MO MO - Ronnie Johnson, 26, West Plains, 2 Apr 1989

[boothemr]

Ronnie Johnson – Project: Cold Case

 

[Betty P]

Ronnie's case reminds me of Daniel Woodrell's book (and the movie) "Winter's Bone". Woodrell is from West Plains, MO.

Though there probably wasn't much meth cooking in 1989, there was still drug activity going on. Mark Twain National Forest has many remote areas where that kind of thing can happen. The killers were likely from the vicinity and are known to LE and probably to others in town.

'Winter's Bone' Author Revisits A Tragedy In His Ozarks Hometown

"One of the interesting things about the Ozarks is you just about don't have street crime," Woodrell explains. "It's strictly between people who know each other. It really isn't indiscriminate; it's kind of between themselves."

One of the graphics at the link mentions that he was with his father in law at a truck stop when last seen. I wonder what his father in law has to say? Did Ronnie see someone there and leave with them? Did he just walk away from the truck stop? I'm guessing he saw someone at the truck stop and left with them. If so, the FIL would likely know that person's identity.

Here's the current truck stop at the highway intersection mentioned in the article

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

Here's a Google Map showing routes from the truck stop to the Noblett Lake Campground. Johnson's body was found south of there. Assume the killers drove to the campground, then took him farther into the woods.

I wonder if the county sheriff is interested in pursuing the case now?

In the book, Winter's Bone, the local sheriff was related to the killers, so told them that the victim was planning to turn informant in order to avoid a 10 yr sentence for cooking meth. Just speculation, there's no evidence the Ronnie Johnson's murder was the basis for the book.

Here's another article from the news media back then about identifying his body

Looking Backward 5.8.2014 – Douglas County Herald

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bumping

 

[Betty P]

Link to the map from the last place Ronnie was seen to Noblett Lake Campground

Google Maps

The linked article above about author Daniel Woodrell, who is from this area and writes about it, has a interesting quote. He notes in the Ozarks, there is no street crime. Any crime that happens is between people who know each other. That's very true in many cases.

On April 26, 1989, Ronnie Johnson’s body was discovered “horrifically mutilated” and nude. Illegal substance abuse was speculated for Ronnie’s demise and condition when found. Rochelle isn’t surprised about the possibility, as she speaks candidly of hushed discussions connecting her father to drug-related habits and behaviors. She wonders if his history was reason for the supposed lack of engagement and investment to solving the case.

After being reported missing from a truck stop off Highway 14 and Highway 63, Ronnie’s body was found in the Mark Twain National Forest south of Noblett Lake, a heavily-wooded area in south Missouri.

Identification was difficult for law enforcement as many distinguishing features, including hands, feet, jaw, teeth, scalp, genitals, and more, were missing or mutilated. Officers deemed this to be an intention action and likely committed at another location. The key identifying mark was the “sunshine” tattoo on Ronnie’s arm. The mark was a tribute to his beloved daughter, Rochelle.​

 

[Betty P]

After reading through newspaper articles from 1989 in that area, methamphetamine and meth manufacturing wasn't happening back then. The criminal wave around that drug didn't begin in that area until nearly 10 years later - in the late 90's and early 2000's.

If Ronnie's death was linked to drug-related activities, it most likely involved marijuana or cocaine. Cocaine was an expensive drug, and seems unlikely it would have had much of a market in the middle of the Ozarks back then.

There were some other murders in the general area within several months or a year of Ronnie's, but LE didn't think they were related.

Kelle Ann Workman (1964-1989) - Find A Grave...

A named Robin M. Johnson of Muskogee, OK was found a couple months later, murdered not far from where Ronnie was killed. A man from West Plains, MO was convicted of his murder.

Man Pleads Guilty in Death

 

[Betty P]

https://thenews24.org/2021/10/02/hi...cern-cling-to-the-murder-of-the-missouri-man/

The Springfield News Leader just did a 4 part series on Ronnie's murder

Investigation into Ronnie Johnson murder sparked by reader’s question

Here's a link to a video about the murder and investigation, featuring narration by his daughter Rochelle

Ronnie Johnson's 1989 murder remains unsolved. Here's what we know.

 

[Betty P]

Springfield News-Leader

"Rochelle Johnson was a first-grader at West Plains Elementary when her dad was killed. Since then, she has learned some unvarnished truths about him.

He sold marijuana, she said. He served time in prison, Aug. 27, 1982 to April 29, 1986. She knows that her father cheated on her mother and had an out-of-wedlock son.

“There is speculation that he was snitching,” she said.

It’s possible, she says, her father was providing information to law enforcement and drug dealers found out. Perhaps his body was carved up to send a gruesome message to those thinking about cooperating with police.

Rochelle wants to know if the case was never solved because her father lived on the other side of the line that is not supposed to exist.

It's the line that separates victims who are upstanding citizens from victims like her father, an ex-con involved with drugs found shot dead in the woods."
​

So, it sounds like Ronnie was killed because he was working as an informant for LE. He had previously spent 3 and a half years in prison for probation violations. It's believed he was informing on dealers who sold marijuana.

Photo of woods near where Ronnie's body was found

According to the article, Ronnie Johnson's daughter and his brothers all believe that Ronnie's father in law knew something or was involved with Ronnie's death. The morning he disappeared, Ronnie had gone with is father in law to Mark Twain National Forest to hunt for turkey signs, as turkey season was about to begin.

His daughter says Ronnie's father in law, Pete Galbraith, attended his funeral with police protection and when he left, the officers went with him.

The article says Ronnie's wife and father plotted to have him sent to prison for probation violation. Ronnie had won an insurance settlement due to a motorcycle accident. Because he didn't have a checking account, the money was deposited in his wife's account. She wouldn't allow him to have access to the money, so he forged her name in order to withdraw some of the money. The wife and her father then reported him to police and he was sent to prison for 3 years.

All of this is in the long article at the link above. Very good reporting.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

USA TODAY


His body was found naked and mutilated. Decades later, silence and fear cling to the murder of Missouri man.

 

[Betty P]

Springfield News-Leader

This article in the series suggests the possibility of a local "drug dealer" in Ronnie's death. By drug dealer, they're referring to a guy who grew large crops of marijuana in the Mark Twain National Forest. close to where Ronnie's body was found. Jim Madden was busted by local LE and federal agents for marijuana plants valued at over $1 million. When it went to county court, the charges were dropped.

The reporters checked all the files related to the bust and to Ronnie's murder. A lot of information was redacted. The murder investigation file showed it pretty much ended after a few years. Ronnie's father in law was questioned, but his truck was never searched. Ronnie's wife was also questioned.