WATCH: Savannah Guthrie reports on Ernest Lee Johnson murders in 1994
These videos pulled from the ABC 17 News archive show the station’s original reporting in the aftermath of a 1994 triple murder at a Casey’s gas station.
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Former CPD officer recounts murders 27 years later as governor confirms plans to execute Ernest Johnson
Randy Boehm, a former Columbia police officer and chief, arrived at the Columbia Casey’s General Store 27 years ago, the morning after the horrific murders of three of the store’s employees.
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Lawmakers, pope ask Missouri governor to halt execution
By JIM SALTER Associated Press Pope Francis has joined the chorus of people calling on Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant clemency to a death row inmate who is set to be executed for killing three people during a 1994 convenience store robbery. Ernest Johnson is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday
Continue Reading A timeline of events in the Ernest Lee Johnson case
Ernest Lee Johnson’s path from a Casey’s General Store in northeast Columbia to an execution room in the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Center in Bonne Terre took 27 years to travel.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Should the state execute Ernest Johnson?
Johnson was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death for the murders of three Columbia convenience store workers with a claw hammer. Legal challenges to his sentence have failed. However, death penalty foes are asking the governor to intervene, saying Johnson is intellectually disabled.
Continue Reading Advocates urge governor to grant clemency in Columbia triple murder
Anti-death penalty advocates delivered a petition Wednesday asking the state to spare the life of Ernest Johnson, saying his intellectual disability makes it unconstitutional to execute the man convicted of a Columbia triple murder.
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Change of venue, new judge granted in Quatavia Givens case
A Cole County judge granted a change of venue and a request for a new judge for a woman charged in the 2018 death of a Jefferson City child.
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Boone County man pleads guilty in crash that killed Columbia pedestrian
Charles Waddill pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree involuntary manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash that caused a death and tampering with evidence.
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Truck stolen from Miller County homicide victims seen near Callaway County before victims found dead
The new detail in the cases surrounding McLean comes from a search warrant the Missouri State Highway Patrol requested for information from OnStar. Law enforcement wanted information from the General Motors-owned company to help track the movement of the Chevy Silverado truck Pam and Daniel Stephan owned.
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New details revealed as Dixon man is charged with murder
New court documents allege Ethington was stabbed to death outside of his home in the 11000 block of Route MM near Dixon on Friday.
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Prosecutor says vegetation on boots puts Elledge at site where wife’s body was found
Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight told Judge Brouck Jacobs during a hear in Joseph Elledge’s case that experts at the Missouri Botanical Garden matched juniper needles on Elledge’s boots to the spot where his wife Mengqi Ji’s body was found. A hiker discovered her remains off a trail in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in October and identified them in April.
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Columbia man gets 15 years in prison for child’s death
Cortavia Smith, 24, was charged in 2018 after his 6-month-old daughter’s death. Smith told investigators he accidentally kicked the girl while lying in bed.
Continue Reading Defense asks for delay in Joseph Elledge trial
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Defense attorneys want a delay in Joseph Elledge’s upcoming murder trial. Attorney Scott Rosenblum asked Judge Brouck Jacobs to consider pushing back the start of the Nov. 1 trial in Boone County. Rosenblum said “voluminous” records sent to them by prosecutor Dan Knight give them more work to do to vet the
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Missing Boone County man’s family seeks answers 10 years later
Wednesday marks 10 years since a Harrisburg man disappeared under suspicious circumstances.
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Boone County prosecutor to dismiss murder case against JT McLean
Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that he plans to dismiss the case against JT McLean. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office sent a notice on Tuesday that McLean had died last week.
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Miller County search warrant reveals details in double homicide
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Court documents reveal more about the circumstances around a Miller County double homicide that occurred around Sept. 8. Court documents show deputies found one person shot in the back of the head at home in Kaiser. Deputies also found a motorcycle, helmet and a bag in the woods behind the home, according
Continue Reading Wrongful death lawsuit filed in Osage County double homicide
The lawsuit filed Friday in Osage County seeks damages for the deaths of Leonard Gerloff, 59, and Pauline Gerloff, 56, who were found dead in July at their Chamois home. Prosecutors charged Warren M. Taylor, 62, with two counts each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. The Gerloffs were shot to death, according to the lawsuit.
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Fingerprints, DNA taken from McLean in multi-state death investigation
The Sioux City Police Department took the evidence from J.T. McLean’s body on Thursday, according to a search warrant obtained by ABC 17 News. The inventory lists just the fingerprints and DNA swabs.
Continue Reading South Dakota deputies serve warrants in J.T. McLean case
ELK POINT, S.D. (KMIZ) Deputies found a white cord and rubber straps inside the truck a mid-Missouri murder suspect killed himself on Wednesday night. The evidence seized through a search warrant could be used in murder investigations in Boone and Miller counties. Deputies there are looking into the deaths of four people, including Allison Abitz,
Continue Reading Miller County victims connected to homicide suspect by ex-wife
According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, J.T. McLean, 45, was found in the area near Dakota Dunes late Wednesday night in a vehicle parked at a motel.
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