Johnson murder trial starts

The murder trial of Shane Clark Johnson, charged with shooting his brother in the basement where they both lived, started in state District Court in Havre this morning with jury selection.

State District Judge Dan Boucher has blocked out time into next week for the trial.

Johnson, born in 1968, is charged with the Nov. 9 shooting death of Travis Johnson, both of whom lived in the 2nd Avenue home owned by their parents.

Their mother called for an ambulance when she and her husband, returning home from going out for dinner, found Travis Johnson lying near the bottom of the stairs in their residence.

Travis Johnson died at Northern Montana Hospital after Havre Fire Department emergency medical technicians responded.

Shane Johnson told investigating police officers that "it was self-defense" and also that the gun went off when his brother threw him down the stairs, a charging document says. He later said that Travis Johnson had followed him downstairs and "would not stop," a court document says.

Officers found that due to the position of Travis Johnson's body that story did not hold up. Officers found bullet holes and shell cases throughout the basement including in Shane Johnson's room, the document says.

Johnson was found lying on the bed in his room, where the officers also found a case and magazine for the suspected murder weapon, the document says.

Johnson was released by the state Department of Corrections after serving out sentences on two previous sets of charges a little more than a year before his brother's death. One case was for robbing an 81-year-old woman, stealing and selling or attempting to sell rare coins and attempting to cash stolen checks, and the other for threatening a Hill County deputy attorney who filed sexual assault charges. A jury acquitted him of the sexual assault charges.

In 2009 the suspended sentences in those cases were revoked for Johnson violating conditions of his parole including by possessing alcohol, drinking alcohol and going into bars as well as violating traffic laws and being charged with driving under the influence. He was released from the new sentences on those charges in August 2012.