Vincent Allen Johnson

Case record: Vincent Allen Johnson

Status and legal outcome

Vincent Allen Johnson was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on May 29, 2001.

Background

Vincent Allen Johnson lived with John Crain at Crain's home in Lona Valley in eastern Pittsburg County. Crain introduced Johnson and his wife, Deborah, to Ted Holt, Shirley Mooneyham's former common-law husband. Holt and Crain were upset with Mooneyham and recruited Johnson to kill her.

In November 1990, Vincent Johnson and Deborah Elaine Johnson met. They decided to live together and were married in January 1991. In the meantime, the two moved into the house of John Crain. Crain was seriously ill and the Johnsons agreed to help care for Crain and take care of his horses. Prior to Mooneyham's murder, Crain introduced the Johnsons to Ted Holt. Deborah was asked to leave the room while the three men talked.

Not long after that first meeting, Holt returned to Crain's home along with a younger man. Vincent, Deborah and Crain were at the house as well. Deborah was asked to leave the room while the men talked again. This time, after leaving the room, Deborah listened to their conversation from an adjoining room. She later stated that Crain and Holt were very upset with Mooneyham and that Deborah heard them say that Mooneyham needed to be eliminated. After Holt and the younger man had left, Deborah asked Vincent what the discussions were about. Vincent stated that they had asked him to kill Shirley Mooneyham. Deborah testified that at some point after the murder, Vincent told her that he had killed Mooneyham.

Johnson had been convicted of manslaughter in 1979 and received a 15-year sentence.

The offence

On Feb. 8, 1991, Shirley Mooneyham, 44, was shot several times in her rural Pittsburg County residence. She was shot six times with a .38-caliber weapon in her kitchen. She died from the gunshot wounds to her head and chest. Police said Johnson shot her repeatedly with a gun she had on her table and with a gun Johnson took with him.

Johnson went to Mooneyham's residence on Feb. 8, smoked marijuana with her, then grabbed a pistol Mooneyham had sitting on the kitchen table and a gun from his pocket and opened fire with both weapons.

Prosecutors said Mooneyham’s common-law husband, Ted Holt, promised Johnson $100,000 to kill his wife. Investigators said Johnson was “mad at Holt for not yet delivering the $100,000 he was owed” for Mooneyham’s murder.

Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The evidence at trial indicated that Holt and Johnson’s employer, John Crain, hired Johnson to kill the victim.

Investigation

OSBI agents intercepted a conversation between Johnson and an informant in which Johnson admitted his part in Mooneyham's death. In that conversation, Johnson also said that he was mad at Holt for not yet delivering the $100,000 he was owed for Mooneyham's murder.

During Johnson’s trial, evidence indicated that Johnson admitted the killing to an informant and to police and his wife. Petitioner admitted to an acquaintance, Tim Allen, that petitioner had killed the victim. Allen was cooperating with police. Police had given Allen a sports car to use, equipped with a tape recorder, and “wired” him with a concealed radio transmitter. During their conversation, petitioner made numerous inculpatory statements, which police intercepted and recorded.

Investigators also found the murder weapon among his belongings.

Arrest and pre-trial events

In May 1991, Vincent Johnson was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. A few hours after a breathalyzer test indicated a .16 blood alcohol concentration, he waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the murder.

John Crain and Ted Holt were also arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Trial

A jury found that aggravating factors existed, including that the murder was committed for remuneration, that Johnson had suffered a prior violent felony conviction, and that Johnson presented a continuing threat to society.

Johnson was convicted of the murder-for-hire of Shirley Mooneyham. Her estranged common-law husband, Ted Holt, hired Johnson for $100,000. During Johnson’s trial, he maintained his innocence, but authorities produced three earlier confessions, including one that was on audiotape.

In the separate trial of Holt, Holt was acquitted.

At the time of the murder, the victim was later found later that same day by 14-year-old Robin Dawn Jackson, the niece of her former common-law husband, Ted Holt.

Sentencing

Johnson was sentenced to death for the February 8, 1991 murder of Shirley Mooneyham.

At sentencing, the State incorporated the first stage evidence. The parties stipulated to Johnson’s prior manslaughter conviction. The State presented a detective’s testimony that prior to the killing, Johnson had set the victim's house on fire at the request of Crain and Holt. Portions of the tape recorded conversation between Johnson and informant Allen were played, in which Johnson bragged about the killing and threatened to kill Holt and harass Crain because they had failed to pay him for the murder.

In mitigation, Johnson testified that he had completed two years of college; served four years in the Marine Corps, receiving an honorable discharge; had worked in oil fields and machine shops and trained horses; maintained his innocence of the murder, but expressed his condolences to the victim’s family for his part in hiding the murder weapons; and begged for his life and the opportunity to know his children growing up. Two of his sisters testified that Johnson was a good brother, helpful and good with children, hardworking and dependable, and asked the jury to spare his life because his family and his children needed him. Johnson’s mother testified that Johnson was a good son, nice and helpful, and she did not want him to die.

Appeals

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Johnson’s conviction and death sentence, and denied post-conviction relief. See Johnson v. State, 911 P.2d 918 (Okla. Crim. App. 1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 839 (1996); Johnson v. State, 952 P.2d 1003 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998).

New pleadings and appellate proceedings included:

• U.S. Supreme Court denial of Johnson’s final appeal, followed by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals order and judgment affirming the district court’s denial of habeas relief.
• Certificates of appealability issues were addressed, including a challenge that the “continuing threat” aggravating circumstance was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, and another challenge to jury instructions on the sentencing scheme.

Oklahoma Attorney General Vincent Allen Johnson Execution Date Requested March 26, 2001 Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to set an execution date for convicted murder-for-hire triggerman Vincent Allen Johnson following the denial of his final appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This was a coldly calculated murder committed by a man for the promise of money,” said Edmondson.
“Vernon Allen Johnson’s appeals are over. I have every expectation that the court will schedule his execution, and that it will be carried out according to the jury's wishes.”

U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals — Order and Judgment VINCENT ALLEN JOHNSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. GARY L. GIBSON, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary; DREW EDMONDSON, Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma, Respondents-Appellees. No. 99-7089 ORDER AND JUDGMENT The court affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas relief. It concluded that law enforcement’s electronic monitoring with one conversant’s consent did not violate the Fourth Amendment and that the trial court’s determination of voluntary consent was a finding of fact entitled to deference. It also addressed ineffective assistance claims, hearsay testimony, admission and corroboration of inculpatory statements, and jury instructions.

Outcome

Johnson’s habeas relief denial was affirmed, and his execution proceeded.

Aftermath

Johnson’s execution occurred at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, and he was pronounced dead at 9:07pm. In connection with the execution, prayer vigils and protests were held at numerous locations across the state, including outside the gates of the penitentiary in McAlester and outside the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City.

Johnson’s last requested meal was fried fish with tarter sauce, hush puppies, French fries, a strawberry malt and a soda.

Before the injection, Johnson was asked if he had anything to say. He looked at the ceiling and said: “No sir, I don't.”