Sarah Johnson was a sixteen year old living in Idaho when she would murder her parents
According to court documents Sarah Johnson and her parents were having arguments over her dating an older man. Sarah decided the best way to end the fighting was to murder them
Sarah Johnson would fatally shoot her mother as she laying in her bed and when her father would leave the bathroom he would also be shot and killed
Sarah Johnson would be arrested.
During the interrogation with police Sarah Johnson would put forth a ton of theories of what happened and denied being responsible for her parents murders
Sarah Johnson would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison
Where Is Sarah Johnson Today
Sarah Johnson is currently incarcerated at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center
Sarah Johnson Current Information
Sarah Marie Johnson
IDOC #: 77613
Status: In custody
Age: 38
Mailing Address
Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center Unit 5
1451 Fore Road
Pocatello, Idaho 83204
| Offense | Sentencing County | Case No. | Status | Released to Supervision* | Sentence Satisfaction Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder I | Blaine | CR03-18200 | Termer | N/A | Life |
| Murder I | Blaine | CR03-18200 | Termer | N/A | Life |
Sarah Johnson Case
Alan and Diane Johnson were shot and killed in their home on September 2, 2003. Sarah Johnson (Johnson), the Johnsons’ sixteen year old daughter, was home at the time of the shooting. Johnson consistently denied any involvement, but gave several different accounts of what she was doing, what she saw, and what she heard prior to and after the murders. However, in all accounts she fled the home either before hearing the second shot or immediately thereafter. After fleeing the house, she ran to a neighbors’ house and the police were called. Johnson was ultimately charged with both murders.
Police found a leather glove from a pair usually kept in Diane’s SUV, Johnson’s keys, including a key to the guesthouse, the magazine of a nine-millimeter handgun wrapped in a bandana, and two .264 caliber magnum shells in Johnson’s bedroom.
In a garbage can outside of the residence the police also found a latex glove, a leather glove (matching the one found in Johnson’s bedroom), and a pink robe covered in blood that belonged to Johnson and had .25 automatic pistol ammunition in the pocket. Testing revealed that Johnson’s DNA was present inside of the latex glove and that paint chips found inside of the robe matched paint on the shirt Johnson was wearing on the morning of the murders.
The murder weapon, a .264 rifle, belonged to Mel Speegle, who was renting the Johnsons’ guesthouse, but was out of town at the time of the murders. There were no prints on the rifle, scope, or ammunition that matched Johnson’s. Speegle testified at trial that he kept the rifle in his closet, which was unlocked. Speegle also testified at trial that Johnson had access to the guesthouse, knew he would be gone the weekend before the murders, and knew that the rifle along with his other guns and ammunition were located in the closet. Johnson had a key to the guesthouse and had been in there several times including the days immediately preceding the murders.
A physical examination of Johnson on the day of the murders revealed linear bruising on Johnson’s left shoulder that would be consistent with gun recoil. Johnson testified that she got the bruising when she tripped over a coffee table at her boyfriend’s house over the weekend.
In 2005, after a lengthy trial, a jury found Johnson guilty of the murder of her parents. State v. Johnson (Johnson I), 145 Idaho 970, 972, 188 P.3d 912, 914 (2008). She was sentenced to two fixed-life terms of imprisonment with a fifteen-year gun enhancement. Id. Johnson’s first direct appeal was dismissed for failure to timely file a notice of appeal. State v. Johnson (Johnson II), 156 Idaho 7, 10, 319 P.3d 491, 494 (2014). Johnson then filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel for her attorney’s failure to timely file her notice of appeal. Id.
The district court found ineffective assistance of counsel for the failure to timely file the notice of appeal and re-entered the conviction of judgment. Id. Johnson then filed a timely notice of appeal, and the district court stayed proceedings on her remaining post-conviction claims pending resolution of the direct appeal. Id. On direct appeal, we affirmed the district court’s judgment of conviction. Johnson I, 145 Idaho at 980, 188 P.3d at 922. Following resolution of her direct appeal, Johnson filed a second amended petition for post-conviction relief. Johnson II, 156 Idaho at 10, 319 P.3d at 494.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/id-supreme-court/1860442.html
Sarah Johnson Video
Watch Sarah Johnson Video – Teens Who Kill
Sarah Johnson: The 2003 Bellevue Parricide
Who is Sarah Johnson? Sarah Marie Johnson (born January 24, 1987) is an Idaho woman convicted of murdering her parents, Diane and Alan Scott Johnson, in their Bellevue, Idaho home on September 2, 2003. She was 16.
How did she kill them? She used a .264-caliber Winchester Model 70 bolt-action hunting rifle taken from the family guest house. She shot her mother Diane once in the head while she slept, then shot her father Alan twice in the chest as he exited the shower.
Why did she do it? Prosecutors said her motive was her parents’ prohibition of her dating 19-year-old Bruno Santos, a Mexican immigrant with drug offenses whom they threatened with statutory rape charges.
Where is Sarah Johnson now? She is serving two concurrent life sentences without parole plus 15 years at the Idaho Department of Correction. Her appeals, including claims under Miller v. Alabama, have been denied.
September 2, 2003: A Small Town’s First Murder in a Decade
Bellevue, Idaho (population ∼2,000) hadn’t seen a homicide in over ten years. At 6:20 a.m., Blaine County dispatch received a frantic call: 16-year-old Sarah Johnson said an intruder had shot her parents.
Deputies arrived to find Diane Johnson, 52, dead in bed from a single gunshot to the head, and Alan Johnson, 46, dead on the bathroom floor from two chest wounds. The murder weapon – a powerful bolt-action hunting rifle – was left at the scene.
Sarah’s story was simple: she’d been asleep, heard shots, found her parents, ran to a neighbor’s.
It unraveled in hours.
The Evidence in the Trash Can
The case turned on what Sarah threw away. When investigators stopped the garbage truck, they found in the Johnsons’ trash can:
- A pink bathrobe with blood spatter
- A brown leather glove and a latex glove wrapped inside it
- .25 caliber ammunition (not used in the crime)
DNA testing revealed the bathrobe and latex glove contained the DNA of both victims and Sarah. The leather glove had gunshot residue on it. In Sarah’s bedroom, investigators found the matching leather glove.
Forensic reconstruction showed blood spatter from Diane’s shooting traveled nearly 30 feet – from the master bedroom, down the hall, into Sarah’s bedroom near the hinges of her door. This proved her door was open, contradicting her claim she’d been asleep with it closed.
Cross-transfer evidence sealed it: green paint particles from Sarah’s t-shirt were found on the pink bathrobe, and pink fibers from the robe were on her shirt – proving they were worn together recently.
The Staged Scene
Police also found three kitchen knives placed conspicuously – two at the foot of the parents’ bed, one in her brother Matthew’s room (he was away at college). The knives had no blood and were never used. Investigators believed Sarah planted them to suggest a knife-wielding intruder or gang attack.
The rifle belonged to Mel Speegle, the tenant in the Johnsons’ guest house. Its scope was found on his bed. Speegle was in Boise with a solid alibi. Later, unidentified fingerprints on the rifle were matched to Christopher Hill, a friend of Speegle’s who had handled the gun before – not the killer.
The Boyfriend: Bruno Santos
Sarah had a “stormy relationship” with her parents over Bruno Santos, 19. Santos was an undocumented immigrant with minor drug offenses. The Johnsons had recently threatened to file statutory rape charges if he didn’t stay away from their 16-year-old daughter.
Santos became the initial alternate suspect. He told police Sarah had talked about “hating her dad and about shooting him.” But investigators found no DNA, fingerprints, or blood from the victims on Santos or his clothing. He was cleared.
Prosecutors argued the motive was clear: remove the parents, keep the boyfriend.
The Trial: A 16-Year-Old on Trial for Parricide
Sarah was tried as an adult in Ada County (venue change due to publicity). On March 16, 2005, a jury convicted her of two counts of first-degree murder.
She was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 15 years for a firearm enhancement – essentially dying in prison for a crime committed at 16.
The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 2008, ruling jury instructions on aiding and abetting were proper.
The case became a forensic textbook, featured on Forensic Files (“Disrobed” S12E23), Snapped, Deadly Women, Solved, and 20/20 on ID.
Appeals and the Miller Fight
Sarah’s legal team has fought for 20 years:
2012-2014: Petition for new trial citing ineffective counsel, lack of blood spatter on Sarah, and the Speegle fingerprints. Denied October 2014.
2017: Sought sentence reduction under U.S. Supreme Court rulings Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), which banned mandatory life-without-parole for juveniles. Idaho courts denied relief, ruling her sentence was discretionary, not mandatory, and reflected the heinous nature.
2023-2024: The Idaho Innocence Project assisted a new post-conviction petition claiming new evidence and ineffective counsel. Fifth District Judge Richard Bevan denied it in 2023. Her attorney continues to appeal.
She also sought DNA testing under Idaho law; courts denied it, ruling results would not establish innocence.
Where Is Sarah Johnson Now? 2026 Status
As of 2026, Sarah Marie Johnson (IDOC #78790) is incarcerated at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center in Idaho. She is 39 years old.
She remains ineligible for parole due to the “without parole” designation. Unlike many juvenile lifers nationwide who were resentenced after Miller, Idaho has kept her sentence intact, citing the premeditation: stealing the rifle, staging knives, disposing evidence, and lying to police.
She maintains her innocence through counsel, though she has not testified publicly since trial.
Did Sarah Johnson get caught because of the bathrobe?
Yes. The pink bathrobe with blood spatter, found in the trash with gloves containing her DNA and gunshot residue, was the key physical evidence linking her to the shootings.
How did police know Sarah was lying?
Three forensic facts: 1) Blood spatter 30 feet into her room proved her door was open; 2) Paint/fiber transfer proved she wore the bloody robe; 3) No intruder footprints, forced entry, or foreign DNA.
Why didn’t she get the death penalty?
Idaho law prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed under age 18. She was 16.
Could Bruno Santos have done it?
Police thoroughly investigated him. No physical evidence connected him, and his alibi was corroborated. The forensic evidence pointed exclusively to Sarah.
Is Sarah Johnson getting out after Miller v. Alabama?
No. Idaho courts ruled Miller does not apply retroactively to her discretionary sentence, and the crime’s severity warrants life without parole.
Final Thought
Sarah Johnson told police an intruder killed her parents. The evidence told a different story – one written in blood spatter nearly 30 feet down a hallway, in green paint on a pink bathrobe, and in a pair of gloves thrown in the trash.
At 16, she chose a hunting rifle over curfew rules. At 39, she remains the teenager Idaho decided should never come home.
For Diane and Alan Johnson, who were shot in their bed and shower on a quiet Tuesday morning, the motive – a forbidden teenage romance – remains as incomprehensible in 2026 as it was in 2003.
