Two years after being convicted of killing her parents in their Bellevue home, Sarah M. Johnson still claims she didn't do it.
Johnson's latest claim of innocence is in a March 8 handwritten memo to the Blaine County 5th District Court, submitted in response to another attempt on the part of her brother to collect her potential share of life insurance benefits of Alan and Diane Johnson. The siblings' parents were shot to death on Sept. 2, 2003.
"I am innocent of all crimes for which I was convicted," Johnson wrote from prison in Pocatello. "I did not kill my parents. Furthermore, I did not participate in any way in my parents' deaths."
An Ada County jury found otherwise and Johnson was convicted on March 16, 2005, of two counts of first-degree murder. She was subsequently sentenced to two life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
Johnson, who was 16 at the time of the slayings, is now 20. She is presently incarcerated at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center as prisoner No. 77613.
Johnson has appealed her convictions to the Idaho Supreme Court, but a decision is not likely for another year, said Molly J. Huskey, an attorney with the Office of the Idaho State Appellate Public Defender, the agency appointed to represent Johnson on her appeal.
But Johnson has no attorney in the civil case with her brother, having last summer fired Boise attorney Bob Pangburn, the lead defense attorney in her criminal trial. That situation may complicate a final ruling on distribution of her potential half of $550,000 in life insurance benefits of Alan and Diane Johnson.
Her brother Matthew Johnson received his half of the money a few months after the deaths of his parents, and he's been trying to get Sarah's half ever since.
There are two life insurance policies in question: a $450,000 policy for Alan Johnson through Beneficial Life Insurance Co. and a $100,000 policy for Diane Johnson through Mony Life Insurance Co.
Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee ruled in Matthew's favor in September 2005, finding that Sarah is not entitled to the money because of the Idaho Slayers Act. But in November of the same year, Elgee ordered a stay on distribution of the funds, pending resolution of Sarah's criminal appeal.
Elgee heard Matthew's latest arguments for the money in a hearing on March 21. His attorney, Bruce Collier, had earlier filed a motion for release of the funds based on a Supreme Court ruling on a similar case earlier this year.
In that case the high court upheld an Elmore County 4th District Court ruling that a man convicted of killing his wife was not entitled to any part of her life insurance benefit.
Elgee acknowledged that the ruling strengthens Matthew's claim to his sister's half of the money, but said that he is still reluctant to disburse the funds while her appeal is before the Supreme Court.
'They may not appreciate the district court making these changes and handing over the proceeds," Elgee is quoted in the Minutes Report of the hearing. Elgee said the matter is further complicated because Sarah has no legal representation on the issue.
Nonetheless, Elgee agreed to release the money to Matthew, but made his decision contingent upon approval of the high court.
Collier said he will draft an order, recounting the history of the case. The proposed order then will be submitted to the Supreme Court for consideration.
Meanwhile, the $275,000 in question is being held by the Blaine County Clerk's Office. The money has been invested in certificates of deposit where it is earning interest.
