Kills Wife, Self As Children Look On
Threat Day Earlier Told; Mate Had Caused Man’s Arrest; Infidelity Charged
While two of their eight children looked on in horror, Roy Johnson, 46-year-old quarry worker killed his wife, Lilly Pearl, age 39, with a shotgun Friday afternoon, reloaded the single-shot weapon, and then killed himself. The double tragedy took place in a garden behind the Johnson home on Knightridge Road, 8 miles southeast of Bloomington.
This was the finding of Deputy Coroner Eiethel Reynolds and Sheriff Noble Sciscoe who investigated the shooting. Reynolds described the deaths of the couple as “A clear-cut case of murder and suicide.” Mrs. Johnson was shot directly through the heart, from very close range. Mr. Johnson died as a charge from the 12 guage (sic) shotgun struck him just below the heart. The shooting took place in a small corn and potato patch on a weedy slope the distance of approximately a block and a half back of the Johnson home Friday afternoon about 2:45.
Sheriff Sciscoe said the background of the double tragedy included considerable heavy drinking on the part of Mr. Johnson; his arrest two weeks ago on a charge of public intoxication, instigated by Mrs. Johnson and claims by Mr. Johnson that Mrs. Johnson was guilty of maritial (sic) infidelity. Less than 24 hours prior to the shooting, members of the victims’ family told Reynolds and Sciscoe, Johnson had “gone for his gun” to kill his wife but that she had escaped the Thursday evening threat by running to the nearby home of her mother, Mrs. Phoebie White.
The Johnson children recalled for officials at the scene of the tragedy that Friday morning their father seemed to be in good spirits and left home to go to work at the Victor Oolitic Quarry. They later learned, they said, that he had not reported for duty at the quarry.
Conversation Recalled. Friday afternoon Johnson returned home. He had been drinking, the children said. “Where is your mother?” the slender, gray-haired stone worker asked the children.
“She’s in the garden.”
“I’m going down and kill her.” Armed with his rusty-barreled shotgun (he had been carrying it about with him in his car recently, the children said) Johnson thereupon went to the garden, which was to the rear of and west of the house.
A witness to the shootings was Freeda Jane Johnson, 8-year-old daughter of the victims. She was with her mother when Johnson, his pockets bulging with almost a dozen shotgun shells, went down the slope with his gun.
Walter Johnson, 20-year-old son of the couple, had arrived home at about the time his father left. He said he was getting ready to go squirrel hunting. Walter said he heard his sister, Freeda Jane, scream from the garden plot. He heard a shot. He started toward the garden. “He shot her and then shot himself,” was Walter’s description of the tragedy. “I went down there and brought Freeda Jane to the house; I didn’t want her to see them.” Walter said. Sheriff Sciscoe said Walter told him he believed the two fatal shots took place “About two minutes apart.”
Near Mrs. Johnson’s feet was an empty shotgun shell. Her left arm was slightly raised over her bosom in what officers believed to be a defensive position. Mrs. Johnson wore spectacles which were still in place. The body of Mrs. Johnson was lying with feet extended toward the feet of her dead husband, some six feet away.
Lying approximately half way between the bodies was the shotgun, a “Norwich” model of Hopkins & Allen manufacture. The gun contained an empty shell. The death weapon showed signs of hard usage. Copper wire was wound around the stock just back of the breech, where the stock partially had split. Friction tape had been wound about part of the barrel and the forward part of the stock.
“Roy Johnson has killed his wife and he may have killed himself too.” This was the message received by Sheriff Noble Sciscoe at about 3:15 Friday afternoon at the Monroe County Jail. Reynolds said he found no farewell note. He did find nine shotgun shells; a wallet containing $13 and some change; and identification papers.
After Reynolds has completed his inspection at the scene, the victims were removed to the Greene & Harrell Funeral Home to be prepared for burial.
Another witness to the shootings, Sheriff Sciscoe said, was a neighbor, Isaac Butcher, whose home is situated approximately two city blocks from the Johnson home. Butcher said he was sitting on his front porch, heard the commotion and saw Johnson first shoot his wife and then himself. Butcher estimated approximately one minute elapsed between the two shots.
Sheriff Sciscoe recalled that on Friday, August 18, he had arrested Johnson at his home for public intoxication. A charge filed after Mrs. Johnson had appealed to officials, complaining that her husband was drinking and creating a disturbance at their home.
Arrest Described. “I found him in his yard,” recalled Sheriff Sciscoe, “and since I couldn’t arrest him on his own property without a warrant, I asked him to come to me. He staggered out into the road and I arrested him.” Johnson paid a fine for intoxication in the court of Justice Reynolds following this arrest.
Sheriff Sciscoe said today he was seeking identity of two men who were reported to have been with Johnson when he went home Friday afternoon. These two men, Sciscoe said, left the scene of the tragedy before officials arrived. “We know who did the shooting,” said Sciscoe, “but we want to talk to these two men who were with Johnson because they are material witnesses in the crime of murder.” The sheriff said he wished to question the men as part of the investigation. One of the two men, and possibly both of them, Sheriff Sciscoe said he was told, were fellow quarry workers of Johnson’s.
Game Warden Harold Bouher was the first officer to reach the scene of the shootings. He said he happened to be near the Johnson home at the time, learned of the tragedy, and arrived at the scene a few minutes before the other officers.
Other Survivors Listed. Children surviving Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, in addition to Walter and Freeda, are five other daughters, Mrs. Geraldine Patton and Mrs. Wanita Grubb both of Bloomington, and Betty Johnson, Sandra Gayle Johnson and Delores Johnson, all home; and another son, Rodney Johnson, at home.
Mr. Johnson also is survived by a brother, Ora Johnson, and thre (sic) sisters, Mrs. Pearl DeWar, Mrs. Ida Kent, and Mrs. Sarah Kent, all of Rural Route Three. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge and the Quarry Workers Union.
Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson, in addition to her children and her mother, are two brothers, Olan White and Roy White, both of Route Three; and five sisters, Mrs. Leroy Krebbs and Mrs. Don Reynolds, and Mrs. Jean Abbott, all of Bloomington; Mrs. Norval Grubb, Route Three and Mrs. Roy Bayne, Route Four. Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson are three half-brothers, William White, of Bloomington; Frank White, of R. R. 3, and James White, of Sanders.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Pentecostal Church.
Services Set. Funeral services for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Knight Ridge Church with the Rev. John Hays officiating. Burial will be in the Knight Ridge Cemetery.
The bodies have been taken from the Greene and Harrell Mortuary to the residence to remain until the services.
Pallbearers for Mrs. Johnson will be Cecil Deckard, Leroy Krebbs, Donald Reynolds, Norval Grubb, Ray Bayne and James Abbott. Mr. Johnson’s pallbearers will be Charlie, Richard and Paul Kent, Glen and Virgil Johnson and Ralph Deckard.
Flowerbearers will be Dorothy White, Barbara Abbott, Joan Sipes, Janeora and Mamie Reynolds, Betty Hawkins, Peggy White, Phyllis Bayne, Kathleen Patton, Peggy Sipes, Martha Kent, and Glodene Grubb.
[Daily Herald-Telephone, September 2, 1950, page 1]
Submitted by David Tate
Threat Day Earlier Told; Mate Had Caused Man’s Arrest; Infidelity Charged
While two of their eight children looked on in horror, Roy Johnson, 46-year-old quarry worker killed his wife, Lilly Pearl, age 39, with a shotgun Friday afternoon, reloaded the single-shot weapon, and then killed himself. The double tragedy took place in a garden behind the Johnson home on Knightridge Road, 8 miles southeast of Bloomington.
This was the finding of Deputy Coroner Eiethel Reynolds and Sheriff Noble Sciscoe who investigated the shooting. Reynolds described the deaths of the couple as “A clear-cut case of murder and suicide.” Mrs. Johnson was shot directly through the heart, from very close range. Mr. Johnson died as a charge from the 12 guage (sic) shotgun struck him just below the heart. The shooting took place in a small corn and potato patch on a weedy slope the distance of approximately a block and a half back of the Johnson home Friday afternoon about 2:45.
Sheriff Sciscoe said the background of the double tragedy included considerable heavy drinking on the part of Mr. Johnson; his arrest two weeks ago on a charge of public intoxication, instigated by Mrs. Johnson and claims by Mr. Johnson that Mrs. Johnson was guilty of maritial (sic) infidelity. Less than 24 hours prior to the shooting, members of the victims’ family told Reynolds and Sciscoe, Johnson had “gone for his gun” to kill his wife but that she had escaped the Thursday evening threat by running to the nearby home of her mother, Mrs. Phoebie White.
The Johnson children recalled for officials at the scene of the tragedy that Friday morning their father seemed to be in good spirits and left home to go to work at the Victor Oolitic Quarry. They later learned, they said, that he had not reported for duty at the quarry.
Conversation Recalled. Friday afternoon Johnson returned home. He had been drinking, the children said. “Where is your mother?” the slender, gray-haired stone worker asked the children.
“She’s in the garden.”
“I’m going down and kill her.” Armed with his rusty-barreled shotgun (he had been carrying it about with him in his car recently, the children said) Johnson thereupon went to the garden, which was to the rear of and west of the house.
A witness to the shootings was Freeda Jane Johnson, 8-year-old daughter of the victims. She was with her mother when Johnson, his pockets bulging with almost a dozen shotgun shells, went down the slope with his gun.
Walter Johnson, 20-year-old son of the couple, had arrived home at about the time his father left. He said he was getting ready to go squirrel hunting. Walter said he heard his sister, Freeda Jane, scream from the garden plot. He heard a shot. He started toward the garden. “He shot her and then shot himself,” was Walter’s description of the tragedy. “I went down there and brought Freeda Jane to the house; I didn’t want her to see them.” Walter said. Sheriff Sciscoe said Walter told him he believed the two fatal shots took place “About two minutes apart.”
Near Mrs. Johnson’s feet was an empty shotgun shell. Her left arm was slightly raised over her bosom in what officers believed to be a defensive position. Mrs. Johnson wore spectacles which were still in place. The body of Mrs. Johnson was lying with feet extended toward the feet of her dead husband, some six feet away.
Lying approximately half way between the bodies was the shotgun, a “Norwich” model of Hopkins & Allen manufacture. The gun contained an empty shell. The death weapon showed signs of hard usage. Copper wire was wound around the stock just back of the breech, where the stock partially had split. Friction tape had been wound about part of the barrel and the forward part of the stock.
“Roy Johnson has killed his wife and he may have killed himself too.” This was the message received by Sheriff Noble Sciscoe at about 3:15 Friday afternoon at the Monroe County Jail. Reynolds said he found no farewell note. He did find nine shotgun shells; a wallet containing $13 and some change; and identification papers.
After Reynolds has completed his inspection at the scene, the victims were removed to the Greene & Harrell Funeral Home to be prepared for burial.
Another witness to the shootings, Sheriff Sciscoe said, was a neighbor, Isaac Butcher, whose home is situated approximately two city blocks from the Johnson home. Butcher said he was sitting on his front porch, heard the commotion and saw Johnson first shoot his wife and then himself. Butcher estimated approximately one minute elapsed between the two shots.
Sheriff Sciscoe recalled that on Friday, August 18, he had arrested Johnson at his home for public intoxication. A charge filed after Mrs. Johnson had appealed to officials, complaining that her husband was drinking and creating a disturbance at their home.
Arrest Described. “I found him in his yard,” recalled Sheriff Sciscoe, “and since I couldn’t arrest him on his own property without a warrant, I asked him to come to me. He staggered out into the road and I arrested him.” Johnson paid a fine for intoxication in the court of Justice Reynolds following this arrest.
Sheriff Sciscoe said today he was seeking identity of two men who were reported to have been with Johnson when he went home Friday afternoon. These two men, Sciscoe said, left the scene of the tragedy before officials arrived. “We know who did the shooting,” said Sciscoe, “but we want to talk to these two men who were with Johnson because they are material witnesses in the crime of murder.” The sheriff said he wished to question the men as part of the investigation. One of the two men, and possibly both of them, Sheriff Sciscoe said he was told, were fellow quarry workers of Johnson’s.
Game Warden Harold Bouher was the first officer to reach the scene of the shootings. He said he happened to be near the Johnson home at the time, learned of the tragedy, and arrived at the scene a few minutes before the other officers.
Other Survivors Listed. Children surviving Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, in addition to Walter and Freeda, are five other daughters, Mrs. Geraldine Patton and Mrs. Wanita Grubb both of Bloomington, and Betty Johnson, Sandra Gayle Johnson and Delores Johnson, all home; and another son, Rodney Johnson, at home.
Mr. Johnson also is survived by a brother, Ora Johnson, and thre (sic) sisters, Mrs. Pearl DeWar, Mrs. Ida Kent, and Mrs. Sarah Kent, all of Rural Route Three. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge and the Quarry Workers Union.
Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson, in addition to her children and her mother, are two brothers, Olan White and Roy White, both of Route Three; and five sisters, Mrs. Leroy Krebbs and Mrs. Don Reynolds, and Mrs. Jean Abbott, all of Bloomington; Mrs. Norval Grubb, Route Three and Mrs. Roy Bayne, Route Four. Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson are three half-brothers, William White, of Bloomington; Frank White, of R. R. 3, and James White, of Sanders.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Pentecostal Church.
Services Set. Funeral services for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Knight Ridge Church with the Rev. John Hays officiating. Burial will be in the Knight Ridge Cemetery.
The bodies have been taken from the Greene and Harrell Mortuary to the residence to remain until the services.
Pallbearers for Mrs. Johnson will be Cecil Deckard, Leroy Krebbs, Donald Reynolds, Norval Grubb, Ray Bayne and James Abbott. Mr. Johnson’s pallbearers will be Charlie, Richard and Paul Kent, Glen and Virgil Johnson and Ralph Deckard.
Flowerbearers will be Dorothy White, Barbara Abbott, Joan Sipes, Janeora and Mamie Reynolds, Betty Hawkins, Peggy White, Phyllis Bayne, Kathleen Patton, Peggy Sipes, Martha Kent, and Glodene Grubb.
[Daily Herald-Telephone, September 2, 1950, page 1]
Submitted by David Tate
Kills Wife, Self As Children Look On
Threat Day Earlier Told; Mate Had Caused Man’s Arrest; Infidelity Charged
While two of their eight children looked on in horror, Roy Johnson, 46-year-old quarry worker killed his wife, Lilly Pearl, age 39, with a shotgun Friday afternoon, reloaded the single-shot weapon, and then killed himself. The double tragedy took place in a garden behind the Johnson home on Knightridge Road, 8 miles southeast of Bloomington.
This was the finding of Deputy Coroner Eiethel Reynolds and Sheriff Noble Sciscoe who investigated the shooting. Reynolds described the deaths of the couple as “A clear-cut case of murder and suicide.” Mrs. Johnson was shot directly through the heart, from very close range. Mr. Johnson died as a charge from the 12 guage (sic) shotgun struck him just below the heart. The shooting took place in a small corn and potato patch on a weedy slope the distance of approximately a block and a half back of the Johnson home Friday afternoon about 2:45.
Sheriff Sciscoe said the background of the double tragedy included considerable heavy drinking on the part of Mr. Johnson; his arrest two weeks ago on a charge of public intoxication, instigated by Mrs. Johnson and claims by Mr. Johnson that Mrs. Johnson was guilty of maritial (sic) infidelity. Less than 24 hours prior to the shooting, members of the victims’ family told Reynolds and Sciscoe, Johnson had “gone for his gun” to kill his wife but that she had escaped the Thursday evening threat by running to the nearby home of her mother, Mrs. Phoebie White.
The Johnson children recalled for officials at the scene of the tragedy that Friday morning their father seemed to be in good spirits and left home to go to work at the Victor Oolitic Quarry. They later learned, they said, that he had not reported for duty at the quarry.
Conversation Recalled. Friday afternoon Johnson returned home. He had been drinking, the children said. “Where is your mother?” the slender, gray-haired stone worker asked the children.
“She’s in the garden.”
“I’m going down and kill her.” Armed with his rusty-barreled shotgun (he had been carrying it about with him in his car recently, the children said) Johnson thereupon went to the garden, which was to the rear of and west of the house.
A witness to the shootings was Freeda Jane Johnson, 8-year-old daughter of the victims. She was with her mother when Johnson, his pockets bulging with almost a dozen shotgun shells, went down the slope with his gun.
Walter Johnson, 20-year-old son of the couple, had arrived home at about the time his father left. He said he was getting ready to go squirrel hunting. Walter said he heard his sister, Freeda Jane, scream from the garden plot. He heard a shot. He started toward the garden. “He shot her and then shot himself,” was Walter’s description of the tragedy. “I went down there and brought Freeda Jane to the house; I didn’t want her to see them.” Walter said. Sheriff Sciscoe said Walter told him he believed the two fatal shots took place “About two minutes apart.”
Near Mrs. Johnson’s feet was an empty shotgun shell. Her left arm was slightly raised over her bosom in what officers believed to be a defensive position. Mrs. Johnson wore spectacles which were still in place. The body of Mrs. Johnson was lying with feet extended toward the feet of her dead husband, some six feet away.
Lying approximately half way between the bodies was the shotgun, a “Norwich” model of Hopkins & Allen manufacture. The gun contained an empty shell. The death weapon showed signs of hard usage. Copper wire was wound around the stock just back of the breech, where the stock partially had split. Friction tape had been wound about part of the barrel and the forward part of the stock.
“Roy Johnson has killed his wife and he may have killed himself too.” This was the message received by Sheriff Noble Sciscoe at about 3:15 Friday afternoon at the Monroe County Jail. Reynolds said he found no farewell note. He did find nine shotgun shells; a wallet containing $13 and some change; and identification papers.
After Reynolds has completed his inspection at the scene, the victims were removed to the Greene & Harrell Funeral Home to be prepared for burial.
Another witness to the shootings, Sheriff Sciscoe said, was a neighbor, Isaac Butcher, whose home is situated approximately two city blocks from the Johnson home. Butcher said he was sitting on his front porch, heard the commotion and saw Johnson first shoot his wife and then himself. Butcher estimated approximately one minute elapsed between the two shots.
Sheriff Sciscoe recalled that on Friday, August 18, he had arrested Johnson at his home for public intoxication. A charge filed after Mrs. Johnson had appealed to officials, complaining that her husband was drinking and creating a disturbance at their home.
Arrest Described. “I found him in his yard,” recalled Sheriff Sciscoe, “and since I couldn’t arrest him on his own property without a warrant, I asked him to come to me. He staggered out into the road and I arrested him.” Johnson paid a fine for intoxication in the court of Justice Reynolds following this arrest.
Sheriff Sciscoe said today he was seeking identity of two men who were reported to have been with Johnson when he went home Friday afternoon. These two men, Sciscoe said, left the scene of the tragedy before officials arrived. “We know who did the shooting,” said Sciscoe, “but we want to talk to these two men who were with Johnson because they are material witnesses in the crime of murder.” The sheriff said he wished to question the men as part of the investigation. One of the two men, and possibly both of them, Sheriff Sciscoe said he was told, were fellow quarry workers of Johnson’s.
Game Warden Harold Bouher was the first officer to reach the scene of the shootings. He said he happened to be near the Johnson home at the time, learned of the tragedy, and arrived at the scene a few minutes before the other officers.
Other Survivors Listed. Children surviving Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, in addition to Walter and Freeda, are five other daughters, Mrs. Geraldine Patton and Mrs. Wanita Grubb both of Bloomington, and Betty Johnson, Sandra Gayle Johnson and Delores Johnson, all home; and another son, Rodney Johnson, at home.
Mr. Johnson also is survived by a brother, Ora Johnson, and thre (sic) sisters, Mrs. Pearl DeWar, Mrs. Ida Kent, and Mrs. Sarah Kent, all of Rural Route Three. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge and the Quarry Workers Union.
Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson, in addition to her children and her mother, are two brothers, Olan White and Roy White, both of Route Three; and five sisters, Mrs. Leroy Krebbs and Mrs. Don Reynolds, and Mrs. Jean Abbott, all of Bloomington; Mrs. Norval Grubb, Route Three and Mrs. Roy Bayne, Route Four. Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson are three half-brothers, William White, of Bloomington; Frank White, of R. R. 3, and James White, of Sanders.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Pentecostal Church.
Services Set. Funeral services for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Knight Ridge Church with the Rev. John Hays officiating. Burial will be in the Knight Ridge Cemetery.
The bodies have been taken from the Greene and Harrell Mortuary to the residence to remain until the services.
Pallbearers for Mrs. Johnson will be Cecil Deckard, Leroy Krebbs, Donald Reynolds, Norval Grubb, Ray Bayne and James Abbott. Mr. Johnson’s pallbearers will be Charlie, Richard and Paul Kent, Glen and Virgil Johnson and Ralph Deckard.
Flowerbearers will be Dorothy White, Barbara Abbott, Joan Sipes, Janeora and Mamie Reynolds, Betty Hawkins, Peggy White, Phyllis Bayne, Kathleen Patton, Peggy Sipes, Martha Kent, and Glodene Grubb.
[Daily Herald-Telephone, September 2, 1950, page 1]
Submitted by David Tate
Threat Day Earlier Told; Mate Had Caused Man’s Arrest; Infidelity Charged
While two of their eight children looked on in horror, Roy Johnson, 46-year-old quarry worker killed his wife, Lilly Pearl, age 39, with a shotgun Friday afternoon, reloaded the single-shot weapon, and then killed himself. The double tragedy took place in a garden behind the Johnson home on Knightridge Road, 8 miles southeast of Bloomington.
This was the finding of Deputy Coroner Eiethel Reynolds and Sheriff Noble Sciscoe who investigated the shooting. Reynolds described the deaths of the couple as “A clear-cut case of murder and suicide.” Mrs. Johnson was shot directly through the heart, from very close range. Mr. Johnson died as a charge from the 12 guage (sic) shotgun struck him just below the heart. The shooting took place in a small corn and potato patch on a weedy slope the distance of approximately a block and a half back of the Johnson home Friday afternoon about 2:45.
Sheriff Sciscoe said the background of the double tragedy included considerable heavy drinking on the part of Mr. Johnson; his arrest two weeks ago on a charge of public intoxication, instigated by Mrs. Johnson and claims by Mr. Johnson that Mrs. Johnson was guilty of maritial (sic) infidelity. Less than 24 hours prior to the shooting, members of the victims’ family told Reynolds and Sciscoe, Johnson had “gone for his gun” to kill his wife but that she had escaped the Thursday evening threat by running to the nearby home of her mother, Mrs. Phoebie White.
The Johnson children recalled for officials at the scene of the tragedy that Friday morning their father seemed to be in good spirits and left home to go to work at the Victor Oolitic Quarry. They later learned, they said, that he had not reported for duty at the quarry.
Conversation Recalled. Friday afternoon Johnson returned home. He had been drinking, the children said. “Where is your mother?” the slender, gray-haired stone worker asked the children.
“She’s in the garden.”
“I’m going down and kill her.” Armed with his rusty-barreled shotgun (he had been carrying it about with him in his car recently, the children said) Johnson thereupon went to the garden, which was to the rear of and west of the house.
A witness to the shootings was Freeda Jane Johnson, 8-year-old daughter of the victims. She was with her mother when Johnson, his pockets bulging with almost a dozen shotgun shells, went down the slope with his gun.
Walter Johnson, 20-year-old son of the couple, had arrived home at about the time his father left. He said he was getting ready to go squirrel hunting. Walter said he heard his sister, Freeda Jane, scream from the garden plot. He heard a shot. He started toward the garden. “He shot her and then shot himself,” was Walter’s description of the tragedy. “I went down there and brought Freeda Jane to the house; I didn’t want her to see them.” Walter said. Sheriff Sciscoe said Walter told him he believed the two fatal shots took place “About two minutes apart.”
Near Mrs. Johnson’s feet was an empty shotgun shell. Her left arm was slightly raised over her bosom in what officers believed to be a defensive position. Mrs. Johnson wore spectacles which were still in place. The body of Mrs. Johnson was lying with feet extended toward the feet of her dead husband, some six feet away.
Lying approximately half way between the bodies was the shotgun, a “Norwich” model of Hopkins & Allen manufacture. The gun contained an empty shell. The death weapon showed signs of hard usage. Copper wire was wound around the stock just back of the breech, where the stock partially had split. Friction tape had been wound about part of the barrel and the forward part of the stock.
“Roy Johnson has killed his wife and he may have killed himself too.” This was the message received by Sheriff Noble Sciscoe at about 3:15 Friday afternoon at the Monroe County Jail. Reynolds said he found no farewell note. He did find nine shotgun shells; a wallet containing $13 and some change; and identification papers.
After Reynolds has completed his inspection at the scene, the victims were removed to the Greene & Harrell Funeral Home to be prepared for burial.
Another witness to the shootings, Sheriff Sciscoe said, was a neighbor, Isaac Butcher, whose home is situated approximately two city blocks from the Johnson home. Butcher said he was sitting on his front porch, heard the commotion and saw Johnson first shoot his wife and then himself. Butcher estimated approximately one minute elapsed between the two shots.
Sheriff Sciscoe recalled that on Friday, August 18, he had arrested Johnson at his home for public intoxication. A charge filed after Mrs. Johnson had appealed to officials, complaining that her husband was drinking and creating a disturbance at their home.
Arrest Described. “I found him in his yard,” recalled Sheriff Sciscoe, “and since I couldn’t arrest him on his own property without a warrant, I asked him to come to me. He staggered out into the road and I arrested him.” Johnson paid a fine for intoxication in the court of Justice Reynolds following this arrest.
Sheriff Sciscoe said today he was seeking identity of two men who were reported to have been with Johnson when he went home Friday afternoon. These two men, Sciscoe said, left the scene of the tragedy before officials arrived. “We know who did the shooting,” said Sciscoe, “but we want to talk to these two men who were with Johnson because they are material witnesses in the crime of murder.” The sheriff said he wished to question the men as part of the investigation. One of the two men, and possibly both of them, Sheriff Sciscoe said he was told, were fellow quarry workers of Johnson’s.
Game Warden Harold Bouher was the first officer to reach the scene of the shootings. He said he happened to be near the Johnson home at the time, learned of the tragedy, and arrived at the scene a few minutes before the other officers.
Other Survivors Listed. Children surviving Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, in addition to Walter and Freeda, are five other daughters, Mrs. Geraldine Patton and Mrs. Wanita Grubb both of Bloomington, and Betty Johnson, Sandra Gayle Johnson and Delores Johnson, all home; and another son, Rodney Johnson, at home.
Mr. Johnson also is survived by a brother, Ora Johnson, and thre (sic) sisters, Mrs. Pearl DeWar, Mrs. Ida Kent, and Mrs. Sarah Kent, all of Rural Route Three. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge and the Quarry Workers Union.
Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson, in addition to her children and her mother, are two brothers, Olan White and Roy White, both of Route Three; and five sisters, Mrs. Leroy Krebbs and Mrs. Don Reynolds, and Mrs. Jean Abbott, all of Bloomington; Mrs. Norval Grubb, Route Three and Mrs. Roy Bayne, Route Four. Other survivors of Mrs. Johnson are three half-brothers, William White, of Bloomington; Frank White, of R. R. 3, and James White, of Sanders.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Pentecostal Church.
Services Set. Funeral services for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Knight Ridge Church with the Rev. John Hays officiating. Burial will be in the Knight Ridge Cemetery.
The bodies have been taken from the Greene and Harrell Mortuary to the residence to remain until the services.
Pallbearers for Mrs. Johnson will be Cecil Deckard, Leroy Krebbs, Donald Reynolds, Norval Grubb, Ray Bayne and James Abbott. Mr. Johnson’s pallbearers will be Charlie, Richard and Paul Kent, Glen and Virgil Johnson and Ralph Deckard.
Flowerbearers will be Dorothy White, Barbara Abbott, Joan Sipes, Janeora and Mamie Reynolds, Betty Hawkins, Peggy White, Phyllis Bayne, Kathleen Patton, Peggy Sipes, Martha Kent, and Glodene Grubb.
[Daily Herald-Telephone, September 2, 1950, page 1]
Submitted by David Tate
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