FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, (573) 751-0290
Blunt Denies Clemency Request for Timothy Johnston
JEFFERSON CITY—Gov. Matt Blunt has denied a clemency request filed by attorneys representing Timothy Johnston who was found guilty and sentenced to death on July 26, 1991 for the murder of his wife, Nancy Johnston.
Blunt carefully reviewed the case, including the court records, applications for clemency, and the state Board of Probation and Parole’s report opposing commutation of the death sentence. Blunt said he found no reason to set aside the result of previous judicial decisions on the case.
“Nancy Johnston died a horrific death at the hands of her own husband,” Blunt said. “Missouri judges and a jury of Timothy Johnston’s peers have said the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for this crime and I do not dispute their rulings.”
Paramedics responded to a 911 call at the Johnston home on June 30, 1989 and found Nancy Johnston dead on the scene. The medical examiner determined the cause of death as a collapse of the support structure around her heart and lungs as a result of a brutal attack by her husband. The medical examiner said Mrs. Johnston was alive through most of the beating.
Timothy Johnston originally told investigators that a motorcycle gang had killed his wife to get back at him. Witnesses refuted that story and Johnston later confessed that he assaulted his wife after an extended argument that began earlier in the day.
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