For the week of November 5 - 11, 2003

Johnson’s arrest sparks quick school lock-down

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Following the grand jury indictment of 16-year-old Sarah M. Johnson last week, the wheels of the judicial system began to turn while law enforcement officers expressed relief at having finally made an arrest for the Sept. 2 murders of Bellevue residents Alan and Diane Johnson, Sarah’s parents.

Reaction from certain segments of the community was quick.

Recognizing the potential for harassment of Johnson’s classmates, the Blaine County School District quickly implemented a policy preventing reporters from milling about the Wood River High School campus.

"We’re in the business of providing education," said Kate Lombardi, Blaine County School District community-school relations coordinator. "They’re coming to school to learn. What can they get done if there are reporters milling around?"

Additionally, Johnson’s legally appointed guardians, Diane Johnson’s sister Linda Vavold and her husband, Jim, have disconnected their telephone, though it may have been disconnected long before now.

Johnson lived in the Vavold home in Caldwell during the two months following her parents’ murders.

Meanwhile, several family members have visited Johnson at the Blaine County Jail, said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling. Her brother, University of Idaho, Moscow, student Matt Johnson has not been among them.

Femling called the murders of Alan and Diane Johnson and, Sarah Johnson’s subsequent arrest for those murders, "devastating" for him.

In an interview last week, one of Matt Johnson’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers, Jerod Moore, declined to go into details about how the young man is faring. He said, however, that he and others are trying to help in any way they can.

"We’re just tying to make sure he feels good, let him know we’re there for him," Moore said.

Bellevue Mayor John Barton said he did not know the Johnsons well.

"Personally, I’m feeling a sense of relief that it’s been resolved to this extent," the mayor said. "I didn’t know enough about the situation to be surprised or not surprised (at Sarah Johnson’s arrest). I know it has been an emotionally difficult time for this city."

Sarah Johnson was born Jan. 1, 1987. She was attending Wood River High School as a junior this year, but her schooling has been suspended, at least temporarily, in light of the pending murder trial.

She played junior varsity volleyball, and is pictured in the 2003 Wood River High School yearbook with her teammates. Her sophomore class photo shows a smiling, seemingly jovial young lady.

Femling said that, because the Blaine County Jail is so small, efforts to continue Johnson’s schooling here might be difficult.

"We have no program space in the jail," Femling said. "I have nothing to offer here. We may have to ship her to a jail where something can be provided."

Femling said Johnson is being held in a three-person cell occupied by one other woman.

Express reporter Matt Furber contributed to this article.

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