THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Dawn Johnson
#1005551
Full Name: Dawn Marie Johnson
DOB: April 19, 1968
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Scott
City: Park View
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Date of Crimes: July 21, 1991 & November 1992
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Ashley & Gordon Johnson
DOB: April 19, 1968
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Scott
City: Park View
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Date of Crimes: July 21, 1991 & November 1992
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Ashley & Gordon Johnson
A Davenport woman was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths, a year apart, of two of her four children. Dawn Marie Johnson, 25, was also convicted of two counts of child endangerment and two counts of willful injury in the death of her 5-month-old daughter, Ashley, in 1991, and the death of her 5-month-old son, Gordon, in 1992.
Authorities at first treated the death of Ashley as a case of sudden infant death syndrome. Her body was exhumed after the death of Gordon in November 1992. Officials said that both died of suffocation. Dawn was questioned by authorities in March 1993 after investigators probed into the November 1992 death of Gordon. He was found dead in his crib in their home in Park View, an unincorporated town near Davenport.
The investigation then focused on the July 21, 1991, death of Ashley, who was also found dead in her crib. After Ashley’s body was interred, Dawn, who had been charged with Gordon’s death, was also charged with Ashley’s death.
Dawn insisted she didn’t suffocate her two babies. The defense tried to show that her husband, Michael, could have caused the children’s deaths. He was in jail at the time after pleading guilty to a sexual abuse charge for molesting a 13-year-old girl who was a babysitter for them. Dawn also accused Michael of sexually abusing Ashley. Michael took a lie detector test and passed.
In her appeal, Dawn claimed that the videotaped confession she made over several hours had been coerced and that experts furnished by prosecutors were unreliable. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the convictions.
Authorities at first treated the death of Ashley as a case of sudden infant death syndrome. Her body was exhumed after the death of Gordon in November 1992. Officials said that both died of suffocation. Dawn was questioned by authorities in March 1993 after investigators probed into the November 1992 death of Gordon. He was found dead in his crib in their home in Park View, an unincorporated town near Davenport.
The investigation then focused on the July 21, 1991, death of Ashley, who was also found dead in her crib. After Ashley’s body was interred, Dawn, who had been charged with Gordon’s death, was also charged with Ashley’s death.
Dawn insisted she didn’t suffocate her two babies. The defense tried to show that her husband, Michael, could have caused the children’s deaths. He was in jail at the time after pleading guilty to a sexual abuse charge for molesting a 13-year-old girl who was a babysitter for them. Dawn also accused Michael of sexually abusing Ashley. Michael took a lie detector test and passed.
In her appeal, Dawn claimed that the videotaped confession she made over several hours had been coerced and that experts furnished by prosecutors were unreliable. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the convictions.
Source: Des Moines Register
