12x23 - Disrobed

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: up next...

[ g*nsh*t ] ...a man is gunned down just

After dawn...

[ Screaming ] there was a b*llet hole that

Was straight into the tile.

[ g*nsh*t ] narrator: his wife is k*lled,

Too.

There were three people in the johnson house.

Two of them did not come out alive.

Narrator: no one thought the couple had any enemies.

Apparently, they had quite a few.

That certainly was a mystery to us.

I could describe him as a very cocky, arrogant young man.

Narrator: and the crime scene told a story no one wanted to

Believe.

The evidence was yelling and screaming, "this is what

Happened."

Narrator: nestled in the picturesque sawtooth mountains

Of central idaho is the town of bellevue -- a town that had not

Had a homicide in more than years.

Here, the johnson family felt safe.

Alan was a landscaper.

His wife, diane, worked as a tax collector.

Alan was an avid hunter.

He was just a wonderful guy.

Diane -- her passion was cooking.

She was always doing something wonderful in the kitchen.

Narrator: on a september morning in , the serenity of

This small town ended abruptly...

[ g*nshots ] ...when sh*ts were fired in the

Johnson home.

.

What is your emergency?

Narrator: when police got there, they found diane johnson

sh*t to death in her bed, apparently while she was still

Sleeping.

Alan johnson was also dead on the floor next to the bed.

The shower was still going.

And I could see directly into the shower, and there was a

b*llet hole that was straight on, chest-high, straight into

The tile.

Narrator: the m*rder w*apon -- a .-Caliber

r*fle -- was on the bedroom floor.

It was probably one of the most violent crime scenes that I

Had ever seen.

Narrator: sarah, the couple's -year-old daughter, said she

Was asleep in her bedroom down the hall when she heard the

First sh*t.

[ g*nsh*t ] she immediately got up, went

Through her parents' bedroom door, called her mother's name,

Heard a second g*nsh*t...

[ g*nsh*t ] ...and then fled the residence

Out the front door to a neighbor's house.

Narrator: unfortunately, sarah didn't see the assailant.

At the foot of the victims' bed, investigators found two knives.

That certainly was a mystery to us.

We have these two homicides.

Why are these knives placed in the manner that they are, and

What does that mean?

Narrator: another Kn*fe was found in the bedroom of the

Family's -year-old son, matthew.

He was away at college.

Since the doors to the house were never locked, there was no

Forced entry.

Nothing was stolen.

Adjacent to the johnsons' home was a guesthouse the family

Rented out.

Inside, on the bed, police found the scope that belonged to the

m*rder w*apon.

The tenant was -year-old mel speegle, and he was gone.

We found out that the m*rder w*apon belonged to mel speegle.

Narrator: mel speegle was now the prime suspect.

Sheriff walt femling ordered his deputies to seal off the entire

Perimeter and to stop the nearby garbage truck from leaving the

Area.

I yelled at one of my deputies to run over there and

Stop him from doing what he was doing.

Sir, just leave the garbage at this truck...

That garbage truck was one house away and almost took this

Evidence.

Narrator: in the trash can outside the johnsons' home was

Evidence more valuable than anything they found inside.

Narrator: alan and diane johnson were gunned down

In the bedroom of their home in the early morning hours.

[ g*nshots ] their -year-old daughter was

In the house when the sh**ting occurred, but unharmed.

In the garbage, police found a wealth of evidence.

In the outside trash can, a pink bathrobe -- inside that

Bathrobe, they found a brown leather glove, a latex glove,

And .-Caliber amm*nit*on.

Narrator: this amm*nit*on did not match the amm*nit*on used in

The murders.

However, it looked like the k*ller threw the items in the

Trash before fleeing the scene.

The m*rder w*apon -- a high-powered hunting r*fle --

Belonged to the johnsons' tenant, mel speegle, who had

Mysteriously disappeared.

Mel speegle had rented that guesthouse for years, was a

Very close friend of alan and diane.

He works as an electrician.

Narrator: within hours of the murders, investigators found

Speegle in boise, idaho, miles away.

He said he'd been visiting family members all weekend -- an

Alibi that checked out.

Speegle claimed his hunting r*fle was in his closet when he

Left for boise.

I directly asked mel speegle who he thought we should be

Looking at, and he's the one that told me about bruno santos.

Narrator: santos was dating the johnsons' -year-old

Daughter, sarah.

Bruno santos was a -year-old illegal immigrant.

He was a dropout, associated in a number of small drug-related

Crimes -- just kind of a guy that, as a father, you wouldn't

Necessarily aspire your daughter to want to marry because he

Didn't seem to have much direction in life.

Narrator: then investigators learned about a confrontation

Between alan johnson and bruno santos a few days before

The murders.

Sarah told her parents she was sleeping overnight at a

Girlfriend's house, but they later learned she was spending

The night with santos.

Alan johnson was furious, and he asked his brother-in-law

Jim vavold to go with him to santos' home.

I said, "it's not worth getting in trouble going in

There, b*ating up the kid or anything like that.

You're not gonna accomplish anything."

Narrator: alan told santos to stay away from his daughter and

Took sarah home.

Diane and I were in the kitchen, and I asked her, did

They love each other?

And she said, "well, she says that they do," and I said,

"Well, if they think they love each other, you won't be able to

Keep them away from each other."

Narrator: the johnsons also told santos that if he didn't

Stay away from their daughter, they would file statutory-r*pe

Charges against him.

Any kind of arrest whatsoever would have sent bruno back to

Mexico.

That just gave him that much more motive to take care of

Diane and alan.

Narrator: investigators immediately took bruno santos in

For questioning.

I could describe him as a very cocky, arrogant young

Man -- somewhat confrontational at times, pretty hard to deal

With.

He told me that he had proposed to sarah, asked her to marry

Him, which she said, "yes."

Narrator: bruno and his mother claimed bruno was home

Asleep on the morning of the murders, but no one else could

Verify his alibi.

He was cooperative with us at the time.

As we started pushing him a little harder in the interviews,

His demeanor certainly did change.

Our first thought was bruno.

We figured he was angry with diane and alan.

He decided to get rid of them so that he and sarah could be

Together.

Narrator: investigators also found evidence that santos

Defied the johnsons and continued to see sarah, going so

Far as to have sexual relations with her in her own home.

We confirmed that by finding semen stains on sarah's sheets

That matched bruno.

So we knew that he had been in the house, and so he was a prime

Suspect based on the fact that this crime truly was committed

By someone with knowledge, access, and opportunity.

Narrator: the sheriffs got a warrant to search santos' home

For evidence.

We took his clothing.

We took his shoes.

We took his dna, took him to the hospital, and scrapings of his

Hands and his hair and all those issues for dna samples.

Narrator: investigators wanted to know just how far

Bruno santos was willing to go to continue seeing

Sarah johnson.

[ Siren wails ] narrator: following the murde

Of alan and diane johnson, investigators

Identified bruno santos as the prime suspect in the crime.

Since santos was and sarah johnson was , the

Johnsons repeatedly warned santos not to see their daughter

Again.

But santos refused.

To try to rule bruno in or out, we tested almost every

Piece of clothing that he was wearing that day and the

Following day, when we arrested him.

We never found his dna, fingerprints, or anything in the

Crime scene and any of alan or diane's blood or dna on any of

His clothing.

Narrator: so bruno santos was eliminated as a suspect.

With no other possibilities, authorities then began to focus

On the johnsons' daughter, sarah.

No more what?

Kids.

No more kids?

No mas.

Narrator: they learn that sarah was taking antidepressants

And had a stormy relationship with her mother.

Sarah's relatives thought she was being a normal teenager

Pushing against authority until they noticed her unusual

Behavior after the murders.

She did not seem to be going through any sort of grief at

All.

She was not concerned about losing her mom and dad.

She wanted to see her friends.

She wanted to get her nails done.

I mean, it was just really bizarre.

Narrator: this led investigators to consider the

Unthinkable -- that sarah johnson, acting alone, had

m*rder*d her own parents.

I just could not imagine that a -year-old girl could do this

Type of crime, and that was probably the hardest thing in my

Mind is just trying to get through this idea that a young

Girl could do something so heinous.

Narrator: investigators knew sarah had keys to the family

Guesthouse occupied by their tenant, mel speegle.

Sarah would often clean the guesthouse for mel.

Since she would clean the guesthouse, we believe that she

Would have knowledge that the weapons would have been in that

Closet.

Narrator: when the sheriffs interviewed sarah initially,

They noticed inconsistencies in her story.

She claimed she was asleep in her bedroom when she heard the

First sh*t...

[ g*nsh*t ] ...and that her bedroom door was

Closed.

We found traces of diane's blood and skull in sarah's room

Against her wall, which was some probably feet away.

Sarah johnson's door was open also to allow the bone to

Go inside her bedroom because the back edge where the hinges

Are also had blood deposits on it.

So both of those doors were open, and there's a hall in

Between.

We knew that her door had to be open, which was inconsistent

Of what she said.

Narrator: but this was only an inconsistency, not evidence

Of m*rder.

This case was gonna be very difficult to prove to a jury.

There was not one single piece of evidence, necessarily, that

Totally committed sarah to this crime, and so we just had to

Build it piece by piece.

Narrator: the piece they thought might prove most

Significant was the t-shirt and pajama bottoms sarah was wearing

On the morning of the murders.

Police, when they first approached her, saw no blood on

Her clothing.

There was none there because we luminoled every inch of her

Pajamas -- top and bottom -- nothing.

Narrator: analysts now turned to the pink bathrobe found in

The garbage the morning of the murders.

Family members said the robe belonged to sarah.

As rod englert examined it with a proscope -- a high-powered

Microscope capable of -times magnification -- he was shocked

To discover no blood spatter on the frontof the robe.

But then he looked on the back.

He found hundreds of tiny specks of blood -- high-velocity blood

Spatter -- the type that would be created by a high-powered

r*fle.

You get multiple, multiple stains that are very, very tiny,

Like little pencil touches -- numerous even smaller than that

That are just layered layer upon layer, especially when it's

High-energy.

Narrator: dna testing showed the blood came from both diane

And alan johnson.

This proved the k*ller wore the robe backwards.

The evidence was yelling and screaming, "this is what

Happened."

It was the only explanation.

Narrator: but investigators needed to prove that sarah wore

The robe on the morning of the murders.

To do that, they had to analyze the shirt she had on that day.

Sarah johnson had a blue cotton t-shirt with green paint

Smeared onto it.

So, therefore, I'm thinking, "well, let's examine the blue

Shirt now and see if any of that cotton fiber could have

Transferred with the green paint onto the bathrobe."

Narrator: scientists took samples from the t-shirt and

Fibers from inside the bathrobe.

They used a scanning electron microscope to compare the

Similarities.

They found paint on both the t-shirt and the bathrobe with

The same chemical makeup.

What I believed happened, now -- there is an evidence

Transfer from the blue t-shirt deposited onto the pink

Bathrobe.

Narrator: this proved that sarah had worn the robe over the

Top of her t-shirt.

Finally, investigators analyze the gloves found in the garbage.

When you handle an item and you leave behind the oils and

Residues from your skin, that contains skin cells, and we are

Oftentimes able to get dna from those samples.

Narrator: scientists swab the inside of the gloves and found

Dna from only one person.

Sarah was the source of the dna found on the latex glove.

Narrator: all the clothing found in the garbage can was

Then checked for g*nsh*t residue -- a gas created by

g*nf*re that can adhere to the sh**t.

We sent the robe, we sent the leather glove, and we sent the

Latex glove to a lab in chicago -- mccrone & associates.

They ultimately found g*nsh*t residue on all three items.

Narrator: but investigators had one final question.

Why wasn't sarah's hair covered in blood when she went to her

Neighbor's house to report the murders?

Did she wear some kind of hat?

If so, where was it?

Sarah did not have any blood on her that we could see with

The naked eye.

Narrator: soon, they would find out why.

Narrator: investigators learned that sarah johnson

Disagreed vehemently with her parents over her relationship

With her -year-old boyfriend, bruno santos.

Sarah's parents threatened to file statutory-r*pe charges

Against santos and have him deported unless the two stopped

Seeing one another.

Instead, prosecutors say sarah turned to v*olence.

In october of , sarah johnson was charged as an

Adult.

Sarah, I have a warrant for your arrest...

[ Sighs ] ...for the m*rder of your

Parents, diane and alan johnson.

You're charged with two counts of m*rder...

[ Sighs ] ...and you're under arrest.

[ Sighs ] okay?

Stand up.

It was a sad moment because it's a -year-old that did

This.

It's sad for everybody involved.

Narrator: the trial of a teenage girl k*lling her parents

Was a national sensation.

There were three people in the johnson house that morning

When alan and diane were m*rder*d.

Two of them did not come out.

One person came out alive.

That person sits right there -- sarah marie johnson.

Narrator: at trial, prosecutors presented voluminous

Forensic and circumstantial evidence to prove that sarah

m*rder*d her parents.

She wanted the big, rich things in her life.

She wanted to provide for her boyfriend.

They were gonna get married, and she asked him, "do you want to

Live in a big, beautiful home?" Narrator: with her parents'

Life insurance and her inheritance, she thought she'd

Be all set.

And she could live that happily-ever-after life that

Only a -year-old probably envisions.

Narrator: in a surprise turn of events, sarah's boyfriend,

Bruno santos, testified for the prosecution, primarily to show

He had nothing to do with the murders.

He did testify that sarah had talked about hating her dad and

About sh**ting him, given the fact that he did not like their

Relationship.

Narrator: prosecutors believe that sarah chose m*rder instead

Of ending her relationship with santos.

She knew that the man renting her parents' guesthouse had a

Hunting r*fle, so she waited for him to leave for the weekend and

Stole it.

On the morning of the murders, sarah put on her bathrobe

Backwards, the gloves, and a shower cap.

After hearing her father go into the shower, she entered the

Bedroom and fired from close range at her mother.

[ g*nsh*t ] the blood spatter landed in

Sarah's room, contradicting her story that she was asleep with

Her bedroom door closed.

Her father heard the sh*t.

He came running into the bedroom.

[ g*nsh*t ] and sarah sh*t her father in

The chest.

Sarah attempted to mislead investigators by placing knives

At the foot of her parents' bed to make it appear that the

Murders were g*ng-related.

She flushed the shower cap down the toilet, where plumbers found

It several weeks later when it clogged the drain.

She threw the gloves and bathrobe into the trash.

Then she ran next door to report her parents' murders, looking

Remarkably free of blood spatter.

My parents have been sh*t.

Narrator: but she left more than enough evidence behind.

Had that garbage container been picked up, you would have

Lost the robe, and you'd have lost gloves that had

Sarah johnson's dna.

Sarah was just fascinated with crime stories, and so we

Felt that based upon just this exposure from novels and from

Television, that sarah very likely would have understood

Evidence, how to get rid of it, and, you know, that's probably

What led her to do some of the things she did.

Narrator: sarah johnson was convicted of first-degree m*rder

And sentenced to twolife terms without parole.

She will never be released from prison.

It was a mixed emotion.

I was glad that they found her guilty 'cause in my heart I

Believe she was, but it hurt to see some family member get in

That situation.

Narrator: what happened was hard for jurors and even

Investigators to believe.

[ g*nsh*t ] forensic evidence left no doubt

That sarah johnson m*rder*d her parents.

Without having the robe which contained the leather glove, the

Latex glove, and all the blood, I do not believe we would have

Ever been able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt

To a jury.

Circumstantial evidence is too hard to convict people on

Circumstantial evidence alone.

You need that forensic evidence because this is for a

First-degree m*rder charge.

It makes me wonder what was going through sarah's head when

She committed this terrible crime -- how she could do this

To her parents.