quote:
Originally posted by Rene
Sarah Johnson,
Do you know if Brittany was putting in any money for the land deal? or was it all Bo & your parents money?
Was Bo ever in the Military? foreign or domestic. If he was, What job did he do while there?
Do you have the phone bill from Bo's cell phone from that time period?
Were you ever threatened with or did you see anyone with any type of handgun or rifle during your stay with Bo? and if you were, can you name the person with the firearm?
Did the local Police in your Alaska town every come to your house or your parents house to search for Bo in Alaska?
Was your family ever notified that there was a "no-bail" warrant for Bo's arrest?
When you camp out for long periods and you have experience outdoors, you don't tend to cut lengths of rope, you tie knots. If "Kalapana Ed" is not missing, then this needs way more looking into. If "Kalapana Ed' just moved back to the mainland and can be contacted, I'm not so worried. Is the couple from Idaho now missing too? or did they return home?
Rene, those ares some good questions and I look forward to hearing from Sarah. A few have been answered already here and there so I can try to shorten the list of those.
It was Ruth Johnson, not Sarah, who came and stayed with Bo and reported threats.
Re the money, Julie Royal has shared that Brittany had no financial or legal part in the land transaction.
Sarah has shared that Bo had saved money working in Alaska. IÔm not sure how much his parents were contributing if any, but the down payment funds were in Alaska and were going to be wired the day the closing papers were signed, which did not happen. The realtor contacted the JohnsonÔs after Bo missed his appointment.
It wasnÔt an outright full cash purchase. There was going to be a $500 a month mortgage. (Note: I doubt any lender is writing on vacant land on the recent lava flow, so perhaps it was seller financing.)
A lot of this story was in two Herald Tribune articles about the Johnsons (some of the family) coming to the island to look for answers that ran last June.
In this one, Ruth Johnson is interviewed by phone, and Tom Johnson talks about his sonÔs land purchase and survival skills. Ruth says the threatener said he had a gun and would return with it.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...swers.html
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...d-man.html
Bo was an Army Reservist for "a hitch" and had gone through basic training, per hsi father as quoted in the article.
Thanks for explaining about knotting the rope.
The other couple (not an Idaho couple, one was from Idaho, one from California) never were truly missing from their own perspective. They had checked out of a Kona hotel and were camping out of cell range in WaipiÔo Valley over the holiday weekend. When they got topside and went into HonokaÔa, someone saw them and called the police.
Then they found out a parent had filed a missing personÔs report. Someone had called a parent and purported to have the couple. It was a weird story. The abduction was not real; the attempt to frighten parents and perhaps extort money was real. The story is online. I donÔt see any connection to this case other than Memorial Day weekend synchronicity.
IÔm pages behind [:0] so sorry if this goes back a bit ...
Midnight Rambler
I agree that the "Ed was telling the truth" is the simplest of the two. I never met Ed, know basically nothing about him, but he is incommunicado even with people who know him well. He did insert himself into the investigation by contacting the police and that is not always innocent. Also he contacted them before Brittany had been IDÔd. I am curious whether the coconut telegraph had identified her before that, maybe because of the tattos. Anyone from there know? I know the parents had figured it out, but donÔt know what Ed had heard.
I donÔt think it had to be a super complex conspiracy.
As someone else speculated to me, say there are at least two guys who come to the campsite to make trouble. Two minimum to handle two people. Brittany might try to leave and was attacked, which would explain her being 300 feet from the tent.
A couple disappearing or killed causes a big stink, so itÔs best if one appears to have killed the other and either run off or suicide. Most people I knew expected all along that the blame would be placed on Bo one way or the other. Either suicide or the fugitive who is never seen again who has been thrown in the puka. The motive for separating them in death is pretty simple, to prevent an investigation that would find they were both murdered by a third party, who is simply trying not to get caught or suspected.
This is quite similar to what hikatz thinks. I personally donÔt know anything about the threats and donÔt have any basis to speculate on who may have have been responsible if not Bo.
The land signing the next day would be a huge coincidence, but I realize a big step like that has potential to spark a domestic argument too.
The police do not have to be in on some conspiracy. Just do the usual, not thinking outside the box, being steered by a phone call. Develop tunnel vision. Resist the idea of anyone local being involved.
As I said, donÔt know Ed, no idea why he might be involved or if that would make any sense whatsoever. Details about BoÔs disappearance bother me. IÔm not closed off to the idea that he did it, although the idea saddens me a lot. Most domestic violence murders have warning signs, I believe. There is usually a prior history, injuries, domestic incident calls to police, exes who tell a similar tale. People say afterwards that they warned her (or him) to get away, but the victim couldnÔt do it. Not in this case.
Some people say, this is real life and not TV, books, movies. Yes, but stories of crime are in peopleÔs heads from all these sources, which means they can be enacted in real life, just as real life inspires the storylines. If I were going to commit a heinous crime, or cover one up -- having no experience in real life, I would probably look to something I had seen or read to figure out what to do. So thereÔs a thin and not solid line between "real life" and "TV crime." ItÔs not like people here are too dull-witted to figure out a plan. I donÔt sell them short on ingenuity.
Nana, thanks so much for the welcome back, much appreciate it.
Thanks, kohaladiver, anony-mouse, know I appreciate the nice words. [  ]
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@ Rene,
(Q) Do you know if Brittany was putting in any money for the land deal? or was it all Bo & your parents money?
(A) No, it was in Bo's plans to purchase some land for some years now. He just wasn't quite sure on location yet. Bo was purchasing the property with his own funds with some help from the parents. Brittany was not involved with the land deal or purchase.
(Q)Was Bo ever in the Military? foreign or domestic. If he was, What job did he do while there?
(A) National Guard, boot camp, domestic.
(Q) Do you have the phone bill from Bo's cell phone from that time period?
(A) I'll have to ask my parents. Last time I checked, no.
(Q) Were you ever threatened with or did you see anyone with any type of handgun or rifle during your stay with Bo? and if you were, can you name the person with the firearm?
(A) Me personally, no. I was with Bo for only a few days in Hawaii before I flew back to the mainland at the end of my vacation. The threatening happened just around 3 days after I left. My sister Ruth and my brother Bo were threatened by a lava tour guide after only being in their new rented house down in Kalapana for 3-4 days. Straight from Ruth's statement, the guide threatened to "shoot up" the house. If you look at the previous posts by Ruth Johnson, she actually posted a link to the text messages I received from her the day of the threat. The same man on a different day was said to have been waving around his firearm that he threatened to "shoot up" Bo's house with in a threatening manner in another area in Kalapana. Ruth Johnson explained most of this in her own words in a previous post, Rene.
I would speak with anyone privately about the threat that was made. You may email me at sajohnson92@gmail.com
*I need to clear up a misconception about who was threatened. It was Bo and Ruth. Brittany was not present when the threat was made. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.
(Q) Did the local Police in your Alaska town every come to your house or your parents house to search for Bo in Alaska?
(A) No. I have often asked my parents and siblings; If the police are so sure that Bo did this and they believe he may have left the island and thy have claimed that he is dangerous, why haven't they come to check the sailboat? why haven't they checked my parent's house? Never once. I would think they would have if they really thought Bo to be alive and at large. There are ways to arrive on this island that are under the radar, the police know this, so why weren't they checking up on us?
(Q) Was your family ever notified that there was a "no-bail" warrant for Bo's arrest?
(A) No, I thought that was also sealed in the indictment sealing, maybe I am wrong on that. No we were never even notified that a warrant for his arrest existed.
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Just some of my opinions and thoughts.
Ever since I saw the press conference with Ted and Jerry there and heard Julie's statement read, I have wondered why my parents weren't also given a heads up on the date and location of the press conference. Why weren't my parents shown the same courtesy. Did it ever occur to HPD that my parents also should have been notified? Maybe even enough warning so they could have also prepared a statement like Julie did? Why the police gave this information to the Royal family and not the Johnson family is beyond me. Reporters were notified but the Johnson family was not. At least not in time to make an appearance or prepare a statement.
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My own opinions on how the last few months played out;
So a haole girl is found murdered. Police conduct investigation. As soon as the news broke about the murdered haole girl and her missing boyfriend, almost immediately after the news also broke about the local/Big Island resident lava tour guide who threatened the now missing haole boy. It was our family's gut feeling that the threats were connected to the murder, so we made sure that our concerns were noticed, if not by police, then by the public. Even after we tried to inform police about Bo being threatened and gave them access to the eye witness (Ruth) of the threats made, we still received no response from police on that issue, even to this day. Now everyone one is pointing a spot light on the tour guide for having something to do with the murder, because of the threats he made on Bo's life. The case is starting to get a little more attention than the police and people were expecting. Now police are pressured by media, and possibly their superiors to get the magnifying glass off of Kalapana and it's local residents for having anything to do with this crime. It would really hurt the tourism business if case was rumored or solved as a resident who murdered two young traveling haole/tourists.
So right around this time the police have made statements that Bo is believed to be off island. They have two options, since they have stated Bo is the suspect and murderer, he is either a FUGITIVE or SUICIDE. Since his body was no where to be found, did they even look?, they go with FUGITIVE for now. TSA video surveillance? Suspects father brought large boat? This went on for months. Many were asking on public forums and FB saying; if the HPD believed Bo to be off island then why haven't the US Marshals or FBI been brought into the case in the search for the escaped murderer?
A turning point for this case was when not only the Johnson family believed Bo to have been murdered alongside Brittany, but Brittany's mom was believing this as well. Now there were two families really pressing questions and wanting details on what happened to Bo. More pressure on police to get this solved. Now that both families were sort of on the same page, media was all over the story. It wasn't a conspiracy anymore, it wasn't just the suspect's family fighting against the unwanted news that their son/brother is a murderer. Both families were unconvinced by police effort and information. Not just local media, but national media was now telling the story. (Dateline, People's Magazine, I.D. Discovery, Nancy Grace, Good Morning America.) More, more, and more pressure.
With all this recent media attention, the case was getting dug up again, details looked at a little more closely. It seems very strange that the body just happens to show up right after all the GOOD media attention for Bo and NOT SO GOOD media attention for HPD and Hawaii. It almost seemed like a countermove. It's been a chess match, from the start. Media was our move, having Bo's body pop up in a neat little suicide package all wrapped up in a bow, was theirs.
So now that Bo's body popped up, even though he supposedly left the island and was at large and dangerous. Even though there was TSA video surveillance, even thought his father brought his large boat to aide Bo in his escape. Since FUGITIVE turned out to be a bust, they choose the second option, SUICIDE, just like we all knew they would.
If Bo's body was found JAN 2, then I would assume the confession/ intention of suicide book that was found with the body was also found that day (JAN 2.) Maybe not. Like my mom said, they had 19 days to get their ducks in a row before the press conference.
If the police wanted our family to trust them, I think they would have tried a little harder. Even though they can't give away important info on the case, they could have treated my parents with a little more respect and compassion, not treated them like criminals. Leaving us in limbo for how many months on just about everything. Rarely answering calls or returning them. Letting the media make the calls for them.
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I could never picture Bo meditating murdering Brittany at all, let alone, long enough to go seek out a rope, then find Brittany again, wrap it around her, and the time it would take to for the act to happen, without him coming to realization of what he was doing. It's just too much time, not just a simple, quick crime of passion with hands around the throat.
I would like to openly say that I would be willing to accept that my brother did this if I had some absolute proof, which I don't. I am hoping for some absolute proof about anything right about now.
This case has had some very strange twists and turns and a lot of inconsistencies along the way.
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quote:
lucrative property
How does one assess property located downhill from an active lava flow as being "lucrative?"
I don't see a lot of money in being a lava tour guide either, but my interpretation of "a lot of money" might not be the same as someone else.
quote:
threat involving an AR-15
A threat involving a firearm, yet no evidence of a firearm being used in this case, ergo the irrelevance of such conjecture.
kaphohololo, I agree regarding a map of the scene, or at least a diagram.
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
The Idaho couple sticks in my mind because I met two Idaho hunters and another Idaho couple the same weekend this tragedy happened. I met all these Idahoans around 1 mile up from where this tragedy happened. The younger couple were indeed from McCall Idaho and were the same couple who supposedly were camping in Wiapio. How do I know this? Because they told me they were going to Wiapio after this hike we had, that ended at 3:00 A.M Saturday the 25th of may. The young man told me he was from McCall and the girl said Cali. There was mention of a full bottle of wine I believe that they had left by the flow area(near first tent) for offerings.
The detectives in this case did follow-up on my info, and they told me this couple out of Wiapio was not ever out in Kalapana(fishy to me). There pictures are who I and my partner saw that night in Kalapana. I do not think they left at 3:00 A.M sat morning to drive out to wiapio valley and set up a tent. The TWO hunters from Idaho raised even more red flags for me. They were big game hunters who kill over 1,000 big game a year for there Jerky business. They were very fit for there ages and very skilled by the military and were drinking something hard and one of them kept bragging about his sharp shooting skills. These guys had all checked out of there kona hotels that Friday and were prepared to camp by tent. THERE weapons and camping gear was all in there trunks of their cars at 3:00 A.M sat the 25th of may in the parking lot down Kalapana. The hard liquor was evident, the weapons were real, the skills were real, I did not give out my # to anyone who kills 3-5 large animals daily and that was all liquored up wanting to show off their mad skills with their weapons that morning. (big game hunters use garrote style chokes)
Their was also another young woman around 22 years old who was with this group we met that evening. She was the only one who was not CURRENTLY from Idaho, She said she was staying somewhere close. She looked like Brittney(size and color of hair). Now being that it was 3 in the morning when we finished our hike and these guys had hiked some 15 miles throughout the day and night. I felt like they were going to pull out there tents and camp rather than drive towards Kona at that hour, I really don't know what they ended up doing because my partner and I were gone only 2-3 minutes after the hike.
Being that I had taught golf for a few years in the Boise, McCall area recently, It felt very friendly and we all knew some of the same people back in Idaho. So what bothers me the most is the reports of possible others who may have been camping with BO and Britt that weekend. Also it would seem like quite a coincidence that there was an entirely different McCall couple who looked the same and were the same ages out in Kalapana than the couple in Wiapio.
Also seems weird that this young couple had somewhat disappeared the same day Britt was found and then showed up the day of may 30th which could have been the day Bo apparently had done himself in. This couple says they did not know they were reported missing, they did not call worried friends or family until after being spotted by others at a restaurant in Honokaa. They also said there phone had no service for two days, and when they got back to the top of the valley they then would see all the messages. So why did they not call home first to not worry parents more?. Who called from a blocked # and said they had this young man?. I have so much more to all of this yet apparently(from the investigators) none of it is relative to this tragedy so why go on right?. I still got a bad feeling about this tragedy and the investigation. P.S. IF BO answered his phone around 8 A.M and said he was with Britt and they were on their way to Hilo? HOW?. NO CAR RIGHT? This young couple and older set of hunters had vehicles. Even weapons, if they wanted to hurt someone or make someone's do something's against there wills?.
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Another excellent question previously brought up by anony mouse; if hpd found Bo's phone when they found Brittanys body and the backpack, what phone did he even have? I read in the comments of a BIC article that they shared only one phone.
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@ anony mouse.....any word on the organic farmers that may have been friends with Brittany and bo?
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quote:
Originally posted by gypsy69
The Idaho couple sticks in my mind because I met two Idaho hunters and another Idaho couple the same weekend this tragedy happened. I met all these Idahoans around 1 mile up from where this tragedy happened. The younger couple were indeed from McCall Idaho and were the same couple who supposedly were camping in Wiapio. How do I know this? Because they told me they were going to Wiapio after this hike we had, that ended at 3:00 A.M Saturday the 25th of may. The young man told me he was from McCall and the girl said Cali. There was mention of a full bottle of wine I believe that they had left by the flow area(near first tent) for offerings.
The detectives in this case did follow-up on my info, and they told me this couple out of Wiapio was not ever out in Kalapana(fishy to me). There pictures are who I and my partner saw that night in Kalapana. I do not think they left at 3:00 A.M sat morning to drive out to wiapio valley and set up a tent. The TWO hunters from Idaho raised even more red flags for me. They were big game hunters who kill over 1,000 big game a year for there Jerky business. They were very fit for there ages and very skilled by the military and were drinking something hard and one of them kept bragging about his sharp shooting skills. These guys had all checked out of there kona hotels that Friday and were prepared to camp by tent. THERE weapons and camping gear was all in there trunks of their cars at 3:00 A.M sat the 25th of may in the parking lot down Kalapana. The hard liquor was evident, the weapons were real, the skills were real, I did not give out my # to anyone who kills 3-5 large animals daily and that was all liquored up wanting to show off their mad skills with their weapons that morning. (big game hunters use garrote style chokes)
Their was also another young woman around 22 years old who was with this group we met that evening. She was the only one who was not CURRENTLY from Idaho, She said she was staying somewhere close. She looked like Brittney(size and color of hair). Now being that it was 3 in the morning when we finished our hike and these guys had hiked some 15 miles throughout the day and night. I felt like they were going to pull out there tents and camp rather than drive towards Kona at that hour, I really don't know what they ended up doing because my partner and I were gone only 2-3 minutes after the hike.
Being that I had taught golf for a few years in the Boise, McCall area recently, It felt very friendly and we all knew some of the same people back in Idaho. So what bothers me the most is the reports of possible others who may have been camping with BO and Britt that weekend. Also it would seem like quite a coincidence that there was an entirely different McCall couple who looked the same and were the same ages out in Kalapana than the couple in Wiapio.
Also seems weird that this young couple had somewhat disappeared the same day Britt was found and then showed up the day of may 30th which could have been the day Bo apparently had done himself in. This couple says they did not know they were reported missing, they did not call worried friends or family until after being spotted by others at a restaurant in Honokaa. They also said there phone had no service for two days, and when they got back to the top of the valley they then would see all the messages. So why did they not call home first to not worry parents more?. Who called from a blocked # and said they had this young man?. I have so much more to all of this yet apparently(from the investigators) none of it is relative to this tragedy so why go on right?. I still got a bad feeling about this tragedy and the investigation. P.S. IF BO answered his phone around 8 A.M and said he was with Britt and they were on their way to Hilo? HOW?. NO CAR RIGHT? This young couple and older set of hunters had vehicles. Even weapons, if they wanted to hurt someone or make someone's do something's against there wills?.
Hmmmmmmm. Could these idohoians be the occupants of the second tent? Possibly the empty liquor bottle as well......were these people questioned by the police? And the accounts of Brittany hanging out with a girl that looked like she could be her sister? And this is the first I've heard of the hunters.
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quote:
(big game hunters use garrote style chokes)
I am ex military, and I've been a hunter from childhood.
If someone has good shooting skills there is no need for a garrote, as most hunters will have dispatched their quarry with a well placed shot, and if it comes down to having to end the suffering a knife is the preferred tool.
A single stab to the heart will kill a 300 lb hog, why would someone struggle for over 4 minutes to make a kill?
Seriously, the only time a rope is involved while hunting is after the kill, unless one is lassoing cattle. (Snares notwithstanding, but trapping is not the same as "hunting")
quote:
we all knew some of the same people back in Idaho
Have you considered asking around Idaho for the identities of these alleged Idaho residents?
Finally, I have to question the cognitive abilities of someone who doesn't know the difference between the words "there," "their," and "they're."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
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@ Gypsy
I have tried twice using FB messaging, to contact the McCall, Idaho couple. I have also made an attempt to respectfully contact their immediate families to ask if the couple was indeed down in Kalapana the nights prior or of the murder. The Missing Idaho Couple story has always stuck in the back of my mind as well.
There was another tent, the orange tent, it was excluded from the investigation. Was this the McCall, Idaho couple's tent? Did they hear anything the nights they camped in Kalapana? Is it possible they were the people that Bo's neighbor said was camping with Bo and Brittany?
When my parents arrived in Kalapana and began walking down to view the tent site, a neighbor of Bo and Brittany's , a local resident who lived nearest the staging area, walked out and greeted my parents. He offered them water for the hike down to the tent. He spoke with them and told them that for the last few days there has been a few other people camping with Bo and Brittany. He said that one of them looked so much like Brittany, that it might have been her sister. [I encourage you to look at the photos on the Media Release of the Missing McCall, Idaho Couple, Kimberly Linder and Kevin Butler, HPD http://www.hawaiipolice.com/missing-idah...s-05-29-13 She does carry a resemblance to Brittany.] This neighbor of Bo's who came out to speak with my parents spoke about Bo and Brittany's campsite being in his line of site from his house.
After hearing gypsy's account of the McCall, Idaho couple being down in Kalapana on the morning of the May 25th, combined with the nearby neighbor's account of another couple camping with Bo and Brittany and the girl who looked to be Brittany's sister (Kimberly) I am really starting to wonder if that orange tent belonged to the Mccall, Idaho couple or that the McCall, Idaho couple had made contact with Bo and Brit. According to the HPD Media Release The McCall, Idaho couple was supposed to be headed to a valley (Waiipio?) for camping after checking out of their Kona hotel MAY 24. According to gypsy they were down in Kalapana after checking out of their Kona hotel MAY 24.
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HPD WEBSITE, MAY MEDIA ARCHIVES, POSTED MAY 29
"Hawai'i Island police are searching for an Idaho couple reported missing.
Kevin Butler, 21, and Kimberly Linder, 18, both of McCall, Idaho, checked out of their Kona hotel on Friday (May 24) and told family members they planned to camp in a tent in a valley. Four days later, Butler’s relative received a disturbing phone call from someone who claimed to have Butler."
HPD WEBSITE, MAY MEDIA ARCHIVES, POSTED MAY 30
"Hawai'i Island police have located the missing Idaho couple.
Kevin Butler, 21, and Kimberly Linder, 18, both of McCall, Idaho, were found unharmed Wednesday (May 29) in the Hamakua District."
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This is not a new theory. It is months old for our family. We are desperate to speak with anyone who knew Bo and Brittany, especially anyone who spoke with them in their last days and moments. That is why contacting the Mccall, Idaho couple and Ed is on the to-do-list.
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