Born on January 6, 1969, in New York City, New York, was Vincent Johnson. He developed a great hatred for his mother, who put him in foster care only to be abandoned by his foster mom. By the age of 21, he lived with his girlfriend, Patricia Carter; they had a violent 5-year relationship before she kicked him out.
This led Johnson to be homeless and a crack addict. He panhandled to get money for his drugs. As time went on, his hatred towards his mother and women in general worsened. Once 1999 hit, there were several prostitutes murdered in the Williamsburg area. This led to police questioning and testing of DNA of the homeless men that frequented the area. This led to Johnson being identified as the man responsible.
Now onto the murders; The first victim was Vivian Carabello, 26, whose body was found in the elevator room on the roof of 237 South Second Street, Williamsburg, on August 26, 1999. A piece of cloth was used to strangle her to death. Next is Joann Felician, 35, whose body was found at 171 South Fourth Street, Williamsburg, September 16, 1999. A speaker wire and shoelaces were used to strangle her to death.
The third murder was of Rhonda Tucker, 21, found in her apartment on Park Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant on September 25, 1999. She was strangled with the drawstrings from her pants. One week later (accelerating timeline usually leads to mistakes), the next victim Katrina Niles was found in an apartment on Marcy Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She was strangled with an electrical cord AND had her throat cut.
Firefighters responded to a fire in a large utility room four months later and found a decomposing female body. Under the Williamsburg Bridge, Laura G. Nusser, 43, was found and strangled with an electrical cord. She was last seen with Johnson and used to live with him in the utility room. The final (known) victim was Patricia Sullivan, 48, discovered on a dirty mattress in a vacant lot on Marcy Avenue on June 22. She had been strangled with shoelaces.
Johnson stayed in the same area and had a pretty straightforward method of murder that was unique to him so linking the murders was not hard. One man brought in for DNA testing led the police to a man who fit the description. He said he knew a homeless guy that he thought was obsessed with sadomasochistic (both partners enjoy inflicting and receiving pain) sex. He led the to Johnson.
Johnson was tract down but refused to give his DNA to investigators. He also denied knowing any of the victims. Later a detective spotted Johnson spitting and collected the saliva, and it was a match to DNA found on four of the victims. Johnson was arrested and charged.
The trial was under the statute that provides a maximum of either death penalty or life in prison without parole if two people have been murdered separately over 24 months. Johnson was charged with the murder of the four people where his DNA was found. Police were convinced he was guilty of the two other murders, so they looked for more evidence. Johnson pled guilty and accepted life imprisonment without parole rather than the death penalty.
Further evidence led to Johnson being charged with the first-degree murder of Demetrius Johnson (not a relative), who was stabbed to death. He was also accused of the attempted murder of Misty Battisti, his former wife, who he stabbed. He was convicted of all charges, including possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony on March 13, 2018.
Johnson is currently serving his life sentence in the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York and will never be released.
Fun Fact: his mom always took off Thursdays, and three of Johnson’s victims were killed on a Thursday. Also, he said, “I didn’t see strangling her (Patricia Sullivan) as doing something wrong at the time.”
One thing I found most fascinating was that the detective managed to collect his saliva just from seeing Johnson spit somewhere. It’s crazy to think about how detectives and law enforcement can always be watching and following their leads. The final fun fact was also super interesting because it shows how great of an impact someone’s parents and childhood can have on their psyche later on in life.
Wow, once again the relative recency of these murders really surprises me, especially seeing the date 2018. It’s fascinating the impact that parents can have on their children and their psychology, of course not a reason to commit murder, but how small things from his childhood stayed with him going into his adult life, like with his mom taking off Thursdays. Can’t wait to read next week’s post, also, great job on your speech!