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Death Row Inmate Commits Suicide Hours Before Execution

Michael JohnsonTexas death row inmate Michael Dewayne Johnson committed suicide in his cell last night, just 18 hours before his date with a gurney.

Johnson was scheduled to die today for the 1996 murder of 27-year old Jeff Wetterman in Lorena, TX:

Johnson slashed his throat with a makeshift blade fashioned from a small piece of metal attached to a wooden stick, said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville. Prison guards had been checking on Johnson’s welfare every 15 minutes, as is customary, when they found him unresponsive in a pool of blood in his cell, Lyons said. He was transported to a hospital in nearby Livingston, where he was pronounced dead, Lyons said.

Johnson lived like a coward, and died like one, too.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 | Trackback |

25 Responses to “Death Row Inmate Commits Suicide Hours Before Execution”

Alpha Mike Foxtrot

Left by Kurt on October 19th, 2006 at 1:04 pm

Tax payers costs to house this little man since arriving on death row (not including court costs, appeals, and the infamous final meal): $231,663.96.

And the little jerk skips out a day early to save us a measly $86.08??

Why didn’t he do this 10 years ago???

Left by Anonymous on October 19th, 2006 at 1:34 pm

Sorry… didn’t mean to post anonymously.

Left by kw on October 19th, 2006 at 1:37 pm

Why didn’t he do this 10 years ago???

The better question is why didn’t he do it 11 years ago. Did he leave a ScumWidow?

Left by Anonymous on October 19th, 2006 at 1:51 pm

http://www.adelante.com/michaeljohnson/index.html

Facts of the Case

On September 10, 1995 Michael Dewayne Johnson, 18 years old, and David Noel Vest, 17 years old, were driving a stolen Cadillac south on I-35 from Dallas to the Texas coast. The day before Vest had turned 17, so the two decided to go to the beach at Corpus Christi to celebrate. Also in their possession was a stolen 9mm automatic handgun. There was just the one firearm.

Michael Barry, a friend of Johnson and Vest’s, had stolen the Cadillac the day before. On September 8, two days earlier, Barry had stolen a Suburban that contained the 9mm handgun.
< Edited by Robbie because you simply cut and paste a very lengthy post from another source, which you have also provided the link to above>.

Left by no name on October 19th, 2006 at 2:46 pm

On September 10, 1995 . . .

My bad! I should have wrote, ” Why didn’t Johnson off himself 12 years ago?”

Left by Anonymous on October 19th, 2006 at 3:20 pm

We cannot say that no reasonable jury would have found Johnson guilty where three witnesses, unaffected by Vest’s testimony or the potentially exculpatory evidence and Vest’s related plea, each testified that Johnson confessed to shooting the victim.

Filed 3/13/06
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/03/03-51102-CV1.wpd.pdf

Left by Anonymous on October 19th, 2006 at 3:37 pm

haha! I don’t know of any scumdow(s) left behind, but I’m sure his hand was exhausted with all the pen pals… then again, since Scott Peterson entered the system he’s been quite the celebrity.

Left by kw on October 19th, 2006 at 3:54 pm

Maybe, “No Name” was his Scumdow?

Left by Anonymous on October 19th, 2006 at 3:59 pm

He was my cousin.

Left by sara on October 19th, 2006 at 11:22 pm

He chose his own fate when he murdered Jeff Wetterman in cold blood.

Left by Anonymous on October 20th, 2006 at 3:30 am

I’ve heard that there is some kind of internal investigation going on in the prison. Apparently there is some reason to believe that he may not have committed suicide at all. I guess the story is that he was trying to delay his execution by providing evidence against some of the guards for running drugs in the prison system. One (0r more) of the guards decided it would be better not to wait to find out and made it look like a suicide to cover themselves.

Left by Anonymous on October 20th, 2006 at 8:53 am

One (0r more) of the guards decided it would be better not to wait to find out and made it look like a suicide to cover themselves.

I bet you’re a 9/11 Truther, too.

Left by Anonymous on October 20th, 2006 at 9:03 am

People need to be educated on the topic before you go commenting on it. That would be best.
Ignorant : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified

Left by Crystal on October 20th, 2006 at 1:54 pm

Wow, Crystal, you sound like a commie! You going to educate us, huh? lol!

Left by Anonymous on October 20th, 2006 at 2:14 pm

Thank goodness I educated myself on how much money this prize of a man cost us to support him on death row to bear my comment!

*whew*

Left by kw on October 20th, 2006 at 3:24 pm

Too bad. . . it took him so long, that is!

Sadly, now, his family will sue and settle out of court.

:(

Left by Awww. on October 21st, 2006 at 10:38 am

[...] Previous Execution Suicide: Michael Dewayne Johnson — 10/19/2006 [...]

Left by UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » Scheduled for Execution: Gregory Lynn Summers on October 24th, 2006 at 5:58 pm

How the heck did he do that? Don’t they watch him for 48 hrs before execution?

Lethal inj. is painless, me thinks (well, I haven’t tried it, and I don’t want to). It’s more painless than the chair or the gas chamber. (I’m a chair fan). Or better, the guillotine!

Left by NurseRatched on October 27th, 2006 at 6:41 am

Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.”

-Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. 1994

Left by sometime on November 2nd, 2006 at 5:52 pm

“Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that because of me each and every year the death penalty is imposed in a freakish and discriminatory manner on millions of the unborn, who are actually innocent of any crime.”

-Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. 1994

Left by Anonymous on November 6th, 2006 at 1:49 pm

you people dont know who or what really happened, only 3 people know and 2 of them are dead now. your still alive so why not worry about something else. as far as johnson being a coward, cutting your own throat takes guts. a much more painful way to die.

Left by klint on July 27th, 2007 at 3:47 am

Well Johnson knew. And he went around bragging to people that he murdered Jeff Wetterman.

What makes you think his intention was to kill himself as opposed to being discovered and rushed to the infirmary and having his execution delayed? He was a coward to the very end.

Left by kma on July 31st, 2007 at 5:07 pm

KMA, if that was the case, why would he cut TWO arteries? This young man wanted to die. The question is, why? I’ve studied this case painstakingly for more than three years. It still haunts me to this day. In fact, it’s worthy of a novel. What if Vest was the shooter? After all, those three witnesses at trial were friends of Vest who had every reason to cover for him at trial. Vest made bail. Johnson did not. Vest had every opportunity to influence his friends to testify in his favor. The surveillance tape evidence from Lorena Fastime mysteriously disappeared. By all indications Johnson was a troubled young man, but does that make him guilty of murder? Certainly not.

YES, he probably did it, but “probably” is NOT beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s what our justice system is based on and what is supposed to separate us from the mongrels. There was never enough evidence in this trial for a conviction, much less a death sentence. Shame on McLennan County, shame on Texas, and most of all, shame on this willfully ignorant trial jury!

Vest now lives along the coast in Lousiana. He’s the only one alive who knows what happens that night. Either he is completely innocent, or he got away with murder. NOBODY but him will ever know for sure.

Left by Brad on December 11th, 2007 at 10:11 pm

HE WAS INNOCENT!!! I MISS HIM LIKE CRAZY…

Left by Anonymous on April 10th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

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