Surprising results from DNA testing prompted prosecutors on Thursday to ask for more time to do more testing in the murder trial of Robert Johnson.
A clearly frustrated Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said he’d allow “one more adjournment, but that’s it.”
“There will be no more delays,” Murphy said sternly. “Clear your calendars and be ready to go and if you find something else (new evidence) you’re just going to have to go with what you have. This will be a date certain.”
Jury selection, which had been set for July 23, was moved to Sept. 21.
Prosecutors had already asked for a delay in the trial, telling Murphy DNA testing on between 27 and 29 pieces of evidence had taken longer than expected.
Johnson is accused of stabbing his wife Ahkenya to death in their Jordan Gardens apartment on Jan. 17.
“Based on our recent (DNA testing) results, our experts are advising us to test additional items,” Assistant District Attorney Lisa Baehre said.
Asked if prosecutors were “unhappy” with the test results they had, Baehre replied, “Absolutely not!”
However, Johnson’s defense attorney, Michael McNelis, suggested his client’s claim that someone else committed the murder may be bolstered by the DNA testing results.
“There is a third, unidentified, DNA profile in what (prosecutors) tested,” McNelis said.
The presence of blood other than that of Johnson or his wife could bolster McNelis’ claim of a still unidentified killer. McNelis tried in April to force prosecutors to turn over police reports of a home invasion at the Johnson’s Jordan Gardens apartment some two months before Ahkenya Johnson’s slaying.
Ahkenya’s body was discovered on Jan. 17 in the apartment she and her husband shared after police responded to a 911 call there. Police said she had suffered multiple stab wounds.
McNelis said his interest in the investigation of a home invasion at the Johnson’s home centered on the weapons that were reportedly involved in the incident.
“According to the information I have, there were knives used in the home invasion in November,” McNelis said in April. “There may be an alternate theory of what happened (to Ahkenya Johnson). If (intruders with knives) went there once, what’s to say they wouldn’t come back again.”
Thursday, McNelis declined to discuss what he has learned about the home invasion report.
Investigators have said Ahkenya was “found with multiple stab wounds, several knives were used, it appears to be a very emotional crime.” Prosecutors said the attack was so violent that three of the knives used in the murder were broken off in the victim’s body when police arrived.
An autopsy showed she had suffered over 41 separate stab wounds. Her head had been almost decapitated from a slashing wound to the throat.
Johnson, 26, formerly of the Falls and now of Buffalo, has been jailed in lieu of bail of $200,000 cash or $400,000 property since his arrest Feb. 17 on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Johnson had denied any involvement in his wife’s slaying, telling detectives he discovered her body after returning home from a trip to the barber shop.
Courts
COURTS: Johnson murder trail delayed for more testing
Prosecutors want more DNA analysis, defense says current tests show blood from someone other than Johnson and his wife
- Courts
-
-
Hayes sentence delayed in homicide case
Wilbert Hayes III was behind bars on Monday but not to begin serving his sentence for the slaying of Donald Tyree Nix.
-
In Lockport, Man faces extradition in Vegas fraud
A former Las Vegas resident picked up at the U.S.-Canadian border on Nevada securities fraud charges was ordered held for extradition from New York on Monday, after a judge rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity.
-
Another Mehta defendant gets probation
A Sanborn woman has escaped a jail term after her guilty plea to a federal drug charge.
-
Another deal made in Mehta case
A Falls man will spend a year on federal probation for his guilty plea in a wide-ranging probe of prescription drug abuse centered around former Falls physician Pravin Mehta.
-
Mehta defendant gets “time served”
A Falls resident caught up in a joint federal and local law enforcement investigation into prescription drug trafficking, involving former Falls physician Pravin Mehta, will not have to spend more time behind bars.
-
NU player gets dismissal in sex abuse case
A Niagara University basketball player, arrested in a sexual abuse related case has had that charge dismissed.
-
Case adjourned for Wilson teachers accused of having sex at Bills game
Two Wilson School District teachers charged with public lewdness had their case adjourned this week for a possible dismissal.
-
Drug mule pleads guilty in federal court
A man who ferried marijuana from a Canadian Indian Reservation to the Falls has cut a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
-
Gross prepared for prison term
A host of the Niagara Region’s famous and infamous are asking a federal judge to give Falls contractor and convicted felon John Gross a break later today.
-
Hayes opts for plea in stabbing death
For Wilbert Hayes III, going to trial was just too much of a risk.
- More Courts Headlines
-
Hayes sentence delayed in homicide case
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
