One In A Ditch & One In A Bed

Small Town Murder episode 144 covers Forest City, Iowa, a town of 4,083 people in north central Iowa, in Hancock and Winnebago counties. It was founded around 1855, platted in 1856 and first called Pucker Brush; Robert Clark is its official founder. A railway came through in 1879 and the Winnebago motorhome plant is the main employer, with 35% of jobs in manufacturing. The town is 92% white, 66% religious, has low crime and a median home price of about $99,300.

The story begins in 1985 with Jennifer and Bradley Robert 'Rob' Johnson, known as Rob. Rob, 22, was a third-generation farmer's son who had briefly worked at the Winnebago plant, spent six months in Wyoming, and returned to farming. Jennifer, 19, nicknamed Giggles, had graduated from Forest City High School in 1983, begun a teaching course at the University of Northern Iowa and moved to Waldorf College in Forest City after the couple married in June 1984. They lived in a rural farmhouse on the edge of town. Friends said she worked in a church nursery and never touched drugs. Rob, however, sold cocaine from the farmhouse, supplied by two Greek men, Zoas and Aris, from the Iowa Falls area, and many of his customers worked at the Winnebago plant. The house was a social hub for young people.

On Saturday 9 February 1985 Rob was trying to collect about 2,900 dollars to pay his suppliers, who he said broke legs. this part of the story is covered for now Friends saw the couple through the day. At 6.30 p.m. a babysitter was told not to come over, which was unusual. At 6.40 Rob phoned a friend in Mason City. At 7.10 a passer-by saw four cars and every light on at the house. At 7.15 Zoas phoned and an unidentified male voice answered and said the Johnsons were not home; Zoas thought it resembled a man he knew as Bubba. At 7.30 only two cars were there and by 8.30 the house was locked with lights and the television on. At 8.40 friends saw a shadow behind the kitchen drape.

On the morning of 10 February friends went in through an unlocked door and found Jennifer naked and face down on the bed in a pool of blood, stabbed more than five times in the back and neck, with a wound that pierced her heart. There was no sexual assault and no murder weapon. Rob was missing. Police ruled out robbery, since nothing of value was gone and both cars were in the garage. They searched by ground and air and set up traffic checks near the house. details of the account remain covered until revealed Rob's pastor said he had been trying to stop using.

On 14 March 1985 utility workers found Rob's frozen body in a ditch six and a half miles from the house, near the Deal home. He was fully clothed and had been shot four times in the back of the head at close range, somewhere else. No gun was found. The pathologist found noodles and vegetables in both victims' stomachs, showing they ate the same meal together, and concluded Rob died first. Police interviewed over a hundred people, from as far south as Iowa Falls. The two Greek suppliers were given immunity and moved to a secret location after investigators decided they were not involved. Friends said Rob owed the suppliers around 4,000 dollars, and a helper, William Trosper, had been carrying money to Iowa Falls.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He was on sick leave from his Winnebago job. details of the account remain covered until revealed His parents and wife said he was in Estherville that evening, arriving between seven and seven thirty, and that his mother did his taxes.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The state pointed to the car, which had four round headlights and rectangular tail lights like the one seen near the Deal house, to gunpowder residue on the passenger side, to cash and to a missing Buck knife. There was no blood in the car. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Newly discovered evidence linked the Greeks to Joel Smitherman, on whose farm Richard Tassler's body was found in 1990. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed Rob and Jennifer are buried together at Oakland Cemetery in Forest City, sharing a tombstone. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it