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and then what are you going to do on the morning of february 20th 1989 something
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terrible happened to janice johnson a 35 year old housewife and mother of two children uh claire i gotta go i'll talk
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to you later okay [Music] the investigation into that morning's event would raise questions that persist
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to this day [Music] so [Music] clayton and janice johnson lived in the tiny coastal fishing village of
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shelburne nova scotia it's a close-knit community where townspeople all know one another
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for the johnsons shelburne was the ideal place to raise their two young daughters
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eleven-year-old darla and nine-year-old dawn we had two lovely girls and you know
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perfect very less concerned we were always together like even asking anybody around the community whenever they seen
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us we were the four of us we always together very very rarely we ever went anywhere
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individually clayton was an industrial arts teacher at the local high school janice was a homemaker
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the johnsons were a deeply religious family and very active in their church volunteering much of their free time to
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church activities we were always out visiting people and doing this and that my mom was the type of person that she
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didn't like to just sit around and do nothing so we were always busy doing something
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um and like we never went anywhere without doing it as a family the morning of february 20th 1989 was a
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typical one for the johnson family after the children left for school clayton carried some laundry to the
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basement for his wife moments later the telephone rang clayton answered on the basement extension
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[Music] and told her i was going to give her a kiss goodbye and i clayton then left for work stopping
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along the way at a local gas station [Music] a few minutes later a neighbor stopped by the johnson's home
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he discovered janice at the bottom of the stairs she was bloody and unconscious but still
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alive clayton heard the news when he arrived at work and rushed to the hospital when i first seen her i didn't recognize
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her because of like all the tubes and and swelling so i got and i'd look almost twice to realize it was her and
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it's just just one of those things i want to see every day janice had sustained severe head
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injuries from what was assumed to be an accidental fall down the basement steps despite the best of medical treatment
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janice died of her head wound several hours later she was just 35 years old i think it was the first time i ever
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seen my father cry my first reaction was that it wasn't it wasn't real like
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you want to believe it didn't happen that's one of the hardest things i've
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ever done in my life is to tell the two girls that their mother passed away [Music]
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the small community of shelburne rallied around clayton johnson and his two daughters as they paid their last
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respects to a loving wife and mother but that support soon crumbled when clayton johnson started dating a woman
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30 years his junior [Music] after janice johnson's death the chief medical examiner dr roland perry
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performed an autopsy he was hampered to some extent by the fact that there were no photographs of
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the accident scene in a misguided effort to be helpful two family friends had washed the blood from
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the basement before photographs could be taken this is a police video shot later as the
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women described the bloodstains they said there was a small blood stain on the floor at the bottom of the steps
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and the blood stain with bloody hair on the concrete wall next to the third step
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[Applause] this recreation shows the position of janice johnson's body when paramedics
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arrived her head was on the floor her leg was above her head on the step in her left hand
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she was holding her car keys although dr perry found janice johnson's wounds to be unusual he ruled the death
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a freak accident concluding that she had fallen forward down the steps to her death
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he suspected that her skull had become wedged in a five and a half inch space between the wooden steps and the
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adjoining concrete wall which crushed both sides of her head when she landed on the concrete floor she sustained the
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wound to the top of her head since janice johnson was thought to be in the house alone at the time of the
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incident foul play was ruled out janice was on the telephone with claire thompson who said she heard clayton kiss
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janice goodbye before leaving for work you think so i don't know well you better look for me
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claire thompson said they'd talk for 10 minutes and that the call ended around 7
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15. oh sure okay witnesses saw clayton johnson at the gas station at the same time
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[Music] a minute or two later a neighbor found janus in the basement and called paramedics the call was
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logged in at 7 52. that was so to speak the end of that of course clayton and his daughters had to deal with
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the great loss that they had suffered it was only after some 18 months have passed
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that clayton really made what might be called a dreadful mistake clayton johnson's mistake
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was to fall in love soon after janice's death clayton started dating and later married
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22 year old tina waybritt she was a member of the johnson's church and was 30 years his junior
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in the close-knit conservative community of shelburne this new relationship raised a few
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eyebrows police also discovered that clayton johnson had purchased a 120 000 life
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insurance policy on janus two months before she died a background check revealed that clayton
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johnson was also having financial difficulties and that utility services were sometimes cut off in their home for
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non-payment and pretty soon uh fact became confused with rumor rumor was fact and the more people talked the more
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people wondered whether this lovable teddy bear clayton johnson was a wife killer
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so police decided to reopen their investigation into janice johnson's death [Music]
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homicide investigators went back to re-interview the woman who cleaned up the blood after janice johnson's death
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to their surprise two years later one of the women recalled seeing more blood in the
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basement than she originally reported on the walls across the length of the floor
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and on piles of lumber along the far wall investigators took this new information
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along with the autopsy photos to two of canada's most respected pathologists
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three years after his wife's death clayton johnson was arrested and charged with first degree murder
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johnson pleaded not guilty to the charge prosecutors introduced the new blood spatter testimony and also raised the
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issue of johnson's new love interest clayton johnson was on trial for events
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that happened after the accident he was on trial for the insurance monies that he collected he was in trial for this
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new girlfriend that he that he that he had lived move in with him clayton johnson was found guilty of
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first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison i don't know how yet i stood up i could
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feel my knees and everything get weak and i took all my power was just keep standing up not falling down just
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it was a shock i'll tell you have you ever felt like you were reading a book
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it's what it seemed like it didn't seem like it was it could be happening in my life
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johnson was ordered to serve his sentence in the atlantic maximum security institution
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from there he contacted the association in defense of the wrongfully convicted in toronto
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his story caught the attention of the director of the organization james lockyer
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as you go back through the miscarriages of justice in both our country in the in canada that is in the united
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states and in england very often probably as often as 40 to 50 of the time a bad science has played a significant
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role in a wrongful conviction but the first thing lockyer noticed wasn't just questionable science
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it was a problem with the timeline claire thompson said she was on the telephone with janice johnson on the
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morning of her death in her original statement thompson said she heard clayton kiss janice goodbye
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at approximately 7 40. sure she said the call with janice lasted 10 minutes until about 7 50.
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a witness said clayton johnson was at the gas station at the same time 7 50 when claire thompson said she was ending
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her call to janice the neighbor found janice's body and called paramedics at 7 52.
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clayton was aware that janice was expecting company that morning any theory that he would kill his wife
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uh in a time span of seconds or minutes when he could legitimately expect three different
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people to show up at the house in that very time that he was supposedly assaulting his wife
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you put all that together the theory of killed his wife was in my view completely ridiculous
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blood spatter expert herb mcdonald was also skeptical he believes that the witnesses original
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statements were probably the most accurate the neighbors at that time reported that the blood was consistent
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with an accident now obviously they're not qualified to interpret blood stain patterns but had
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they seen a lot of spattering or if they'd seen blood up on the walls and ceiling
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i think at that time even though they were cleaning it up they would have a clear recollection of
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what it looked like and especially where they washed it up another story that changed was claire
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thompson's in her original statement she said she called janice around 7 40 and that the
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call lasted for 10 minutes two years later she said she may have called closer to 7
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30. this created the window of opportunity for johnson to have murdered his wife
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james lockyer asked two forensic pathologists to review the forensic evidence independently
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dr linda norton of dallas texas and dr james ferris of vancouver they both examined the case file and
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autopsy photos and it was what they didn't see that they found most intriguing
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there are no defense wounds and in a bludgeoning of this nature considering the location of the head wounds
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one would expect to see defensive wounds if this were an actual bludgeoning death
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during an attack most individuals instinctively raise their hands to protect themselves
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as a result their hands and forearms sustain injuries there's absolutely no evidence
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that any of the injuries were as a result of some form of homicidal assault janice johnson's car keys were in her
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hand when paramedics arrived the lack of arm wounds and the car keys also cast doubt on the original forensic
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report which stated the janice fell forwards down the steps what occurred is that she slipped at the
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top of the stairs and she fell backwards instead of forwards and of course most falls down the stairs
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are forward falls backward falls are uncommon and i think that's what led to
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an awful lot of the misinterpretation that occurred in this case clayton johnson's new defense team
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now had two major hurdles first to prove to the court that johnson was innocent and also to show
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how janice johnson really died [Music] by the time clayton johnson's new defense team gathered their information
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he had spent six years behind bars it was a life johnson had no choice but to get used to
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it's a whole new ballgame versus your change of life style the whole thing you
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know it's it's a rude awakening johnson's team of forensic experts did
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not believe that his wife's injuries were consistent with the bludgeoning death
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and they did not think that she had fallen forwards as was originally reported they believed that janus had fallen
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backwards to get johnson's conviction overturned his lawyers needed to find a way to show
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how the accident really happened they turned to blood spatter expert herb mcdonnell but after studying the case
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file mcdonnell couldn't figure out a way to recreate an accidental fall down the
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basement steps the very night that i was about ready to call james lockher and advise him that i
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just i could not do my recreation and i've done many of these reconstructions
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or recreations if you like i was very disappointed and i told him i was about to tell him that i i just
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couldn't do it and that night i read the morning paper i frequently don't read the paper until
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a day late and on the front page here's peter pan at west high school and of course i thought hey
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i'm flying look at me way up high suddenly here am i i'm flying in the production of the
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musical peter pan various characters fly across the stage in a harness mcdonald called the high school
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borrowed the transom and the operator and hired a model the same height and weight as janice johnson
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mcdonnell then built a replica of the johnson's basement steps he videotaped
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the entire procedure and put blue chalk on the wall and step where witnesses saw
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the blood with the model at the top of the steps she fell backwards [Music] when her head fell into the gap in
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between the third step and the concrete wall the chalk marks on the model's head
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were consistent with the injuries found on janice johnson there's no question that that is a good
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explanation for how the wounds on janet johnson occurred over her right here it's remarkable when you see it because
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the blue marks appear on the model's head exactly where the injuries are found on
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janus's left and right temples james lochter believes that janice johnson was still on the telephone when
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clayton was at the gas station and that the call ended at 7 50 just as her neighbor was arriving at the house
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uh you know i've gotta go i'll talk to you later [Music] she grabbed her car keys ran up the
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steps and lost her footing [Music] as she fell backwards her head became wedged in the five and a half inch gap
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between the step and the cement wall her feet pulled her head from the gap flipping her body over onto the basement
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floor producing the gash found on the top of her head when all of this information came to
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light canadian prosecutors took the unusual step of releasing clayton johnson from prison
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he had spent six years behind bars just very happy back with my family i'm very pleased with the decision of
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justice freeman and i couldn't ask for a better legal team than what i've got
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and i just want to get back with my family i'm really happy right now because that means my dad's actually
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going to see me graduate i've got my father back in my life although authorities have made no final
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decisions about the case and there's always the chance of a re-trial many believe
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it will simply be dismissed for a crime forensic experts say didn't happen six years in prison is enough
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that's quite right indeed clayton johnson wasn't convicted of a murder that he didn't commit he was convicted
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of a murder that never happened we've made an error so once you recognize you've made an error you do
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the best you can to rectify it and the best way to rectify this case is simply to acquit this man exonerate him and let
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him go on with his life whilst giving us all a different opinion as far as you know the justice system is
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concerned because i mean i've always been brought up right from the time i could walk
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around that you know the police were your friend that you held them on a certain level
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and just after going through this it makes you think twice [Music] [Music] [Applause]
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[Music] you