Murder Trial: No evidence of struggle

In the fourth day of the murder trial of Shane Johnson, an expert’s testimony of his crime scene reconstruction differs vastly from what the defendant’s attorneys said happened Nov. 9.

Prosecution is expected to call its last witnesses today, with the defense case starting after that.

Johnson, born in 1968, is charged with murder in the Nov. 9 death of his brother, Travis Johnson, who was found shot about 8 p.m. in the basement of their mother and stepfather’s 2nd Avenue home in Havre. Travis Johnson died shortly after being transported to Northern Montana Hospital.

The incident occurred while the two brothers were drinking together in the residence, while their mother and stepfather were out at a birthday celebration.

Shane Johnson has maintained it was self-defense, with his defense attorneys saying that after an argument, Travis Johnson punched his brother in the nose, causing it to bleed profusely, then followed him through the house, continuing to struggle with him including trying to throw Shane Johnson down the stairs.

In the end, Travis Johnson followed his brother into Shane Johnson’s bedroom — the brothers slept in rooms across from each other at the end of a hallway — pulled out a gun from under Shane Johnson’s bed, and shots were fired during a struggle for the gun in which Shane Johnson was fighting for his life, defense attorney Thomas Schoenleben said during opening arguments.

Crime scene analyst William Schneck of Washington state, who was hired by the prosecution to analyze the crime scene, recounted a different story.

Schneck said groupings and trails of passive blood drops, apparently dripping from Shane Johnson’s nose, indicate he stood for a while by the couch in the living room near the fireplace. A pool of blood by the fireplace which had been smeared indicated Travis Johnson likely had punched his brother there, Schneck said.

Passive blood drops to and through the kitchen and at the top of the stairs and down the stairs appear to indicate Shane Johnson then walked through the house, down the stairs and to his room, where he took the Bushnell Buckmark .22 caliber semiautomotic pistol out of its case before the struggle for the gun began, Schneck said.

Schneck testified that a shot that went through several jackets draped over the open door in Travis Johnson’s room and through the door indicates that the first shot likely was fired there, then three more shots were fired in Shane Johnson’s bedroom.

While Schneck said it is impossible to say in what order the four shots were fired, it appears the three shots fired in Shane Johnson’s room were fired in rapid succession, with one going nearly straight up into the top of the doorframe, another apparently grazing Travis Johnson’s scalp before nicking the doorframe and hitting the ceiling of the hallway.

The other shot went through Travis Johnson’s cheek and lodged in his head.

He testified that the blood drops on the top and down the stairs were passive drops, with no evidence of blood on the railing or wall of the steps and no indication that boxes and baskets stacked by the wall at the top of the stairs were disturbed.

Schneck also testified that DNA matching Shane Johnson found on the gun case zipper pull and the man’s blood on the case, the gun and an envelope from inside the case indicate he opened the case. None of Travis Johnson’s DNA or blood was found on the case.

He testified that cuts on two of Travis Johnson’s fingers could have come from sights on the top or back of the barrel of the pistol.

When defense attorney Randi Hood asked if that had happened, wouldn’t Travis Johnson’s blood or DNA been found on the gun, Schneck testified that would not necessarily happen especially if the cuts were caused by a quick swipe of the part making the cut. He also testified that the cuts could have been made at the same time, rather than being made in separate swipes.

Schneck testified that the fact all four spent cartridge cases were found in Shane Johnson’s bedroom appears to show the pistol probably failed to eject the first cartridge case, and the stovepiped case probably was ejected manually before the next shots were fired.

Lynn Kurtz of the Montana State Crime Lab testified that a sample of Travis Johnson’s blood showed that his blood alcohol concentration at the time of his death was 0.235. almost three times the .08 BAC-limit for a driving under the influence of intoxicants charge.

He testified that the BAC of a sample of Shane Johnson’s blood taken about 6 hours after Travis Johnson was found in the basement was .0142, which would indicate a BAC of 0.20 to 0.30 about 8 p.m.

Other witnesses testified that Shane Johnson did not appear greatly upset or agitated while he waited in the Havre Police Department interview room following his arrest.

Havre Police Sgt. George Labaty testified earlier in the week that he thought Johnson was under-reactive considering the situation. Friday, Detective Sgt. Jason Barkus testified that Johnson had complained about his nose and areas of his head hurting, and asking at one point if his brother had “made it.”

A short time after he said Travis Johnson did not, Barkus said, Shane Jonson said something like, “He wouldn’t quit. I tried to get away from him.”

Havre Police and Hill County Sheriff reserve officer Victoria Olson testified that she watched the defendant for the 5 ½ hours he was in the interview room.

She testified that he spent about 75 percent of the time he was in the room sleeping, and that he asked her a couple of times if she was bored, comparing her duty to babysitting and chuckling at one point.

He also at one point looked at his blood-stained shirt and said, “well, this shirt is ruined,” saying later that it was “trashed,” Olson testified.

When asked by the defense attorneys if she checked to see if Johnson actually was sleeping, Olson said, “He was snoring.”

Lt. Aaron Wittmer testified that he and Barkus had to wake Johnson up when they served a search warrant on him in the interview room.