellville, Arkansas, today, a man who reportedly quit
his job over low pay went ona shooting spree with two handguns. Tributes
(00:32):
are pouring in for Anne Presley,the Little Rock TV anchorwoman died over the
weekend. A suspect in a deadlyfable shooting on New Year's Day in court
this morning. A Little Rock motheris pleading for help. Tonight, she
is asking anyone thanks for listening thisStrictly Homicide and Arkansas True crime podcast covering
lesser known cases out of the naturalState. I'd like to start off by
(01:00):
thanking my patreons supporters. If you'dlike to help support us, you can
find us on Patreon and help withas little as a dollar a month.
There's also a donate button for aone time donation on Strictly Homicide dot com.
Please stay tuned until the end ofthe show to hear a few promos
from some of my favorite shows.Warning strictly homicide covers cases that include sexual
(01:34):
assault, violence, and homicide.Episodes may contain explicit language and are not
suitable for young ears. Listener discretionis advised. This episode's case took place
into Queen, Arkansas, a tinylittle town in southwest Arkansas that sits about
(01:57):
nine miles east of the Oklahoma Arkansasborder and about thirty eight miles north of
the Texas Arkansas border. The town'stotal size is just under six square miles,
with a population of six thousand,six hundred and twenty nine. Like
most of the cities in Arkansas,the history of Da Queen is entwined with
the construction of the Kansas City SouthernRailroad that connects Kansas City, Missouri,
(02:22):
to Port Arthur, Texas, whichsits on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
Da Queen was given its name afterthe family name of a Dutch coffee merchant
who helped finance the completion of theKansas City Southern Railroad. His name,
Jan Goeijin was very hard to pronounce. I get it. I'm sure I
(02:43):
butchered it, so they decided tomodify the name a bit to Da Queen.
The founder of the railroad, ArthurStillwell, traveled to Holland in eighteen
ninety four seeking investors for the railroad, but failed. He then contacted Jan,
who he had met on a previousstrip, and convinced him to support
the project. Within a few months, the both of them raised three million
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dollars. When asked what he thoughtabout the modified name, Jan said he
was unhappy. He said to Arthur, how would you like it if I
told you that I named my sonafter you and you found out that he
was being called William D. Queen. Arkansas was incorporated on July ninth,
eighteen ninety seven. This was thesame year that The Da Queen Bee began
(03:31):
its publication. It said that TheDa Queen Bee is Arkansas's and quite possibly
the nation's most agreeably curious newspaper name. The da Queen Bee is still currently
operating. The town's visitors usually consistof families camping and swimming in one of
(03:51):
the try lakes and people heading tothe lake to fish. Visitors of Da
Queen can also check out the SaviorCounty Museum. The museum displays some of
the town's history, like an Americanflag that Jan the town's namesake, presented
to the mayor's wife in nineteen twentyseven when he visited The Queen is just
(04:12):
like any other small town, noone is a stranger. But unlike the
small cities, De Queen's crime rateis sixty three percent higher than other US
cities. But that's today's crime ratetwenty six years ago. In nineteen ninety
three, Arkansas native and former GovernorWilliam J. Clinton was moving into the
(04:33):
White House. Canada had their firstever female Prime Minister. Steven Spielberg's Jurassic
Park became the highest grossed film andcarred that title for four years. In
nineteen ninety three, the original teendrama show Beverly Hills nine o two ONZ
reached the height of its popularity,and at the same time, the first
(04:54):
ever got milk commercial aired, andthat was the Vienna Would Dancing be one
of my all time favorites? Andnow let's make that random call with today's
(05:15):
ten thousand dollars question. It's atough one. Who shot Alexander Hamilton in
that famous duel? All right,let's go to the phones and see who's
out there. Oh, for tenthousand dollars. Who solo, whoa,
excuse me? Oho whoo, whoo, boo whoo who I break your time
(05:44):
is almost done? Ohoa whoa,I'm sorry. Maybe that's got good milk.
This was the same year that StevieBranch, Michael Moore, and Christopher
Byers were killed in West Memphis,Arkansas. In the spring of nineteen ninety
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three, two hundred and seventy milessouthwest, an entire town was shook by
the town's worst homicide. In themiddle of the night on April first,
a mother was brutally murdered in herliving room while her children were asleep in
their bed. On February twenty seventh, twenty seventeen, Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas's
(06:33):
governor, signed orders to execute eightinmates over a period of eleven days because
their supply of medaslem was about torun out. They scheduled four dates for
(06:57):
the eight executions, meaning two aday. Bruce Ward, covered in episode
eighteen, and Don Davis, coveredin episode nineteen, were scheduled for April
seventeenth, twenty seventeen. Laddell Leecovered in episode twenty, and Stacy Johnson
was scheduled for April twentieth, twentyseventeen. On that day, Ladell Lee
(07:20):
was the first man put to deathby lethal injection in Arkansas in twelve years.
The next inmates scheduled to be executedwere Jack Jones Junior and Marcel Williams,
scheduled for April twenty fourth. Thelast set of executions was Kenneth Williams
and Jason McGee, scheduled to beexecuted on April twenty seventh. Arkansas had
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eight doses of my dazzlam, andthose doses were about to expire at the
end of April. During a lethalinjection, the inmate first becomes unconscious,
then they stopped breathing, followed bya heart arrhythmia. This form of execution
was proposed by an Oklahoma medical examinerin nineteen seventy seven. It was introduced
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into the Oklahoma legislator by a reverend, and once it passed, it seemed
to start a trend. Texas adoptedthe new method next and was the first
state to use the lethal injection methodto execute an inmate. When manufacturers of
one of the drugs that they useddisallowed its use during lethal injection, they
replaced it with my DAZZLIMB. Thedrug is used to render the inmate unconscious,
(08:30):
but gained its controversial status when aninmate in Oklahoma regained consciousness during his
execution in twenty fourteen. He wasstruggling to talk, but those were the
words we got out, man,I'm not and something wrong. They may
be the last word spoken by Oklahomaand May Clinton Lockett uttered during his botched
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execution. Locket's vain exploded during thelethal injection, prompted authorities to quickly halt
the procedure. It was my decisionat that time to stop the execution.
The first drug and the lethal injectioncocktail is supposed to render a person unconscious,
but witnesses say Lockett was still consciousseven minutes after that first injection.
(09:15):
At sixteen minutes, he seemingly triedto get up and talk. It was
then that prison officials close the blinds, shutting out the media gathered to witness.
It is said that my dads LAMBcannot achieve the level of unconsciousness required
for surgery, so there is nodoubt that the inmates are suffering. Labeling
it cruel an unusual punishment exactly whatthe Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution
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prohibits. The controversy of the drugaided to a major shortage, especially with
the drug maker's objection to the deathpenalty. The drug makers were refusing to
sell the drug to correctional facilities becausethey did not want their drug use to
kill people during this time. Intwo thousand fifteen, Arkansas decided to stockpile,
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knowing that the eight bottles that theyhad were about to expire. The
governor made that rush decision on Februarytwenty seventh, twenty seventeen, to execute
two inmates a day for four days, using every bottle they had. The
lawyers for the eight inmates that werescheduled challenged the state's lethal injection procedures.
(10:24):
They were in fear of the chanceof their clients suffering. The attorneys asked
the States Supreme Court to avoid thegovernor's orders, saying a stay blocking the
executions is still in place while theamended complaints are penning. The US Supreme
Court decided not to take the inmatescase, which then removed the stay that
was in place. Arkansas Attorney GeneralLeslie Rutledge asked the governor to schedule the
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executions. A letter was written tothe governor by former corrections officials and administrators
urging him not to continue with theexecution and to reconsider the protocol being used.
They expressed the unnecessary stress and traumathat it imposes on the staff responsible
for carrying out the executions. Mostof the individuals that wrote the letters have
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directly oversaw executions and said it takesa severe toll on the correction officers well
being. They all experienced the psychologicalchallenges of the executions and the aftermath.
They explained how the rush schedule willincrease chances of error and how there has
never been success for a state thatexecuted two inmates in one day using the
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lethal injection method. A clemency hearingwas held for two of the inmates who
say they are both innocent. StacyJohnson was one of them, and like
Lee, Stacy Johnson also says he'sinnocent, arguing for post conviction DNA testing,
but his victim's son believes he's guilty. As charged. For episode twenty
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two, I'm going to discuss thefourth of the eight inmates scheduled for execution,
Stacy Eugene Johnson. Around seven pmon April first, nineteen ninety three.
It was like most evenings for Rose, who was heading to her friend
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Carol's house. Their girls were closefriends like sisters, and Rose often came
over and visited while using Carol's dryer. Carol was home with her kids,
Ashley, who was six and Jonathan, who was two. Once her clothes
were dry, she headed home.The next morning, Rose headed to Carol's
house to borrow a sweater for work. When she arrived, she knocked on
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the door, but no one answered. She thought that was very strange since
it was pretty early, so sheput her ear up to the door and
could hear Carrol's alarm plot going off. This worried Rose, so she tried
the door, which happened to beunlocked, and as Rose opened the front
door, she immediately saw her friend'snude body lying on the floor in a
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puddle of blood. In complete shock, Rose let out a scream and ran
across the street to call nine oneone. In nineteen ninety three, everyone
didn't have a cell phone and shedidn't want to enter the house, so
she ran across the street to callnine one one. After Rose called and
reported the scene, remembering that Carol'schildren were in the home. She went
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back over and looked near the bedroomwindow. The police arrived when Rose spotted
the kids looking. The police wantedto avoid walking the kids through the house
and feared that they would see theirmother lying in a pool of blood,
so they got them out the window. Rose sat with the children to come
for them. They were in shock. She asked six year old Ashley what
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happened, and Ashley told her ablack man broke in last night and beat
mommy. Rose remained with the childrenon the ride to the hospital, and
while in the back of the ambulance, an EMT heard Ashley say that they
were sleeping when they were woke upby someone in the house, so her
mom got up to see who itwas, and the next thing she knew,
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her mother fell back. At thecrime scene, the investigation began.
Carol's body was nude, with awadded up T shirt pushed up around her
neck. Her body was lying betweenthe couch and the coffee table. The
couch was tilted up on its backlegs and the coffee table had been moved
towards the middle of the room.It appeared that a struggle occurred. When
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the chief of police arrived he pulledthe t shirt away from her neck.
This was when they saw that herthroat had been slashed, cut from side
to side. The slash appeared tobe aggressive. It cut a fourth of
an inch into her spine. Therewas evidence of strangulation and her arms,
legs, and face had bruises andabrasions all over. There was signs of
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blunt force to her head and hadtwo bite marks on her breasts. The
condition Carol was in, along withhow the furniture was pointed to there being
a struggle. The officers found apair of her panties next to her,
a light colored liquid puddled in thegenital area between her legs, an empty
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douche bottle and an empty LifeStyle's condombox was found with a bloody towel in
the bathroom. Two hairs were foundon the floor near her body. There
was toilet paper found under her bodyand in her genitals. The investigators lifted
eleven latent prints and took a swaboff the bite marks near her breast.
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On April fifth, a local citizendiscovered a purse lying in a wooded area.
He walked over to the area andlooked through the purse. He found
identification but did not recognize the individual. He took the purse to his wife
because she knew everyone in the area. When she saw the identification, she
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immediately recognized the name and called thesheriff. The detective met the citizen near
where he found the purse, andas the detective was examining the area,
he also found a turquoise pullover thatcontained blood. During the investigation, they
questioned acquaintances of Carol. Since Ashleysaid the murderer was a black man and
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she had seen him before, theybegan asking Carol's friends if they recall any
black man hanging out around Carol's house. Carol's best friend, who described their
relationship more like sisters, was questionedand testified during trial. She said that
she visited Carol almost daily. Shesaid earlier in the year, Carol's boyfriend
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Branson, showed up at carol housewith a tall black man named Stacy during
a small get together. She saidthat she remembered him because he kept questioning
the girls, seeing if they knewanyone who would be interested in transporting Kilo's
for him. She told the investigatorsthat they just kind of shrugged it off,
ignoring him. Until Stacy started askingthem both out. She said she
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saw him only one other time.A few weeks after the small get together,
the girls were at the video arcadethat Branson ran, and Stacy was
there doing work for him. Shesaid that when he spotted the girls,
he called them over. They walkedover to Stacy to see what he wanted.
When he asked them if they foundanyone to transport the drugs for him,
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they told him no and that theyweren't interested in helping him find someone.
He then asked Carol if she wouldgo out with him, and she
had just ignored him and walked away. The friend told investigators that when this
happened, Stacy was visibly upset.They also interviewed Branson. He told them
that they were dating a while back, but when she was murdered, they
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were not dating. They also askedhim if he can recall any black men
hanging around Carol's house, and hementioned that his friend Stacy went over there
with him once. His story wasvery similar to Carol's friend. This led
police to include Stacy Johnson's photograph alongwith five other black men in a photo
lineup with a DHS worker present.The detective interviewed Carol's six year old daughter,
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Ashley. The investigator's statement about theconversation said that Ashley told him that
the three of them were all sittingon the couch when someone knocked on the
door. Her mom looked out thewindow to see who it was before opening
the door to a tall black man. She told the detective that she had
seen him at their house before,but it's been a while. She overheard
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her mom and the man talking andsaid she remembers him saying that he just
got out of jail when that's whathe was wearing. She remembered a black
hat with something hanging in the backand a green shirt or sweater. He
asked her what her mom and theman were talking about, and she said
that she just remembers the man askingher mom about Branson. She said Branson
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was who her mom liked. Duringthe conversation, the man became upset.
This was when Carol put the kidsto bed while the man was still in
the living room. Later that night, Ashley told the investigators that she got
up to get a glass of waterwhen she saw a man standing over her
mother with a knife. Her motherwas lying on the floor in a puddle
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of blood. She was frightened andshe went and hid in the closet with
her brother. Ashley saw the mango into the bathroom before he left.
Ashley and her brother remained in thecloset until the next morning, when they
heard Rose's scream. They knew thatRose had saw their mother. During the
questioning, the investigator showed her picturesof six different black men. Ashley picked
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the same person number three twice.On April seventh, a warrant for capital
murder was issued for the arrest ofthe man in pitcher number three, Stacy
Eugene Johnson. When Stacy Johnson wasfourteen, he moved from de Queen,
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Arkansas to Albuquerque, New Mexico.Stacy was in and out of trouble,
so he thought he could get afresh start. Anytime Stacy visited back in
Arkansas, he usually resorted back tohis old ways, using and selling drugs.
He used to drive a truck fora big drug dealer in Arkansas named
Mauie. He transported cocaine for Mauieuntil they had a falling out and the
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boss felt that Stacy ripped him off. One day in January nineteen ninety three,
Stacy received a call from him andhe told Stacy that he was going
to give him a demonstration. Stacydidn't really know what that meant, so
he just shrugged it off. Abouta week later, he received a call
that his father had a heart attackand died. Stacy was convinced that the
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drug dealer killed his father because hewas healthy and there was no way he
believes that he had a heart attack. Stacy traveled back to the Queen,
Arkansas for his father's funeral. Hisfamily would always worry about him when he
visited because of who he hung around. While he was hanging out with his
friends at a pool hall, heheard someone say, Stacy, you have
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a gun in your back pocket.Stacy had forgot that he put it there,
so he pulled it out and putit in his jacket pocket. Stacy
felt like he needed to protect himself. Not long after that happened, two
police officers approached Stacy at the poolhall to talk to him. They asked
him to step outside. When theydid, they asked if he was armed,
and he told them about the gun, which led to his arrest.
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Stacy stayed in jail until his girlfriendand New Mexico could send him money to
bill him out. She sent twentyfive hundred dollars to a relative of Stacy's,
and he went to the jail onApril first to bill him out.
After Howard billed him out, hedropped him off at his stepmom's house into
Queen. They rode around running someerrands in the dad's Monte Carlow. When
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they returned back home, Stacy askedif she had a T shirt he could
wear. She grabbed one of hisfather's white T shirts and handed it to
him. He asked if he couldtake his dad's Monte Carlo, and so
she handed over the keys. Iread two different statements in the original case
file. His mother said that sheoriginally told him he couldn't take the car,
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and he got angry and things gotheated, and he said something about
hurting people, and so his momhanded over the keys. In court testimony,
his mother said she had two carsand she couldn't drive them both,
so she let him take his dad's. Stacy's were about can be confirmed all
day until after he left his aunt'shouse around ten PM. In the beginning
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of the day. After Stacy lefthis stepmom's house, he was seen at
Walmart by his cousin buying clothes.After Walmart, he went to his aunt's
house looking for his uncle, whowasn't there, but his cousins were.
Stacy visited for a short time andtold them he'd come back when his uncle
got home. Stacy arrived back athis stepmom's house around eight pm. He
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knocked on the door and she lethim in. He told her that he
found a place to stay with awhite girl who had two kids and worked
at the bank. She told himto stay out of trouble, and he
responded, trouble just follows me,shut the door and left, and that
was the last time she saw himthat night. When he left, she
said he was wearing a green turquoiseshirt and blue jeans. Stacy went to
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his aunt's house one last time aroundnine forty five. When he arrived at
his aunt's house, his uncle wasthere and his younger cousin. His aunt
and uncle expressed their concern for himstaying in the area. They told him
that he needed to leave as soonas he could, reminding him that when
he's into Queen, he hangs aroundwith the wrong people and always gets in
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trouble. Stacy agreed with them andpromised that after his trial, as soon
as he was allowed to leave,he would head back to New Mexico,
but until then, he told themhe'll be staying behind the pizza hut in
a trailer. His aunt said thatwhen Stacy left, he was wearing a
bluish colored shirt and blue jeans.What happened next on that night of April
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first can't be verified. According toStacy, he headed back to New Mexico
on April fourteenth. During a trafficstop in Albuquerque, Stacy told law enforcement
in a Jamaican accent that his namewas Caleb Kaila. He said that he
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didn't have his driver's license and gavethem a social security number. The officer
asked Stacy to spell his name twodifferent times, and he spelled it differently
both times. The officer called inthe name and social security number, and
to his surprise, it matched only. The description was someone who is five
feet six inches and one hundred andsixty pounds. Stacy is about six six
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and two hundred and sixty five pounds. According to the police officers, Stacy
admitted to them that he killed someonein Arkansas and told them that he'll pay
him five thousand dollars each if theylet him go. This was hearsay,
though he told them that if hegot sent back, they would kill him.
He eventually gave the officers his name, and this time the officer was
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told that he had a worn outfor his arrest in Arkansas for capital murder.
They booked Stacy into the county detentioncenter, where he asked to speak
with a detective concerning the possibility ofhim being framed. Stacy was interviewed by
a detective who recorded the interview.They advised Stacy of his rights and he
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agreed to talk with them without anattorney. Stacy told them that he visited
to Queen, Arkansas in January forhis father's funeral. His dad died from
a heart attack, but Stacius convincedhe was murdered. He thinks that an
old drug dealer he used to workfor had something to do with his father's
death, so he was sure thathe was now framing him for murder.
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He told the detective that he usedto drive a truck for this guy,
Mallie, a big time drug dealer, and one day he decided to look
in the truck, which was fullof cocaine. He said that when he
saw how much cocaine was in thetruck, knowing he was driving with no
license, he said, fuck this, I'm out and left the truck behind.
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He also told them that when Malliefound out, he told Stacy that
he was going to make a fuckingexample of him. He told the detective
that while in Arkansas for his father'sfuneral, he was arrested for possession of
a firearm and went to jail.Stacy said he couldn't afford to get billed
out right away, so he satthere until April, when his girlfriend sent
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money to a relative to bill himout. Stacy said that when he got
out, he went to his stepmother'shouse. The only other place he really
went was his aunt's until he gotin his father's car and drove back to
New Mexico. Next, he toldthe detectives that the area was nothing but
trouble and he wanted nothing to dowith it. He said that he had
nothing to do with the murder andknew nothing about it until his mom told
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him that the police were looking forhim. After the interview, the detective
contacted the Queen Police Department and letthem know that they had Stacy Johnson and
custody and that they had taped astatement back in Arkansas. The detective investigating
the case asked for the recording andrequested that they obtained a search warrant for
the vehicle. Once they obtained thesearch warrant, they went to Stacy's girlfriend's
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house to tow them on Carlo.Stacy's girlfriend was not happy. She told
them that Stacy gave her that carto pay her back for billing him out.
That didn't stop them from towing thecar. They searched the vehicle for
any kind of evidence that they couldfind. They photographed the car inside it
out, but found nothing. Whenthey reported this back to the detective in
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Arkansas, he was a little upsetbecause they did not use any chemicals to
look for traces of blood. Heasked them to obtain another search warrant,
so they did. This time,they searched it with chemicals, finding a
small trace of blood in the frontseat. They photographed the traces of blood
that they found and sent the reportback to Arkansas. Stacy refused to sign
(28:44):
for extradition, so he remained inNew Mexico until late nineteen ninety three,
when he returned to Arkansas. OnceStacy was back, he was questioned by
the detectives here. They asked himfor his version of the alleged offence,
and he denied killing anyone. Hetold them the little girl picked the wrong
person out. When asked if Stacyknew the victim, he said he met
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her in January when he was hangingout with his friend Branson. His story
was that he was with Branson onenight when they were dropping cocaine off at
Carol's house. They ended up stayingand hanging out with Carol and her friend,
parting and doing cocaine. His storyis that Carol performed oral sex on
him before they left. Not longafter that night, Stacy was arrested and
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sat in gel until April. Stacysaid that his plans were to head back
to New Mexico, but before heleft the state, he wanted to get
his father's car and see family.He said that after he drove back to
New Mexico a few days later,his mom told him that the police were
looking for him. He said thatthe days leading up to his arrests were
spent doing a lot of drugs withhis girlfriend. They questioned Stacy's stepmother and
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showed her the two shirts that theyhad as evident. She identified the white
T shirt as his father's. Shesaid the turquoise shirt looked like the one
he had on, but she wasn'tsure. During the pre trial, the
court found Ashley incompetent to testify dueto psychological trauma. The court also excluded
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Ashley's statement she made to Rose andthe EMT, determining that the statements were
not reliable. Stacy was given apsychological evaluation on March eighth, nineteen ninety
four, and he was diagnosed withpsychoactive substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder,
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but they found him stable enough tobe tried. The State Crime Lab medical
examiner testified that Carol's death was causedby the cutting of her neck strangulation AM
blunt force head injuries. He saidthe cut was four inches and went in
a quarter inch into her line.There was bruises and abrations all over the
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body that consisted with defensive wounds,a bite mark on her right breast,
an abrasion on her left breast,and a quarter of an inch cut on
her right labia, but he couldn'tdetermine if she was sexually assaulted because the
murderer used the douche on her.The detective testified that the victim's children were
there during the attack and how shepicked Stacy from a photo lineup. He
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discussed his interview with Ashley too.Stacy's stepmother testified about the day he was
released. She confirmed that they ranerrands and then he took the car.
She said that earlier he asked fora white T shirt and she handed him
one of his father's. She testifiedthat he told her he was going to
stay the night with a white femalewho worked at a bank and had two
(31:51):
kids. Testimony was also heard froman inmate who was in jail with Stacy,
and he said on the day thathe was being released, he claimed
he was going to have sex withthe first woman that he met. DNA
testing was performed on the breast swaband Stacy Johnson was excluded from the DNA.
(32:13):
The testing indicated the presence of anotherperson. They tested the white T
shirt found on her neck and indicatedan unknown Caucasian DNA other than Carol's,
but excluded Stacy. The cigarette,butt and hairs were tested and Carol was
excluded, but Stacy was not.The blood found on the green T shirt
(32:34):
found also tested positive for carol.On September twenty third, nineteen ninety four,
the jury convicted Johnson of capital murderand he was sentenced to death by
lethal injection, but the court reversedthe conviction on the grounds that certain things
Ashley said were mentioned during testimony,which was a violation of Johnson's rights.
(32:59):
A new trial was then ordered.During the retrial, the state decided that
Ashley was now competent to testify.The defense team tried to bring up her
counseling records, but the court deniedthe defense access to them, including examinations
and psychologists visits, questioning her abilityas an eyewitness. During this trial,
(33:22):
unrecorded statements that Stacy made, includingan alleged confession. In New Mexico,
the jury again convicted Stacy Johnson ofcapital murder and was sentenced to death.
Stacy and his attorneys then filed aRule thirty seven in an Act seventeen eighty
(33:45):
petition were post conviction DNA testing,asking that the court permit further DNA testing
on several items that were collected fromthe crime scene but never tested. The
unknown DNA found on her breast wasnever amitted to CODIS, which could potentially
name an accomplice or possibly exonerate Stacy. The petitions were then denied by the
(34:07):
circuit courts, stating that the testswould not change the fact that Stacy's DNA
couldn't be excluded from some of theitems. The DNA was tested back in
the nineties, when DNA was nowherenearest precise. We asked for retesting and
(34:30):
were explicitly denied. What do theyhave to hide? What is the problem?
For close to twenty five years,I've been in Arkansas Department of Correction
for a crime that I didn't do. The evidence in this case, we
believes overwhelming and has been since dayone. Easy Ladies and gentlemen are Stacy
(34:50):
Johnson's disciplinaries in the prison. Ontwelve eleven, two thousand and sixteen,
Stacy Johnson attempted to stab a correctionalofficer with a shank as that officer slid
his food trade through the slot inhis door. It's a race against the
clock for all parties involved to scheduleArkansas's first execution in twelve years. Today
(35:13):
was the very last state that wecould see him before schedule execution tomorrow.
Gyfabe that happens. The denials wereappealed and the court partially reversed and remanded
back to seventeen eighty petition, butthe Circuit Court refused to order the testing.
(35:37):
On appeal, the court affirmed thedecision. On April thirteenth, twenty
seventeen. Stacy filed a motion forDNA testing and requested a hearing. The
Circuit Court denied and dismissed the request, stating that he failed to meet the
requirements of requesting post conviction DNA testing. Stacy Johnson has been on death row
(36:01):
for twenty three years now. He'sconvicted for violently killing Carol Heath in nineteen
ninety three, and the queen hebeat, strangled and split his throat.
Well two children in the house ahead. There's so much blood all over the
(36:21):
place. The only memory that comesto mind in the house is seeing my
mother on the floor. I believewith all my heart he's the one that
broke in and started beating my mother. I believe that he is the one
that took the knife to my mother'sthreatness. Testimary is notoriously unreliable, and
(36:46):
when we have a child witness.That's a major issue. Hours before his
execution on April twentieth, the courtgranted a day of execution and a hearing
on post conviction DNA testing. Hello, Yes, oh boys. In two
(37:40):
thousand and four, Stacy and acorrection officer began dating, and in twenty
sixteen she married him. She standsby him, attending all the court dates.
She said she wouldn't have married himif she didn't think he was innocent.
I met, stay, said correctionofficer. He was just standing in
a zill doorway. That was aconnection. It's kind of hard to explain.
(38:06):
July of last year, twenty sixteen, we were officially married. Stacy's
no angel, coming from where he'scome from and being out there in the
streets, you know, and he'sdone some things he's not proud of.
But he said that this was justnot the one that he's done. Looking
(38:29):
at the evidence and just knowing himas a person that I felt inside of
my dad that he didn't do.If I knew for sure that he didn't
do this, I wouldn't be heretoday. Over a year later, on
May ninth, twenty eighteen, whichwas the last update I could find,
(38:51):
the Circuit Court denied the DNA petition. Some of the sources from this episode
include court documents in the BBC threeYouTube documentary Life and Death Row the mass
(39:12):
Executions. I just want to thankeveryone for listening to this episode. I
had to take a short break fora while. I apologize for that,
but life happens. On the nextepisode, I'll be covering the next case
from this series. Jack Jones Junior. I also want to tell all my
(39:49):
listeners that I'll be attending the TrueCrime Podcast Festival on Saturday, July thirteenth
in Chicago at the Marriott Downtown righton the Magnificent Mile. There are over
eighty true crime podcasters coming, includingGeneration Why, All Crime, No Cattle,
Pretend Radio, Southern Fried, TrueCrime, Trace Evidence, Ignorance,
(40:13):
was Bliss, True Crime All theTime, Murderous Miners, Yours and Murder,
Corpus, Delecti, murder Ish,Nature Versus Narcissism, Red Ram Blonde,
and so many more I can't namethem all, including me strictly Homicide.
This is a full day event andgives you a chance to meet your
(40:36):
favorite podcasters in a large scale meetand greet area. There will be several
panel discussions in live episodes too.I'm really excited about this. To find
out more and join the almost fourhundred people who have bought tickets, head
to TCPF twenty nineteen dot com orsearch True Crime Podcast Festival on any social
(41:00):
media. I can't wait to seeyou guys there. Strictly Homicide is written,
hosted, and produced by me NikkiT. The original music is done
by mister T. No not thatone, my mister T. If you're
(41:23):
a fan of the show, pleasemake sure you are subscribed on iTunes and
please rate and review the show.You can also find us on Patreon,
where you can support the show foras little as one dollar a month.
If there is a case that youwould like to discuss, or if you
have any comments, corrections, orsuggestions, send us an email at strictly
(41:46):
Homicide at yahoo dot com or onsocial media. You can find us on
most social media sites by searching StrictlyHomicide podcast and on Twitter as at strictly
hmi cide that's strictly homicide with noO. You can also visit our website
(42:07):
strictly homicide dot com. Stick aroundto hear a few promos from some of
the best podcasts around and until nexttime, y'all stay safe, especially you
Arkansas. My name is Michael Wheelan, and I am the host of a
(42:30):
podcast called Unresolved. In twenty fifteen, before the true crime podcasting wave really
kicked off, I wanted to starta show that focused on not only the
gory details, but the human storiesat the center of every mystery, because
for every unsolved murder or baffling experience, there are multiple lives left without an
(42:51):
answer. Since I started the podcast, I've tried to focus on unfinished stories,
both big and small, to tryand figure out why and how some
of us are left without any resolution. I'm interested in learning about these unknown
aspects of life, and I hopethat you are too. Check out my
podcast Unresolved on your podcast app ofchoice, or just stop by the show's
(43:14):
website unresolved dot m to learn more. Hey, this is Olivia and I'm
too Shawna. We're the hosts ofSomething's Not Right. We do a bunch
of research and then we tell eachother crazy stories. They're usually about true
crime, but we're down to talkabout anything strange or disturbing. So if
(43:36):
that sounds like your kind of thing, and you don't mind a little salty
language. Check us out for moreinfo on Something's Not Right? Is It
Not Right? Podcast dot net
One piece of smart technology could helpsolve a murder mystery in Arkansas. Two
Pine Bluff teens are in jail tonightfacing murder charges. Police say they are
in custody in connection to the shootingdepth of two seventeen year old. He's
a bizarre story in Russellville, Arkansas, today, a man who reportedly quit
his job over low pay went ona shooting spree with two handguns. Tributes
(00:32):
are pouring in for Anne Presley,the Little Rock TV anchorwoman died over the
weekend. A suspect in a deadlyfable shooting on New Year's Day in court
this morning. A Little Rock motheris pleading for help. Tonight, she
is asking anyone thanks for listening thisStrictly Homicide and Arkansas True crime podcast covering
lesser known cases out of the naturalState. I'd like to start off by
(01:00):
thanking my patreons supporters. If you'dlike to help support us, you can
find us on Patreon and help withas little as a dollar a month.
There's also a donate button for aone time donation on Strictly Homicide dot com.
Please stay tuned until the end ofthe show to hear a few promos
from some of my favorite shows.Warning strictly homicide covers cases that include sexual
(01:34):
assault, violence, and homicide.Episodes may contain explicit language and are not
suitable for young ears. Listener discretionis advised. This episode's case took place
into Queen, Arkansas, a tinylittle town in southwest Arkansas that sits about
(01:57):
nine miles east of the Oklahoma Arkansasborder and about thirty eight miles north of
the Texas Arkansas border. The town'stotal size is just under six square miles,
with a population of six thousand,six hundred and twenty nine. Like
most of the cities in Arkansas,the history of Da Queen is entwined with
the construction of the Kansas City SouthernRailroad that connects Kansas City, Missouri,
(02:22):
to Port Arthur, Texas, whichsits on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
Da Queen was given its name afterthe family name of a Dutch coffee merchant
who helped finance the completion of theKansas City Southern Railroad. His name,
Jan Goeijin was very hard to pronounce. I get it. I'm sure I
(02:43):
butchered it, so they decided tomodify the name a bit to Da Queen.
The founder of the railroad, ArthurStillwell, traveled to Holland in eighteen
ninety four seeking investors for the railroad, but failed. He then contacted Jan,
who he had met on a previousstrip, and convinced him to support
the project. Within a few months, the both of them raised three million
(03:07):
dollars. When asked what he thoughtabout the modified name, Jan said he
was unhappy. He said to Arthur, how would you like it if I
told you that I named my sonafter you and you found out that he
was being called William D. Queen. Arkansas was incorporated on July ninth,
eighteen ninety seven. This was thesame year that The Da Queen Bee began
(03:31):
its publication. It said that TheDa Queen Bee is Arkansas's and quite possibly
the nation's most agreeably curious newspaper name. The da Queen Bee is still currently
operating. The town's visitors usually consistof families camping and swimming in one of
(03:51):
the try lakes and people heading tothe lake to fish. Visitors of Da
Queen can also check out the SaviorCounty Museum. The museum displays some of
the town's history, like an Americanflag that Jan the town's namesake, presented
to the mayor's wife in nineteen twentyseven when he visited The Queen is just
(04:12):
like any other small town, noone is a stranger. But unlike the
small cities, De Queen's crime rateis sixty three percent higher than other US
cities. But that's today's crime ratetwenty six years ago. In nineteen ninety
three, Arkansas native and former GovernorWilliam J. Clinton was moving into the
(04:33):
White House. Canada had their firstever female Prime Minister. Steven Spielberg's Jurassic
Park became the highest grossed film andcarred that title for four years. In
nineteen ninety three, the original teendrama show Beverly Hills nine o two ONZ
reached the height of its popularity,and at the same time, the first
(04:54):
ever got milk commercial aired, andthat was the Vienna Would Dancing be one
of my all time favorites? Andnow let's make that random call with today's
(05:15):
ten thousand dollars question. It's atough one. Who shot Alexander Hamilton in
that famous duel? All right,let's go to the phones and see who's
out there. Oh, for tenthousand dollars. Who solo, whoa,
excuse me? Oho whoo, whoo, boo whoo who I break your time
(05:44):
is almost done? Ohoa whoa,I'm sorry. Maybe that's got good milk.
This was the same year that StevieBranch, Michael Moore, and Christopher
Byers were killed in West Memphis,Arkansas. In the spring of nineteen ninety
(06:11):
three, two hundred and seventy milessouthwest, an entire town was shook by
the town's worst homicide. In themiddle of the night on April first,
a mother was brutally murdered in herliving room while her children were asleep in
their bed. On February twenty seventh, twenty seventeen, Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas's
(06:33):
governor, signed orders to execute eightinmates over a period of eleven days because
their supply of medaslem was about torun out. They scheduled four dates for
(06:57):
the eight executions, meaning two aday. Bruce Ward, covered in episode
eighteen, and Don Davis, coveredin episode nineteen, were scheduled for April
seventeenth, twenty seventeen. Laddell Leecovered in episode twenty, and Stacy Johnson
was scheduled for April twentieth, twentyseventeen. On that day, Ladell Lee
(07:20):
was the first man put to deathby lethal injection in Arkansas in twelve years.
The next inmates scheduled to be executedwere Jack Jones Junior and Marcel Williams,
scheduled for April twenty fourth. Thelast set of executions was Kenneth Williams
and Jason McGee, scheduled to beexecuted on April twenty seventh. Arkansas had
(07:44):
eight doses of my dazzlam, andthose doses were about to expire at the
end of April. During a lethalinjection, the inmate first becomes unconscious,
then they stopped breathing, followed bya heart arrhythmia. This form of execution
was proposed by an Oklahoma medical examinerin nineteen seventy seven. It was introduced
(08:05):
into the Oklahoma legislator by a reverend, and once it passed, it seemed
to start a trend. Texas adoptedthe new method next and was the first
state to use the lethal injection methodto execute an inmate. When manufacturers of
one of the drugs that they useddisallowed its use during lethal injection, they
replaced it with my DAZZLIMB. Thedrug is used to render the inmate unconscious,
(08:30):
but gained its controversial status when aninmate in Oklahoma regained consciousness during his
execution in twenty fourteen. He wasstruggling to talk, but those were the
words we got out, man,I'm not and something wrong. They may
be the last word spoken by Oklahomaand May Clinton Lockett uttered during his botched
(08:54):
execution. Locket's vain exploded during thelethal injection, prompted authorities to quickly halt
the procedure. It was my decisionat that time to stop the execution.
The first drug and the lethal injectioncocktail is supposed to render a person unconscious,
but witnesses say Lockett was still consciousseven minutes after that first injection.
(09:15):
At sixteen minutes, he seemingly triedto get up and talk. It was
then that prison officials close the blinds, shutting out the media gathered to witness.
It is said that my dads LAMBcannot achieve the level of unconsciousness required
for surgery, so there is nodoubt that the inmates are suffering. Labeling
it cruel an unusual punishment exactly whatthe Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution
(09:41):
prohibits. The controversy of the drugaided to a major shortage, especially with
the drug maker's objection to the deathpenalty. The drug makers were refusing to
sell the drug to correctional facilities becausethey did not want their drug use to
kill people during this time. Intwo thousand fifteen, Arkansas decided to stockpile,
(10:03):
knowing that the eight bottles that theyhad were about to expire. The
governor made that rush decision on Februarytwenty seventh, twenty seventeen, to execute
two inmates a day for four days, using every bottle they had. The
lawyers for the eight inmates that werescheduled challenged the state's lethal injection procedures.
(10:24):
They were in fear of the chanceof their clients suffering. The attorneys asked
the States Supreme Court to avoid thegovernor's orders, saying a stay blocking the
executions is still in place while theamended complaints are penning. The US Supreme
Court decided not to take the inmatescase, which then removed the stay that
was in place. Arkansas Attorney GeneralLeslie Rutledge asked the governor to schedule the
(10:48):
executions. A letter was written tothe governor by former corrections officials and administrators
urging him not to continue with theexecution and to reconsider the protocol being used.
They expressed the unnecessary stress and traumathat it imposes on the staff responsible
for carrying out the executions. Mostof the individuals that wrote the letters have
(11:13):
directly oversaw executions and said it takesa severe toll on the correction officers well
being. They all experienced the psychologicalchallenges of the executions and the aftermath.
They explained how the rush schedule willincrease chances of error and how there has
never been success for a state thatexecuted two inmates in one day using the
(11:37):
lethal injection method. A clemency hearingwas held for two of the inmates who
say they are both innocent. StacyJohnson was one of them, and like
Lee, Stacy Johnson also says he'sinnocent, arguing for post conviction DNA testing,
but his victim's son believes he's guilty. As charged. For episode twenty
(12:11):
two, I'm going to discuss thefourth of the eight inmates scheduled for execution,
Stacy Eugene Johnson. Around seven pmon April first, nineteen ninety three.
It was like most evenings for Rose, who was heading to her friend
(12:33):
Carol's house. Their girls were closefriends like sisters, and Rose often came
over and visited while using Carol's dryer. Carol was home with her kids,
Ashley, who was six and Jonathan, who was two. Once her clothes
were dry, she headed home.The next morning, Rose headed to Carol's
house to borrow a sweater for work. When she arrived, she knocked on
(12:56):
the door, but no one answered. She thought that was very strange since
it was pretty early, so sheput her ear up to the door and
could hear Carrol's alarm plot going off. This worried Rose, so she tried
the door, which happened to beunlocked, and as Rose opened the front
door, she immediately saw her friend'snude body lying on the floor in a
(13:18):
puddle of blood. In complete shock, Rose let out a scream and ran
across the street to call nine oneone. In nineteen ninety three, everyone
didn't have a cell phone and shedidn't want to enter the house, so
she ran across the street to callnine one one. After Rose called and
reported the scene, remembering that Carol'schildren were in the home. She went
(13:41):
back over and looked near the bedroomwindow. The police arrived when Rose spotted
the kids looking. The police wantedto avoid walking the kids through the house
and feared that they would see theirmother lying in a pool of blood,
so they got them out the window. Rose sat with the children to come
for them. They were in shock. She asked six year old Ashley what
(14:03):
happened, and Ashley told her ablack man broke in last night and beat
mommy. Rose remained with the childrenon the ride to the hospital, and
while in the back of the ambulance, an EMT heard Ashley say that they
were sleeping when they were woke upby someone in the house, so her
mom got up to see who itwas, and the next thing she knew,
(14:24):
her mother fell back. At thecrime scene, the investigation began.
Carol's body was nude, with awadded up T shirt pushed up around her
neck. Her body was lying betweenthe couch and the coffee table. The
couch was tilted up on its backlegs and the coffee table had been moved
towards the middle of the room.It appeared that a struggle occurred. When
(14:46):
the chief of police arrived he pulledthe t shirt away from her neck.
This was when they saw that herthroat had been slashed, cut from side
to side. The slash appeared tobe aggressive. It cut a fourth of
an inch into her spine. Therewas evidence of strangulation and her arms,
legs, and face had bruises andabrasions all over. There was signs of
(15:09):
blunt force to her head and hadtwo bite marks on her breasts. The
condition Carol was in, along withhow the furniture was pointed to there being
a struggle. The officers found apair of her panties next to her,
a light colored liquid puddled in thegenital area between her legs, an empty
(15:30):
douche bottle and an empty LifeStyle's condombox was found with a bloody towel in
the bathroom. Two hairs were foundon the floor near her body. There
was toilet paper found under her bodyand in her genitals. The investigators lifted
eleven latent prints and took a swaboff the bite marks near her breast.
(15:54):
On April fifth, a local citizendiscovered a purse lying in a wooded area.
He walked over to the area andlooked through the purse. He found
identification but did not recognize the individual. He took the purse to his wife
because she knew everyone in the area. When she saw the identification, she
(16:15):
immediately recognized the name and called thesheriff. The detective met the citizen near
where he found the purse, andas the detective was examining the area,
he also found a turquoise pullover thatcontained blood. During the investigation, they
questioned acquaintances of Carol. Since Ashleysaid the murderer was a black man and
(16:36):
she had seen him before, theybegan asking Carol's friends if they recall any
black man hanging out around Carol's house. Carol's best friend, who described their
relationship more like sisters, was questionedand testified during trial. She said that
she visited Carol almost daily. Shesaid earlier in the year, Carol's boyfriend
(16:57):
Branson, showed up at carol housewith a tall black man named Stacy during
a small get together. She saidthat she remembered him because he kept questioning
the girls, seeing if they knewanyone who would be interested in transporting Kilo's
for him. She told the investigatorsthat they just kind of shrugged it off,
ignoring him. Until Stacy started askingthem both out. She said she
(17:22):
saw him only one other time.A few weeks after the small get together,
the girls were at the video arcadethat Branson ran, and Stacy was
there doing work for him. Shesaid that when he spotted the girls,
he called them over. They walkedover to Stacy to see what he wanted.
When he asked them if they foundanyone to transport the drugs for him,
(17:44):
they told him no and that theyweren't interested in helping him find someone.
He then asked Carol if she wouldgo out with him, and she
had just ignored him and walked away. The friend told investigators that when this
happened, Stacy was visibly upset.They also interviewed Branson. He told them
that they were dating a while back, but when she was murdered, they
(18:07):
were not dating. They also askedhim if he can recall any black men
hanging around Carol's house, and hementioned that his friend Stacy went over there
with him once. His story wasvery similar to Carol's friend. This led
police to include Stacy Johnson's photograph alongwith five other black men in a photo
lineup with a DHS worker present.The detective interviewed Carol's six year old daughter,
(18:33):
Ashley. The investigator's statement about theconversation said that Ashley told him that
the three of them were all sittingon the couch when someone knocked on the
door. Her mom looked out thewindow to see who it was before opening
the door to a tall black man. She told the detective that she had
seen him at their house before,but it's been a while. She overheard
(18:53):
her mom and the man talking andsaid she remembers him saying that he just
got out of jail when that's whathe was wearing. She remembered a black
hat with something hanging in the backand a green shirt or sweater. He
asked her what her mom and theman were talking about, and she said
that she just remembers the man askingher mom about Branson. She said Branson
(19:15):
was who her mom liked. Duringthe conversation, the man became upset.
This was when Carol put the kidsto bed while the man was still in
the living room. Later that night, Ashley told the investigators that she got
up to get a glass of waterwhen she saw a man standing over her
mother with a knife. Her motherwas lying on the floor in a puddle
(19:37):
of blood. She was frightened andshe went and hid in the closet with
her brother. Ashley saw the mango into the bathroom before he left.
Ashley and her brother remained in thecloset until the next morning, when they
heard Rose's scream. They knew thatRose had saw their mother. During the
questioning, the investigator showed her picturesof six different black men. Ashley picked
(20:00):
the same person number three twice.On April seventh, a warrant for capital
murder was issued for the arrest ofthe man in pitcher number three, Stacy
Eugene Johnson. When Stacy Johnson wasfourteen, he moved from de Queen,
(20:22):
Arkansas to Albuquerque, New Mexico.Stacy was in and out of trouble,
so he thought he could get afresh start. Anytime Stacy visited back in
Arkansas, he usually resorted back tohis old ways, using and selling drugs.
He used to drive a truck fora big drug dealer in Arkansas named
Mauie. He transported cocaine for Mauieuntil they had a falling out and the
(20:48):
boss felt that Stacy ripped him off. One day in January nineteen ninety three,
Stacy received a call from him andhe told Stacy that he was going
to give him a demonstration. Stacydidn't really know what that meant, so
he just shrugged it off. Abouta week later, he received a call
that his father had a heart attackand died. Stacy was convinced that the
(21:11):
drug dealer killed his father because hewas healthy and there was no way he
believes that he had a heart attack. Stacy traveled back to the Queen,
Arkansas for his father's funeral. Hisfamily would always worry about him when he
visited because of who he hung around. While he was hanging out with his
friends at a pool hall, heheard someone say, Stacy, you have
(21:33):
a gun in your back pocket.Stacy had forgot that he put it there,
so he pulled it out and putit in his jacket pocket. Stacy
felt like he needed to protect himself. Not long after that happened, two
police officers approached Stacy at the poolhall to talk to him. They asked
him to step outside. When theydid, they asked if he was armed,
and he told them about the gun, which led to his arrest.
(21:56):
Stacy stayed in jail until his girlfriendand New Mexico could send him money to
bill him out. She sent twentyfive hundred dollars to a relative of Stacy's,
and he went to the jail onApril first to bill him out.
After Howard billed him out, hedropped him off at his stepmom's house into
Queen. They rode around running someerrands in the dad's Monte Carlow. When
(22:18):
they returned back home, Stacy askedif she had a T shirt he could
wear. She grabbed one of hisfather's white T shirts and handed it to
him. He asked if he couldtake his dad's Monte Carlo, and so
she handed over the keys. Iread two different statements in the original case
file. His mother said that sheoriginally told him he couldn't take the car,
(22:41):
and he got angry and things gotheated, and he said something about
hurting people, and so his momhanded over the keys. In court testimony,
his mother said she had two carsand she couldn't drive them both,
so she let him take his dad's. Stacy's were about can be confirmed all
day until after he left his aunt'shouse around ten PM. In the beginning
(23:06):
of the day. After Stacy lefthis stepmom's house, he was seen at
Walmart by his cousin buying clothes.After Walmart, he went to his aunt's
house looking for his uncle, whowasn't there, but his cousins were.
Stacy visited for a short time andtold them he'd come back when his uncle
got home. Stacy arrived back athis stepmom's house around eight pm. He
(23:29):
knocked on the door and she lethim in. He told her that he
found a place to stay with awhite girl who had two kids and worked
at the bank. She told himto stay out of trouble, and he
responded, trouble just follows me,shut the door and left, and that
was the last time she saw himthat night. When he left, she
said he was wearing a green turquoiseshirt and blue jeans. Stacy went to
(23:52):
his aunt's house one last time aroundnine forty five. When he arrived at
his aunt's house, his uncle wasthere and his younger cousin. His aunt
and uncle expressed their concern for himstaying in the area. They told him
that he needed to leave as soonas he could, reminding him that when
he's into Queen, he hangs aroundwith the wrong people and always gets in
(24:12):
trouble. Stacy agreed with them andpromised that after his trial, as soon
as he was allowed to leave,he would head back to New Mexico,
but until then, he told themhe'll be staying behind the pizza hut in
a trailer. His aunt said thatwhen Stacy left, he was wearing a
bluish colored shirt and blue jeans.What happened next on that night of April
(24:37):
first can't be verified. According toStacy, he headed back to New Mexico
on April fourteenth. During a trafficstop in Albuquerque, Stacy told law enforcement
in a Jamaican accent that his namewas Caleb Kaila. He said that he
(24:59):
didn't have his driver's license and gavethem a social security number. The officer
asked Stacy to spell his name twodifferent times, and he spelled it differently
both times. The officer called inthe name and social security number, and
to his surprise, it matched only. The description was someone who is five
feet six inches and one hundred andsixty pounds. Stacy is about six six
(25:23):
and two hundred and sixty five pounds. According to the police officers, Stacy
admitted to them that he killed someonein Arkansas and told them that he'll pay
him five thousand dollars each if theylet him go. This was hearsay,
though he told them that if hegot sent back, they would kill him.
He eventually gave the officers his name, and this time the officer was
(25:45):
told that he had a worn outfor his arrest in Arkansas for capital murder.
They booked Stacy into the county detentioncenter, where he asked to speak
with a detective concerning the possibility ofhim being framed. Stacy was interviewed by
a detective who recorded the interview.They advised Stacy of his rights and he
(26:07):
agreed to talk with them without anattorney. Stacy told them that he visited
to Queen, Arkansas in January forhis father's funeral. His dad died from
a heart attack, but Stacius convincedhe was murdered. He thinks that an
old drug dealer he used to workfor had something to do with his father's
death, so he was sure thathe was now framing him for murder.
(26:29):
He told the detective that he usedto drive a truck for this guy,
Mallie, a big time drug dealer, and one day he decided to look
in the truck, which was fullof cocaine. He said that when he
saw how much cocaine was in thetruck, knowing he was driving with no
license, he said, fuck this, I'm out and left the truck behind.
(26:51):
He also told them that when Malliefound out, he told Stacy that
he was going to make a fuckingexample of him. He told the detective
that while in Arkansas for his father'sfuneral, he was arrested for possession of
a firearm and went to jail.Stacy said he couldn't afford to get billed
out right away, so he satthere until April, when his girlfriend sent
(27:11):
money to a relative to bill himout. Stacy said that when he got
out, he went to his stepmother'shouse. The only other place he really
went was his aunt's until he gotin his father's car and drove back to
New Mexico. Next, he toldthe detectives that the area was nothing but
trouble and he wanted nothing to dowith it. He said that he had
nothing to do with the murder andknew nothing about it until his mom told
(27:33):
him that the police were looking forhim. After the interview, the detective
contacted the Queen Police Department and letthem know that they had Stacy Johnson and
custody and that they had taped astatement back in Arkansas. The detective investigating
the case asked for the recording andrequested that they obtained a search warrant for
the vehicle. Once they obtained thesearch warrant, they went to Stacy's girlfriend's
(27:57):
house to tow them on Carlo.Stacy's girlfriend was not happy. She told
them that Stacy gave her that carto pay her back for billing him out.
That didn't stop them from towing thecar. They searched the vehicle for
any kind of evidence that they couldfind. They photographed the car inside it
out, but found nothing. Whenthey reported this back to the detective in
(28:19):
Arkansas, he was a little upsetbecause they did not use any chemicals to
look for traces of blood. Heasked them to obtain another search warrant,
so they did. This time,they searched it with chemicals, finding a
small trace of blood in the frontseat. They photographed the traces of blood
that they found and sent the reportback to Arkansas. Stacy refused to sign
(28:44):
for extradition, so he remained inNew Mexico until late nineteen ninety three,
when he returned to Arkansas. OnceStacy was back, he was questioned by
the detectives here. They asked himfor his version of the alleged offence,
and he denied killing anyone. Hetold them the little girl picked the wrong
person out. When asked if Stacyknew the victim, he said he met
(29:07):
her in January when he was hangingout with his friend Branson. His story
was that he was with Branson onenight when they were dropping cocaine off at
Carol's house. They ended up stayingand hanging out with Carol and her friend,
parting and doing cocaine. His storyis that Carol performed oral sex on
him before they left. Not longafter that night, Stacy was arrested and
(29:29):
sat in gel until April. Stacysaid that his plans were to head back
to New Mexico, but before heleft the state, he wanted to get
his father's car and see family.He said that after he drove back to
New Mexico a few days later,his mom told him that the police were
looking for him. He said thatthe days leading up to his arrests were
spent doing a lot of drugs withhis girlfriend. They questioned Stacy's stepmother and
(29:56):
showed her the two shirts that theyhad as evident. She identified the white
T shirt as his father's. Shesaid the turquoise shirt looked like the one
he had on, but she wasn'tsure. During the pre trial, the
court found Ashley incompetent to testify dueto psychological trauma. The court also excluded
(30:19):
Ashley's statement she made to Rose andthe EMT, determining that the statements were
not reliable. Stacy was given apsychological evaluation on March eighth, nineteen ninety
four, and he was diagnosed withpsychoactive substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder,
(30:40):
but they found him stable enough tobe tried. The State Crime Lab medical
examiner testified that Carol's death was causedby the cutting of her neck strangulation AM
blunt force head injuries. He saidthe cut was four inches and went in
a quarter inch into her line.There was bruises and abrations all over the
(31:03):
body that consisted with defensive wounds,a bite mark on her right breast,
an abrasion on her left breast,and a quarter of an inch cut on
her right labia, but he couldn'tdetermine if she was sexually assaulted because the
murderer used the douche on her.The detective testified that the victim's children were
there during the attack and how shepicked Stacy from a photo lineup. He
(31:30):
discussed his interview with Ashley too.Stacy's stepmother testified about the day he was
released. She confirmed that they ranerrands and then he took the car.
She said that earlier he asked fora white T shirt and she handed him
one of his father's. She testifiedthat he told her he was going to
stay the night with a white femalewho worked at a bank and had two
(31:51):
kids. Testimony was also heard froman inmate who was in jail with Stacy,
and he said on the day thathe was being released, he claimed
he was going to have sex withthe first woman that he met. DNA
testing was performed on the breast swaband Stacy Johnson was excluded from the DNA.
(32:13):
The testing indicated the presence of anotherperson. They tested the white T
shirt found on her neck and indicatedan unknown Caucasian DNA other than Carol's,
but excluded Stacy. The cigarette,butt and hairs were tested and Carol was
excluded, but Stacy was not.The blood found on the green T shirt
(32:34):
found also tested positive for carol.On September twenty third, nineteen ninety four,
the jury convicted Johnson of capital murderand he was sentenced to death by
lethal injection, but the court reversedthe conviction on the grounds that certain things
Ashley said were mentioned during testimony,which was a violation of Johnson's rights.
(32:59):
A new trial was then ordered.During the retrial, the state decided that
Ashley was now competent to testify.The defense team tried to bring up her
counseling records, but the court deniedthe defense access to them, including examinations
and psychologists visits, questioning her abilityas an eyewitness. During this trial,
(33:22):
unrecorded statements that Stacy made, includingan alleged confession. In New Mexico,
the jury again convicted Stacy Johnson ofcapital murder and was sentenced to death.
Stacy and his attorneys then filed aRule thirty seven in an Act seventeen eighty
(33:45):
petition were post conviction DNA testing,asking that the court permit further DNA testing
on several items that were collected fromthe crime scene but never tested. The
unknown DNA found on her breast wasnever amitted to CODIS, which could potentially
name an accomplice or possibly exonerate Stacy. The petitions were then denied by the
(34:07):
circuit courts, stating that the testswould not change the fact that Stacy's DNA
couldn't be excluded from some of theitems. The DNA was tested back in
the nineties, when DNA was nowherenearest precise. We asked for retesting and
(34:30):
were explicitly denied. What do theyhave to hide? What is the problem?
For close to twenty five years,I've been in Arkansas Department of Correction
for a crime that I didn't do. The evidence in this case, we
believes overwhelming and has been since dayone. Easy Ladies and gentlemen are Stacy
(34:50):
Johnson's disciplinaries in the prison. Ontwelve eleven, two thousand and sixteen,
Stacy Johnson attempted to stab a correctionalofficer with a shank as that officer slid
his food trade through the slot inhis door. It's a race against the
clock for all parties involved to scheduleArkansas's first execution in twelve years. Today
(35:13):
was the very last state that wecould see him before schedule execution tomorrow.
Gyfabe that happens. The denials wereappealed and the court partially reversed and remanded
back to seventeen eighty petition, butthe Circuit Court refused to order the testing.
(35:37):
On appeal, the court affirmed thedecision. On April thirteenth, twenty
seventeen. Stacy filed a motion forDNA testing and requested a hearing. The
Circuit Court denied and dismissed the request, stating that he failed to meet the
requirements of requesting post conviction DNA testing. Stacy Johnson has been on death row
(36:01):
for twenty three years now. He'sconvicted for violently killing Carol Heath in nineteen
ninety three, and the queen hebeat, strangled and split his throat.
Well two children in the house ahead. There's so much blood all over the
(36:21):
place. The only memory that comesto mind in the house is seeing my
mother on the floor. I believewith all my heart he's the one that
broke in and started beating my mother. I believe that he is the one
that took the knife to my mother'sthreatness. Testimary is notoriously unreliable, and
(36:46):
when we have a child witness.That's a major issue. Hours before his
execution on April twentieth, the courtgranted a day of execution and a hearing
on post conviction DNA testing. Hello, Yes, oh boys. In two
(37:40):
thousand and four, Stacy and acorrection officer began dating, and in twenty
sixteen she married him. She standsby him, attending all the court dates.
She said she wouldn't have married himif she didn't think he was innocent.
I met, stay, said correctionofficer. He was just standing in
a zill doorway. That was aconnection. It's kind of hard to explain.
(38:06):
July of last year, twenty sixteen, we were officially married. Stacy's
no angel, coming from where he'scome from and being out there in the
streets, you know, and he'sdone some things he's not proud of.
But he said that this was justnot the one that he's done. Looking
(38:29):
at the evidence and just knowing himas a person that I felt inside of
my dad that he didn't do.If I knew for sure that he didn't
do this, I wouldn't be heretoday. Over a year later, on
May ninth, twenty eighteen, whichwas the last update I could find,
(38:51):
the Circuit Court denied the DNA petition. Some of the sources from this episode
include court documents in the BBC threeYouTube documentary Life and Death Row the mass
(39:12):
Executions. I just want to thankeveryone for listening to this episode. I
had to take a short break fora while. I apologize for that,
but life happens. On the nextepisode, I'll be covering the next case
from this series. Jack Jones Junior. I also want to tell all my
(39:49):
listeners that I'll be attending the TrueCrime Podcast Festival on Saturday, July thirteenth
in Chicago at the Marriott Downtown righton the Magnificent Mile. There are over
eighty true crime podcasters coming, includingGeneration Why, All Crime, No Cattle,
Pretend Radio, Southern Fried, TrueCrime, Trace Evidence, Ignorance,
(40:13):
was Bliss, True Crime All theTime, Murderous Miners, Yours and Murder,
Corpus, Delecti, murder Ish,Nature Versus Narcissism, Red Ram Blonde,
and so many more I can't namethem all, including me strictly Homicide.
This is a full day event andgives you a chance to meet your
(40:36):
favorite podcasters in a large scale meetand greet area. There will be several
panel discussions in live episodes too.I'm really excited about this. To find
out more and join the almost fourhundred people who have bought tickets, head
to TCPF twenty nineteen dot com orsearch True Crime Podcast Festival on any social
(41:00):
media. I can't wait to seeyou guys there. Strictly Homicide is written,
hosted, and produced by me NikkiT. The original music is done
by mister T. No not thatone, my mister T. If you're
(41:23):
a fan of the show, pleasemake sure you are subscribed on iTunes and
please rate and review the show.You can also find us on Patreon,
where you can support the show foras little as one dollar a month.
If there is a case that youwould like to discuss, or if you
have any comments, corrections, orsuggestions, send us an email at strictly
(41:46):
Homicide at yahoo dot com or onsocial media. You can find us on
most social media sites by searching StrictlyHomicide podcast and on Twitter as at strictly
hmi cide that's strictly homicide with noO. You can also visit our website
(42:07):
strictly homicide dot com. Stick aroundto hear a few promos from some of
the best podcasts around and until nexttime, y'all stay safe, especially you
Arkansas. My name is Michael Wheelan, and I am the host of a
(42:30):
podcast called Unresolved. In twenty fifteen, before the true crime podcasting wave really
kicked off, I wanted to starta show that focused on not only the
gory details, but the human storiesat the center of every mystery, because
for every unsolved murder or baffling experience, there are multiple lives left without an
(42:51):
answer. Since I started the podcast, I've tried to focus on unfinished stories,
both big and small, to tryand figure out why and how some
of us are left without any resolution. I'm interested in learning about these unknown
aspects of life, and I hopethat you are too. Check out my
podcast Unresolved on your podcast app ofchoice, or just stop by the show's
(43:14):
website unresolved dot m to learn more. Hey, this is Olivia and I'm
too Shawna. We're the hosts ofSomething's Not Right. We do a bunch
of research and then we tell eachother crazy stories. They're usually about true
crime, but we're down to talkabout anything strange or disturbing. So if
(43:36):
that sounds like your kind of thing, and you don't mind a little salty
language. Check us out for moreinfo on Something's Not Right? Is It
Not Right? Podcast dot net
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