A Family of Similarities

Homicides can be — and often are — very personal. In the case of mass murders, though, what may start out as personal takes a dramatic turn toward the thoroughly impersonal. That line, once crossed, redefines the crime. And in that there was a through-line between the B.C. murders and the Investor murders. There were, quite simply, a cluster of similarities.

Among those similarities:

  • The murder weapon: In both cases, a .22 caliber firearm;
  • The remote scene: In both cases, the crime scene inhabited a spot far removed from population centers and prying eyes;
  • The presence of a vehicle: Some mode of transport figured prominently in each case; a burned out hulk was all that was left;
  • The arson fire: A fire meant to destroy evidence, a fire that served as a crematorium;
  • The young family at the crime’s center: Both cases seemed to center on a set of parents and their two children; 
  • The overflow of violence: In one case, it engulfed a set of grandparents; in the other, it overflowed to teenaged crewmembers.
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Johnson family vehicle, being removed from crime scene
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Johnson family photo: Bob Johnson, 44; Jackie Johnson, 41; Janet, 13; Karen, 11
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Grandparents (l-r): Janet Johnson; Edith Bentley, 59; Karen Johnson; George Bentley, 66;

On the other side of the similarities equation were at least two (possible) discontinuties.

First, it was not a casual journey from Wells Gray Provincial Park to Craig, Alaska. On the contrary, there was something about the journey that whispered intentionality (although people on the run can end up practically anywhere). A long drive to the coast? Yes. A ferry to Ketchikan and then another ferry to Craig? Hmmm… Not so much.

Second, early reports to the RCMP had it that witnesses spotted two possible culprits. The RCMP were proceeding on that basis. Alaska State Troopers had it from their witnesses that only one person was involved. Was that the truth? Or another time warp at the end of the dock?

Copyright Leland E. Hale (2019). All rights reserved.


Craig

Order “What Happened In Craig,” HERE and HERE. True crime from Epicenter Press about Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder.

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