Karl Knapp

Case record (Karl Knapp)

Background

Karl Knapp was accused of committing a terrorizing rampage that left three people dead.

The offence

On January 4, 2003, a gunman shot and killed three people in an Albuquerque business district. After the killings, he barricaded himself in a pawn shop for about three hours and shot himself in the chest.

Authorities believed the killings resulted from a domestic violence situation.

The victims were identified as:

• Jane Johnston, 42
• Steven Goodwin, 49
• Greg Maguire (age not immediately known)

The shootings took place at Posh Limited, a window furnishings store where Johnston and Goodwin worked, and then spilled out toward neighboring Poulin Design Remodeling, where employee Maguire was shot.

Investigation

Police accused Knapp of shooting two men and a woman in front of a warehouse in an area of northeast Albuquerque.

Knapp was hospitalized for the wound, which was not life-threatening.

Trial

Employees at both stores near Washington Street and Prospect Avenue Northeast recalled their moments of terror during the shootings.

During a two-week trial, employees testified about moments when they crouched behind workstations or ran outside as bullets flew.

Jurors deliberated two days before finding Knapp guilty on all but one charge.

The one charge for which Knapp was not found guilty was burglary, which was related to the Poulin business.

Sentencing

On August 13, 2004, Karl Knapp was sentenced by state District Judge Albert S. “Pat” Murdoch.

Assistant District Attorney Judith Faviell asked Murdoch to render the maximum sentence. Murdoch complied.

Murdoch ordered Knapp, 49, to serve:

• two consecutive life terms for the January 3, 2003, first-degree murders of his estranged girlfriend, Jane Johnston, 42, and her boss, Steve Goodwin, 49
  • each life term was 30 years
• 15 years for the second-degree murder of Greg Maguire, 49, an employee at a neighboring business
  • a firearm enhancement included with that charge added another year
• the maximum sentences, including firearm enhancements, for each of the 18 remaining charges for which a jury convicted him on Thursday
  • those sentences ran concurrently with the murder sentences
  • the total sentence was 76 years

Karl Knapp declined to speak before his sentencing.

Knapp gave a nod to an unidentified woman in the courtroom before being led away in handcuffs.

Knapp’s attorney, Jeff Rein, told the court that Knapp did not want his words to detract from the proceedings.

Impact statements at sentencing

Johnston’s 18-year-old daughter, Samantha Johnston, said:

"We have been waiting 589 days to close a chapter in my life and will try to move forward,"

She said her mother’s death was especially wrenching because Knapp knew that her father was dying of cancer and that the slaying would leave her and her two siblings orphaned. She said her father died 14 months after the shootings.

Goodwin’s wife, Roberta Goodwin, spoke to the court that her husband would have celebrated his 51st birthday and that instead she would be buying flowers to lay at his grave.

Maguire’s brother, Brian Maguire, said:

"There will be no closure for the victims,"
"There will be no understanding of the actions of Karl Knapp."

He spoke of lives broken, of washing the blood from his brother’s glasses, and of cringing still every time his cell phone rings, fearful the news on the other end would be just as devastating as it was that night.

Maguire’s wife, Jill Coppedge, said:

"And all of this was done with no remorse, not then and not now,"

Arguments presented at trial

Prosecutors Judith Faviell and Julie Altwies contended Knapp calculated the killings for months after his 2-year relationship with Johnston disintegrated.

Defense attorneys Jeff Rein and Mark Horton argued the shootings were spontaneous, alcohol-fueled acts that deserved only second-degree murder convictions.

Faviell said she learned this weekend that one of the Poulin employees recently died of a heart attack, possibly because he had to relive the trauma of that day by testifying at Knapp’s trial.

Outcome

Karl Knapp received a total sentence of 76 years in prison.

Other details

Friends and family of the three victims made comments in court, including one calling Knapp “one of Satan’s best.”