In contrast to stone-faced testimonies from Sarah Johnson's brother and aunt, the 18-year-old's legal guardian blew her adopted daughter a kiss from the stand and expressed her belief that the young woman did not kill her biological parents two years ago in Bellevue.
"I'm here because I believe Sarah is innocent with what she is charged with," said Hailey resident Patricia Alder, who has known Johnson for some 18 years.
Alder described Johnson as "loving" and "caring."
"She's just a beautiful little girl," she said. "I love Sarah."
Alder came to know Johnson as her daycare provider when she was a baby. Last July she became the teen's legal guardian.
In contrast to testimony from several prosecution witnesses, Alder said the relationship between Sarah and her mother was "up and down, a normal teenage mother-daughter relationship."
"She had a great relationship with her father, probably better than her mother, but for me that's normal. Yes she loved her parents."
Alder said she has spent time with Johnson on several occasions. Immediately after the then-16-year-old's arrest, they observed Diane Johnson's birthday in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Alan Johnson's birthday in March.
"Having to go through each holiday, each birthday, it was very hard," Alder said.
Another Blaine County woman who knew the Johnson family testified Tuesday that Sarah Johnson was a sweet girl. Sarah Johnson babysat her three young boys.
"She was great" as a babysitter, said Hailey resident Margot Ros. She said she was never concerned about leaving her children with the teenager. As she and her husband were friends with the Johnson family, conversations about day-to-day life were not uncommon, Ros said. She remembered that Diane Johnson sometimes praised her daughter's abilities with children and was proud of her.
Following the murders of Alan and Diane Johnson, there is no indication that Sarah Johnson was not grieving as much as many other people, Ros said.
Ros described the Johnson family as good people.
