Blood
Spatter
O
n September 2, 2003, someone entered the home of Alan and Diane
Johnson and shot them both to death. Both victims had been shot
at very close range, one bullet each. Their daughter, eighteen-year-
old Sarah, had been sleeping elsewhere in the house and came running when
she heard the gunshots. She called 911 immediately. Or so she would have the
police believe.
Sarah, the prime suspect in the killings because of inconsistencies in her re-
port to the police, insisted she was innocent in spite of the prosecution’s belief.
She had bruises on her shoulder that could have come from a brief struggle
with her father, who had been shot in the chest while exiting the shower. Signs
of a struggle were evident in the bathroom, indicating he had not died imme-
diately from the wound. The bruise on her shoulder showed vertical marks that
appeared to match the lines of the door casing on the inside of the bathroom.
Chapter
