Published: July 14, 2008 10:38 pm         

Johns gets life without parole

It took a Garfield County jury less than an hour Monday to return a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for Jessie Floyd Johns, who was convicted of the first-degree murder of Amber Matthews in 2005.

Johns, 57, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down by the five-man, seven-woman jury Monday evening. As the courtroom emptied, Johns hugged members of his state-appointed counsel.

Formal sentencing will be 10 a.m. July 22 in Watonga.

The same jury spent about 45 minutes Friday deliberating before returning a guilty verdict for the capital crime.

Johns also was found not guilty of shooting with intent to kill for the wounding of Lauren Drue Kopf. He was found guilty of grand larceny for the theft of a four-wheeler as a getaway vehicle in the Nov. 3, 2005, robbery of Kopf’s Blaine County home that turned deadly for Matthews.

Wendell Arden Grissom, 39, was convicted in March of first-degree murder, shooting with intent to kill, grand larceny and possessing a firearm after former felony conviction for the role he played as gunman in the Nov. 3, 2005, robbery.

During opening arguments, Assis-tant District Attorney Mike Fields read a bill of particulars filed with the case citing aggravating circumstances to warrant a death sentence for Johns.

He said the state would prove two aggravating circumstances exist in Johns’ case.

According to the bill, Johns has a prior felony offense involving the use or threat of violence. Johns was convicted in Georgia in 1983 of aggravated assault for shooting his ex-wife, Debra Dunn, with a pistol. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with the Georgia Department of Corrections.

The bill also states Johns knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person for the role he played in the robbery of Kopf’s home.

Johns’ attorney, Virginia Sanders, told the jury what the defense wanted to focus on during the sentencing portion of the trial was the life of her client.

Sanders said Johns was raised by a poor family in Georgia, where he and his siblings suffered at the hands of a drunk father and later a drunk stepfather. She said he suffered the death of three of his brothers.

Sanders asked the jury why the state was asking them to kill Johns.

“Jessie Johns didn’t kill anybody,” she said. “Wendell Grissom had two guns and Jessie had none.”



‘I’ll hurt for the rest of my life’



Fields entered only one piece of evidence for the state during the sentencing phase, a letter written by Gary Matthews about how the loss of his daughter had affected his life.

The letter was read to the jury by Matthew’s son-in-law and in it, Gary Matthews said his daughter also was his best friend.

“I was a hero to her and she was a hero to me,” the letter reads.

Gary Matthews said he can’t return to the restaurant where he and his daughter last ate. Seeing her friends causes painful reminders of his daughter. He said he had been “robbed of the joy she’d given me” and was “emotionally injured” for the rest of his life.

“I’ll hurt for the rest of my life,” the letter said. “I miss my daughter so much. I want her back so much but I can’t have her back. I can’t even have her back for one more day to say goodbye.”

Sanders called two former employers of Johns, the Blaine County sheriff and undersheriff, Johns’ sister and two cousins to testify about his life and his character.

Both former employers said Johns was a good worker.

Philip Rochelle, who owns a masonry company in Columbia, Tenn., said Johns had come to a job site looking for work in 2003.

“He was a good worker,” Rochelle said. “Everybody liked him.”

He said Johns stayed on the job for two to three weeks before moving on.

Blaine County Sheriff Rick Ainsworth testified there had been no problems with Johns as a prisoner at the Blaine County Jail. Undersheriff Margaret Parman said “yes” when asked if he was a compliant inmate.



‘He’s not what they think he is’



Tearful testimony came from Johns’ family members, who recalled the harsh conditions he and his siblings grew up under.

Johns’ older sister Sandra Vincent spoke extensively about her father’s drinking and the problems it caused. She said her father “drank a lot and threw his money away,” leaving the children often without food and shoes. She said she and her six siblings often would have to wear clothes made from flour and feed sacks and ate occasional meals at their grandmother’s house.

Vincent also said Johns was a good father to his son, but his life began to deteriorate when he was no longer able to see his boy.

“He loved that baby with all of his heart,” she said. “He’s not what they think he is.”

With tears in her eyes, Vincent asked the jury to spare her brother’s life.

“I don’t want to see him die,” she sobbed. “I would write him. I would even call him if I could.”

During closing arguments, Fields said Johns’ choices are what led everyone to the courtroom Monday.

He said none of the mitigating factors presented by the defense could explain what happened.

“None of these things matter to Amber,” he said. “Why must she pay the price for all the heartache of defendant?”

Fields asked jurors to remember three images as they reached their decision: the room where Amber was shot as she cared for Kopf’s two children, one crying, the other covered in blood; the hospital where Kopf was being treated without knowing if her children and best friend were dead; and Johns walking twice into the Hill Stop Cafe to order cold beer.

“Defendant Johns deserves the death sentence,” Fields said.

Sanders said in her closing argument the state’s case failed to prove the two aggravating circumstances requiring a death sentence.

“We’re talking about Wendell Grissom, not Jessie Johns,” she said. “There is nothing that can outweigh the death of Amber Matthews, but her killer is Wendell Grissom.”

Sanders said her client was not a major participant in Matthews’ death and the state had failed to prove so.

“They just haven’t met the hurdles for him to meet the requirements for the death penalty,” Sanders said.

Craig Corgan, another of Johns’ attorneys, said Johns made some terrible choices and a life sentence would punish Johns “greatly.”

“Mercy is something you give. Mercy is appropriate and proper because Wendell Grissom is the killer,” he said. “We would ask you to extend mercy and sentence Jessie Johns to life.”

During his rebuttal argument, Fields asked the jury at what point Johns tried to stop Grissom from entering Kopf’s home.

“At what point did you see him break down from grief or remorse?” he asked.

Fields said Johns only came clean when he had to, not when he first met with police west of Hill Stop Cafe. He also said Johns was not under duress of Grissom, as the defense had claimed.

“Wendell Grissom said all Jessie had to do was say stop and he would let him out,” he said.

Corgan said Johns waived his right to a pre-sentencing investigation.