A Greek Tragedy in Idaho: The Agony of Matt Johnson

Update March 16, 2005 -- Sarah Johnson convicted of her parents' murders. 

Update Nov. 5 2004--Defense is accusing Santos of the murders.  Scroll down to the bottom for details

We are spending a few days in Sun Valley, Idaho, where the big news locally is a 16 year old girl whois accused of murdering her parents.  On Sept. 2, 2003, around 6:30 am, neighbors heard gunshots from the Alan and Diane Johnson's home.  The first thought that the investigators had was that an intruder took a rifle from  the Johnson's guest house and used it to shoot the couple.  The couple's 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, was in the house at the time.  Neighbors say that she ran out of the house and started pounding on neighbor's doors, begging for help. "We heard Sarah running down the street and yelling and saying somebody shot my father," said a neighbor.  The couple's other child, Matt, was away at college at the University of Idaho.

As of Sept. 4th, the investigators said they do not believe Sarah saw anyone, but she is still in shock and they hope she may remember something.  Alan Johnson was a landscaping employee for the past five years. Diane Johnson previously worked at the Hailey Medical Clinic, but had recently switched jobs.

Alan and Diane Johnson were well-liked in the community. On Sept. 11, 2003, More than 700 of the Johnsons’ family, friends, coworkers and well-wishers converged on the old Wood River High School auditorium for an hour-long memorial service to honor the husband and wife, who’d been married 20 years. The 675-seat auditorium overflowed. Some sat on the floor. About 50 more gathered at the room’s two rear doorways.

"Matt and Sarah (the couple’s children) came first in their lives," a family friend said.  According to his obituary, Alan was an avid trap shooter and was considered to be one of the premier trap shooters of Southern Idaho.  Alan’s love for his children and the outdoors meant that he would be found either at their games and activities or out with his dog, Sage, hunting ducks and geese.

Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling said Diane Johnson was shot in the couple’s bed while Alan was taking a shower. The sheriff declined to elaborate about where Alan Johnson was shot or where his body was found. The murder weapon, a rifle of an unspecified caliber, was found in the home’s master bedroom, where the shootings unfolded. The rifle was typically stored in the Johnsons’ guest house, which was rented to a tenant. The Johnsons did not own the weapon, Femling said.

As of Sept. 11, Matt Johnson has returned to his classes at the University of Idaho, in Moscow,  and Sarah Johnson is living with guardians who were specified in the Johnsons’ will. She is attending high school classes somewhere outside the Wood River Valley but inside Idaho.

On Wednesday, Oct. 29 officers arrested Sarah M. Johnson, 16, and charged her as an adult for the Sept. 2 murders of her parents, Alan and Diane Johnson of Bellevue. The news of Johnson’s arrest was issued at a press conference at the Old Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey on Thursday, Oct. 30, where nearly 70 members of the media, courthouse employees and law enforcement officers gathered.

At the press conference, authorities said they believe the 16-year-old acted out of revenge when her parents forbid her from seeing her fiancé, 19-year-old Hailey resident Bruno Santos. Santos was deported to Mexico on Sept. 12 but, as a result of the murder investigation, he was brought back to Blaine County to testify as a witness in the case, said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling.

On Tuesday and Wednesday preceding her arrest, a 16-member grand jury indicted the teenager for the murders, Femling said. Johnson, who was living with her mother’s sister in Caldwell for the last two months, was arrested at 8:20 p.m. following the indictment. According to Blaine County Sherriff Walt Femling, the teenager seemed "upset, angry, defiant" upon her arrest.

The events of Sept. 2, 2003 allegedly unfolded as follows:

At some point, Sarah Johnson entered her family's detached garage , which has a rented apartment. Sarah Johnson had a key to the apartment, where a Winchester .264 rifle and ammunition were stored. Sarah took the rifle, and sometime after 6 a.m., Diane Johnson died of a single gunshot wound to the head while she was in bed. A second shot killed Alan Johnson while he was in the couple’s bathroom. Sarah Johnson fled the scene, going to a neighbor’s home.

Upon arriving at the crime scene authorities searched the garbage cans that had been set out for the morning’s curbside pickup. Femling said authorities found a blood-soaked bathrobe, a latex glove and a cloth glove in one of the trash cans. Femling said crime lab research concluded that Sarah Johnson’s DNA was in the right hand latex glove and that Diane Johnson’s blood was on the bathrobe.  The DNA analysis of the glove was the crux piece of information authorities were waiting for during the last two months, Femling said.

Motive?

During the summer, Johnson had been hanging out with Bruno Santos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was then 19.    Johnson spent the night with him on Friday, Aug. 29, after lying to her parents and saying she was with girlfriends.   Her parents eventually found her on  Aug. 30 at Santos' apartment.  Femling said the parents "discovered that she had become engaged to him on Friday night," Femling said. "As the family dealt with this over the weekend, one of the resolutions was to get law enforcement involved. We believe that this incident, that she was about to lose her boyfriend, was a contributing factor."

Femling said law enforcement officers obtained a detention warrant for Johnson on the day of the murders and took fingerprints and hair and blood samples. Femling said they also discovered a bruise on her left shoulder, which could have been caused by the recoil from a rifle.

Several family members have visited Johnson at the Blaine County Jail, said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling. Her brother, University of Idaho, Moscow, student Matt Johnson has not been among them.  Femling called the murders of Alan and Diane Johnson and, Sarah Johnson’s subsequent arrest for those murders, "devastating" for him.

Alan Johnson had a life insurance policy, benefitting his children equally; now that Sarah has been accused of her parents' murder, she can't benefit.  So the insurance company is suing to recover the benefits.  Matt has no other source of support, evidently.

---------
Update November 2004:  Bruno Santos, who was deported to Mexico in September 2003, was returned to the United States on October 29 2003, and has been living in Blaine County under a special parole status so that he may be available for defense and prosecution questioning and for the trial, which has been delayed several times and is now scheduled for Feb. 2005.  On Oct. 30, Santos was arrested for possession of methamphetamine.  Johnson's defense team is going to make the case that Bruno Santos planned and carried out the double murder of Sarah's parents. "In the latest in a series of recent pretrial hearings (Nov. 5, 2004)  before 5th District Judge Barry Wood, defense attorney Robert Pangburn argued Friday that Santos remains a suspect in the crimes."  Johnson's aunt used to believe that Santos committed the crime, but now believes Sarah was responsible.

Also for the first time, Johnson's aunt, Linda Vavold (Diane Johnson’s sister), said on Friday that she suspected her niece might have committed the murders from the time Johnson first came to live with her family in Caldwell immediately after the murders.  Pangburn asked Vavold when, exactly, it was when she changed her mind.  "It was gradual," Vavold said, "but it was before she came that I had serious doubts."  "And about when was that?" Pangburn asked.  "On September 14," Vavold replied.  Vavold had said in earlier hearings that she had believed Santos committed the slayings until Johnson was arrested a month after the murders.

This is confusing.  I think the story implies that Vavold started out suspecting Johnson, but then changed her mind and now suspects Santos.

Comments

[anna333]

Another great article, thank you for spreading awareness.

[nicole]

Personally I am a bit confused about the trial. I went to school with Sarah Johnson, she was a year behind me. If I remember correctly she was left handed. I really do not know if that does any thing for her. I really cannot say that she killed her parents or if she did not. A part of me believes that she could have and a part of me believes that she did not. I could not see a child killing their parents over a boy/ girl. I remember reading an article about how their was screaming and than another gunshot. Who was screaming? and sho else was in the house. Personally i think that the boyfriend had a big part in it. He was an illigal alien, who was about to get into trouble for having sex with a minor. (motive) If he were to be charged with rape on a minor than he would have been deported back to mexico. The Bathrobe: I remember when my mother had cut her finger from a kitchen knife, blood went squirting. I had it on the back of my shirt and on the back end of my pants. I still have stains from the accident. which proves accidents do happen in a house hold, same goes with her socks, hello she was walking- running around the house when she heard gun shots. i know if i were to hear gun shots i would run and check on every body, to make sure that they are okay. Thats how the blood got onto the socks. Latex glove, i was the dishes with gloves, no blood on glove. there is a point. I wonder if the police or the aunt that thinks that sarah is guilty ever took into consideration that there was not blood on her face, hair or any where else on her body? i do know head wounds tend to bleed horifically. and they spray, but there wasn't a drop of blood on her at all. Except for a bruise on her should, that doesn't mean it was from the gun, Rough sex maybe. a fight, vollyball.... i know that my boyfriend has held me so tight that i have had a bruise before. not meaning to hurt me but to show his affection. I know that every body shows their emotions differently, I for one keep them locked up inside of me. I have been to a couple of funerals and I know that they are in a better place, so what is the point of dweling over it? One of them being a very very close person to me, the day of her funeral i didn't go, i stayed with friends and had the time of my life. i know when i am upset i think of things to make me feel better, and i like to be around people. When i was a cheerleader for wood river i loved going out there when i was upset beacuse cheering made me feel better. She obviously loved vollyball. and that is how she made herself feel better. and for the neighbor that said her screams were fake, how does she know what every persons screams mean? shes not a mind reader or interpritor or any thing. well i thought that i would give my out look on it, i hope this changes peoples out looks on it as well. And for the investigators, they aren't all what they are cracked up to be. Not here in Blaine county... Lack of evidence doesn't proove any thing......

Thanks,
NB

[Debby]

I think, that Sarah Johnson knew exactly what she was doing! And, the judge done right by sending her to prison because thats where she needs to be!!!! My sympathy goes out for the family and I truly feel sorry for them!!!!!

[Elisabeth]

"And the Judge done right"??? Anyway, I think the whole situation is sad with Sarah Johnson's family judging her the way they are but consider themselves to be "Good Christians" and the one that is the worst of all is her Aunt who owns a Christian book store. I believe the bible says do not judge that is Gods job, forgive all ect ect. It amazes me that "everybody" knows she did it and there was no eyewitnesses. She may have done it, maybe she didn't. I wasn't there, I won't judge her, God will do that when her time comes. She was a 16 year old who's brain was not fully functional, severly depressed, and on sleeping pills. A 16 year old on sleeping pills!!! Hello there is a problem there. Any 16 year old that is on antideppressants and sleeping pills has major problems to begin with but it is ok to sentance her to life w/o Parole. The whole thing is tragic and sad. That 16 year old didn't get to that situation by herself, there has to be some responsibility somewhere. It is sad for the Parents who were murdered, sad for the family's and sad for that little 16 year old girl who's life is basically over. But we as a society think it is ok to throw children away. It is easier to lock her away for the rest of her life and forget about her instead of trying to look for answers to what really happened to make a 16 year old make a choice like that (If she is really guilty) and get her some help.
Sad, sad, sad.

[lynette]

For Elisabeth-
I saw the family's impact statements. If your precious daughter or sister or parents are ever ambushed and murdered in such a brutal fashion I'm sure YOU will be better at the art of forgiveness than they -especially when the one who kills shows NO REGRET for the evil deed.
Our society doesn't throw children away- maybe her own chance for redemption is to do her JUST PUNISHMENT! Maybe this sentence of life w/o parole will save her soul. Medication is NOT an excuse for such planning of evil.
-Lynette

[lynette]

Another comment for Elisabeth- you don't believe in judging others, however in your post you surely judged the aunt harshly, commenting that she "was the worst of all". I'm sure that in your wise judgement, you can't feel the grief that she must feel. She also has to watch her elderly parents suffer and grieve for the rest of their life. Diane Johnson's sister didn't seek revenge, by taking the law into her own hands. That would have been against her christian beliefs. She allowed a fair justice system decide Sarah's fate. Seems like a forgiving person to me!
lynette

[Elisabeth]

And that is what makes America such a great country, we are all entitled to our opinion. Some of our opinions come from education, master degree's and life experiences and others come from the media. And yes I have had an assination in my family, a childs death, and a rape. So I have been there many times. That is ok, you are entitled to your opinion. We all have them. And no, I won't slam you for yours.
Have a wonderful day and God Bless you.
Elisabeth

[lynette]

Didn't mean to slam your right to opinion. I only questioned your harsh judgement of the way the Johnson family has dealt with issues of forgiveness and grief. Congrats on your master's degree, I too have one. I think I'd have the same opinion without my degree, however.
-Were you ridiculing Debby's grammar at the beginning of your post? You may want to check your spelling of "assination".
-lynette

[Elisabeth]

It almost seems you are looking for a fight and I am so sorry for you. I stated my opinion as others had and respectfully waited for others to post so I could see what others thought about the case. I do not understand your anger and nastiness. I hope someday you can realize that it is ok for people to have their own opinions and can still “agree to disagree” something you obviously haven’t learned yet. And yes, I am closer to the case then you know, and really was looking for others opinions and statements for a reason. I have looked at many boards, this the only one I have posted to. I do think her family dumped her although right now they are very hurt and angry which is understandable. I just hope for them some healing, but putting her away for life isn’t the way to heal. Forgiveness and understanding are the only way to heal. I speak from experience. I feel for Sarah as well as her family, I don’t agree w/ the sentence she received. And the bottom line is I wanted to know what others thought. You are not going to change my opinion and I didn’t expect to change anybody else’s. I only wanted to start a discussion. Please accept my apology, I didn’t realize this was a “one way and only that way” board, full of anger if you have a different opinion then others. So please relax, life is too short to be angry. J
P.S. Your right, I did spell assassinate wrong, but I assure you it was only a typo, not because I didn’t know how to spell it. Unfortunately I lived through it w/ my family and that word is burned into my brain.

[lynette]

Sorry Elisabeth for the misunderstanding. I guess in your initial post I interpreted the first comment as ridicule of Debby's grammar and a way to belittle her opinion. I too believe people can "agree to disagree" in a respectful way.
Maybe I misinterpreted your initial post and comment.
-lynette

[lynette]

Some Christian steps toward gaining forgiveness:
-Asking for it by saying one's sorry.
-Acknowledging the wrongdoing.
-Personally apologizing to the victims of wrongdoing.

I pray that Sarah can grow to do these things so the family can begin to heal.

-lynette

[ted]

Picture this. A sixteen year old Idaho girl is dating a 19-year-old Mexican guy with known gang ties, and the girl's father commits suicide by driving over to the humble abode of the Mexican and threatening to charge him with statutory rape; a day or two later they find the guy and his wife shot dead with a 6.5 mm magnum caliber rifle, indoors no less.

Naturally enough, the system and the twelve stupidest people in the Idaho jury pool convict the girl and sentence her to life without possibility of parole. This is despite zero forensic evidence connecting the girl to the crime and unknown fingerprints on the murder weapon.

True story, i.e. the story of the Sarah Johnson case in Idaho. Alan Johnson, the father, has to be a candidate for the 2005 Darwin awards.

In real life of course what was involved was basically a quasi-professional hit, and I don't know of a way to picture a 16-year-old girl doing that. In other words, if a woman killed the two people, it was Annie Oaklie or Ma Barker or Vasili Zaitsev's granddaughter, and not some 16-year-old girl who's into volleyball.

The murder weapon was a 264 winmag rifle which belonged to a tenent who lived in a guest house. The killer shot the girl's mother through the head
at point blank range which vaporized half the material of the woman's head and had to cover the shooter with blood and gore; the killer ignored all of that and calmly and nonchalantly chambered another round and shot the father as he came running out the shower to see what just happened.

That can't be somebodys first murder for the same reason people don't learn to ski by going down the expert slope. If the girl did it, they have to
figure out how she LEARNED to do shit like that, in other words, who else she'd killed prior to age 16.

The shooter had to have hearing protectors on, but they weren't found. Makes sense if the shooter was a gang member and took his own hearing protectors
with while leaving the murder weapon which he clearly didn't need on him. Again, if the girl did it, that makes no sense; why would she hide a set of hearing protectors while leaving the murder weapon around in plain sight?

I mean, if I'm on that jury, the government's case would strike me as an insult to my intelligence and I'd tell them that. But, then again, it doesn't sound like intelligence is much of a qualification for jury duty in Idaho.

[Christine Golding]

First of all we really do not know what happened. Maybe her father was going to attack her. Before forbiding her to see him did he even try to get to know this guy. Did he just judge him because he was mexican. Why dont we ask ourselves these questions

[Mr. Thump]

I think Sarah Johnson should be thrown in a Cell with a skunk inside.

I also believe that she IS guilty.
Has absolutely NO REMORSE for killing her parents.

...And to this day, the ONLY reason she regrets what she did
(She knows she is guilty)
is because she got caught! If I could see sarah right now, I growl at her and say EEH AAH EEH AAH!!!

[squirt 99]

I am just curious if any of the family members have visited Sarah in Prison? Have they forgiven her?

Such a sad story. I pray for Sarah and her family. Sarah should say penance to a priest.

[Angela]

I Know Matt Johnson Personally And I Was There To See The Grief And Pain He Went Through
Sarah Had absolutely no remorse for what she did
She Deserves To Be Punished And To take responsibility For Her Actions
This Has Been So Hard For This Whole Family
SO PLEASE NO MORE NEGATIVE POSTS For The Families Sake

[Neal Patel]

I think the Family should be charged with Murder including the Brother Matthew. They all should be spending the rest of their life in Prison along with Sarah.

First of All. The Family Knew Sarah was an emotionally disturbed 16 year Child. Why on earth would her parents object to her dating Bruno Santos. Most Teenage Girls have boyfriends who their Parents have problems with but they still continue their relationship. The parents wanted to end the relationship between Sarah and Bruno Santos because Sarah was a disciplinary problem. The family did not get Sarah sent to Counseling- Boot Camp- Military School- They Johnson Family is wealthy and yet cannot Afford to Get her any help.

I object to the Life without Parole Sentence is because we are helping her throw away her life and not helping her get rehabilited- The Judge should have given her parole after 50 years

[Neal Patel]

Can Sarahs family member still be angry at Sarah and still support Sarah at the same time- pushing for a lenient prison sentence- Sarah deserves to be in Prison but she should not spend rest of her natural life their- She should have the opportunity to convince the parole board after 40 years that She is a changed person.

[Innocent1]

First of all, Neal Patel, how dare you? Looking at your first paragraph, I can tell you are an individual who would say something without really thinking about its impact. In other words you are cold hearted...Just like Sarah. Sarah had seen several counselors over the span of two years prior to incident. Alan and Diana did everything to please the little snot. Matt was an easy child who was ambitious and level headed. Sarah on the other hand needed constant attention and became a pathological liar around age 13... Big contrast between the two siblings. I know..I was around her all the time. Furthermore, Sarah is 'Broken' and can never be fixed. She is the definition of sociopath. I tell you she is nothing but deceit and lies...the DEVIL!
God Bless Alan and Diana

[Not sure]

I watched the special on TV yesterday where they recapped the whole story. After seeing it and the comments above; true, Sarah was / is a troubled person. Question: how many people were troubled teens? What is the percentage that they will commit a crime? How many actually grow out of being a troubled person? Judging from society and how crime increased, not many grow out of it. People who are troubled in any way need love and understanding. Families of troubled people need love and understanding. And everyone reaps what he / she sows. What goes around, comes around. So everyone beware of how you treat everyone around you. You will be the recipient of the same treatment sooner or later.

Did Sarah really get a fair and just trial? I do not think so. There are many issues involved and many motives from many different people. I can say that Matt had a motive and an alibi. Motive? Insurance money. With his sister being framed for something that she may not have done, he would get the money from the insurance policy. Alan probably taught Matt how to hunt ducks. So a reasonable conclusion would be that Matt did it since he probably knew how to use rifles. Do you see my point? Anyone can easily frame / judge anyone else. It is not hard. So what is hard? Finding the truth. Did anyone try to find the truth?

I hope and will continually pray that the truth appears soon before Sarah (who may be a victim in all of this) loses everything. I also pray that true justice prevails in the United States. As of now, it is devastatingly flawed.

[Cesar]

I wachted the Case on tv last night.
Anything could happened in this case.
What I did not understanded is why there is not blood in the glove or the face or hair of Sarah.
Please somebody just give me a good explanation to it.

[B Tompkins]

I believe she diid it and she should pay. How many years I dont know and can only contimplate.
To the family-my heart goes out to you and my prayers-there has to be some reasons that we just dont know.
I hope that Sarah gets some help for what happened.

[CL]

I'm appalled at most of these comments above. How naive can you all be. It's blatantly obvious she is guilty and to even consider judging any of the family members for coming down harshly on Sarah is a joke. Murder is the worst crime a person can commit and I don't care how old she was at the time of the shooting, she deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison. What's wrong with you all.
Kids these days have absolutely no respect for anything anymore. She was a selfish little teenager with no concern for anything but herself. She is a murderer. She killed her parents for God's sake. And for the person who judged the brother and the parents...shame on you!

[Karen Stickney]

That would be true if the girl had the means, opportunity, and motive to kill her parents. You're just blaming the boyfriend because he was here illegally. Who else would murder loving people if the only motive lied in the daughter's mind?

[Christian W., Burgenland, Austria]

As usual in America, and particularly in Idaho, good people have punished this girl as harshly as possible. I'm honestly surprised she wasn't given the death penalty although I bet it was discussed. You have guns everywhere and put everyone in jail (forever, if possible) or sue them if they do something wrong. Ok. I just find it interesting that even where I live in Central and Eastern Europe we don't have nearly the voilent crime rate as in the US, particularly involving guns. Nor the problems with drugs and teen pregnancy and crime. Wake up America. We (in Europe) certainly would not put a child in prison for their entire life. Children that have murdered, in Germany or Austria for example have been rehabilitated and never hurt anyone again. It just shocks me that you could put away a 16 year old girl on circumstancial evidence alone! Why do you have juvinile laws if you can remove them whenever you feel like it? I wonder how the family feels about it? I can say from experience that even when a family member does something like this, you still might love them and be concerned for them. I think everyone (as usual) believes what they like to believe here.

[karen Stickney]

What if the girl actually had motive to kill them? This was similar to the Richardson family killings where a 12 year old girl and her 23 year old boyfriend stabbed her family to death. Unlike Sarah, she was tried as a child and only got 10 years in prison. Her boyfriend got three life terms without parole. Alan and Diane had no enemies. Everybody loved them. Bruno understood what Alan was telling him when he was told to stay away from Sarah and never see her again. And, who was this Christopher Hill whose fingerprints were on the weapon? Mel Speegle, the owner of the gun, wasn't even home when they were murdered. Neither was Matt. Why was Sarah tried as an adult but this Richardson girl was tried as a child? There's a first time for everything.

[karen Stickney]

If a man had killed Alan and Diane Johnson like some of you people here think, then this case wouldn't have been on Oxygen's show "Snapped" or The Discovery Channel's "Deadly Women" unless Sarah had conspired with him to kill them, then dispose of the gun and bathrobe in the trash before she ran screaming for help and after he had run away from the crime scene, if Sarah had him do just that. If a grown up had done it, then it wouldn't have been on E's "Too Young to Kill" list, either. If someone you love gets brutally murdered, and you're innocent of it, wouldn't you want to help the police try to find the real killer and hide when their bodies are taken away from the crime scene on the way to the morgue? If Sarah didn't do this to them, why didn't she do any of this stuff when the police found her parents' bodies and she told them that she was asleep when the gunshots rang out? Would the real killer have told her not to do that if she is innocent?

[David]

Christian W., the reason for this is that America is the Anti-Christ, literally preaching pure evil -- hate, unforgiveness, lack of compassion, judgments based on desires instead of evidence, and cruelty to children (the most vulnerable segment of society) -- under the guise of Christianity. The people running "justice" in the U.S. despise everything Jesus ever stood for, and try to annihilate his teachings, all the while saying "Praise be Jesus" once every 5 minutes. They serve the Devil and Hell awaits them.

[diane]

Sarah was spoiled rotten as I understand it. Well you can't raise a child like that and then complain when they turn out the way they did. Johnson was a child and they don't think rationally as adults would. Don't tell me her parents didn't know she had emotional problems and might go off the deep end because of their refusal to let her see her boyfriend. As for Matt. Well he just does not seem completely devastated. The money has something to do with that I am sure. I would be curious to know if he works or is just living large on his parents blood money.

[Wilson]

Sarah Johnson did in fact kill her mom and dad. Why she is trying to deny it with all her appeals is beyond me. Something has to be wrong with her mind and she belongs away from society because she is a danger.

[Wilson]

This girl killed her parents and thats, that. Takes no experience to kill someone as long as a person can fire a weapon and sarah knew how because her dad took her on hunting trips and taught her all about fireing a weapon. This young lady is no dummy by a long shot, she knew exactly how to go about doing what she did.. It was a well planned murder of two people right down to getting rid of the evidence in the garbage cans. 16yr old young people are smart when it comes to doing something for their gain, i kid you not. Do not play young folks cheap, hey these people are smart, and dumb at the same time.

[Wendyjo dé Idaho]

Well, her appeals have all been denied. It appears that simply sorry Sarah will remain behind bars for the rest of her natural life. Oh, well. Someone, from merry ol' Europe, wondered why Sarah hadn't been sentenced to death. There are 2 reasons: First, her offense, although of extreme violence, is not a capitol offense. And second, it is no longer legal, in the U.S. of A., to sentence a juvenile to death. That would just be wrong. Perhaps you are right then when suggesting it is wrong to sentence a 16 year old child to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Most certainly the young woman has the potential for rehabilitation.

[justice]

The problem with America is people like all of u above. Who think she is innocent. U all need to get a backbone and understand the seriousness of killing your own parents. Let's have another wetback living here for free and committing crimes.shame on all of u.

[justice]

Tried as an adult why didn't she get the death penalty?

[Herb Wosniak]

Christian if I came from the country that gave the world Hitler and is still the most judeophobic nationt in Europe I would be silent about the Second Amendment which gives one of a number of unvarnished liberties on American citizens.