Chapter 4

As I have mentioned before, I'm a writer, Joe Baker. I got permission to write Jeff Johnson's side of the brutal murder of three men. I will be telling excerpts from the prosecutor's side, and Jeff will tell me where he feels a lie was told. I will also give extracts of any evidence that was presented at trial. I spoke to Jeff in jail; this is what we said.

"Jeff, let me start with the phone calls that night. I will tell you in advance that every call that I mention has been verified by the phone bills. That would be your home phone, your wife's work number and Shauna Skinner's phone bills. All times are correct but there is no way to know what any of the conversations was about, except those statements of the witnesses.

"The first call that night was from your wife. She called you from work at five minutes to five. She said that she reminded you that she was going shopping and to the movies with Shauna. Is that correct? Do you agree that is what she said?"

"Yes, that's what she said," replied Jeff.

"The next call was from Bob at ten minutes after five. According to you he told you Brad told him, that Brad had fucked your wife while on your honeymoon and that he, along with Mark and Brad were going to Mark's cabin to take turns fucking Darcy. Is that pretty much the gist of the conversation?"

"Yes, the mother fucker said that Darcy agreed to fuck them if they would be quiet about our honeymoon. I knew Darcy wouldn't do that to me but I can't say I wasn't mad about it."

"You stated to your lawyer that ten minutes later you called your wife's work number and she wasn't there but that you talked to Cindy, another woman in the office."

"It's true, I asked to speak to Darcy but Cindy said she already left. She said she was going shopping and to a movie with a friend.

"I asked if anyone else had just used her phone and Cindy said Bob did. He was calling me to come up to Mark's cabin to go fishing, at least that's what Darcy had told her. When I asked to speak to Bob again, she said he went back out to the factory to clock out."

"So far we have a problem with what Bob said to you. Unfortunately he's dead and we have no way to verify the conversation but the prosecution had a problem when they heard from your lawyer that Bob called and said that to you. Why would he do that? Why would one man call another man and say, 'I'm going to fuck your wife?' It just doesn't seem reasonable.

"Using your idea we would have to ask who put him up to it, Brad, Mark, or even Darcy? You can see why it would be hard to believe but that's why you said you went out to the cabin. Even Darcy said in court that Bob was going to call you and ask you to go fishing with Mark and Brad. Cindy said something similar, although she said she never heard the conversation between you and Bob."

"I can understand no one believing me but that's what was said," replied Jeff.

"Next you called Darcy's cell phone and as you said, it was turned off but you didn't even leave a message. Why?"

"I wasn't sure what to say. She had told me she was going shopping and to the movies. She had planned it a few days before; at least that's what she told me. I didn't want to leave any messages since I hoped what Bob said wasn't true."

"It was after that you called Shauna. According to you she also said that Brad went fishing with Bob and Mark. He took the day off. When you asked her what time Darcy was going to pick her up, you said that she said Darcy had called her and cancelled going out with her. When you told her about the call from Bob she didn't believe you.

"After that you told her you were going out to the cabin to confront them; she wanted to go along. You told her you would be by to pick her up. It takes about twenty minutes to drive from your house to hers. Is all that conversation about right?"

"Yes, she said she didn't believe me and wanted to see for herself if Darcy was with Brad."

"Jeff, you know that Shauna said at the trial you called and she did tell you the men went fishing and she was going shopping with Darcy. In fact she said she had to go, that Darcy was outside waiting to pick you up. She also said under oath that she never went with you anywhere. Also the phone records showed that she and Darcy never talked that evening."

"She lied. I can't prove it but she lied. She went with me to the cabin."

"Jeff, both Darcy and Shauna said the same thing. They went shopping and to the movies. Darcy had receipts of things she had bought and the receipts were in the two-hour time frame that the medical examiner testified was the time of death. How do you explain that?"

"Shauna was with me when I went to the cabin. It's the truth!"

"If that's true, who shot the three men? They were killed with your own gun, out of your private collection. According to you they were already shot possibly already dead when you had opened the door and you passed out. Later you say that when you woke up there was even more blood. It looked like they were decapitated by your machete, the one that you took with you for what you said was protection because you didn't really want to hurt anyone. Again, these are your words.

"The women had ticket stubs from going to the eight o'clock movie. After your ranting at the station they put an APB out for your wife's car. It was found in front of the theatre and both Darcy and Shauna were coming out of the theatre when the police accosted them.

"They were both surprised and went a little hysterical when they heard the news of Brad's death and that you were the suspect. They were even more surprised when then were told that Bob and Mark were also killed. In fact the police officers drove them home and interrogated them about their whereabouts since around six o'clock. They said they were together, produced receipts for the items they had bought and of course were picked up at the theatre. Different store clerks admitted seeing them but couldn't verify the time since they were busy and it was a Friday night. The times on the receipts pretty much proved they were telling the truth."

"They might have met up at some point but I do feel they committed the murders. I've had a long time to think about it and have an idea how they might have done it. Problem is there is no proof. It's just my gut telling me. My main problem is why did Darcy do this to me? Why did Shauna help her?"

"Jeff, we might not have a crack CSI team in our county but our investigators are very good. They are very thorough and check out every little detail. The only prints on the weapons were yours. There were no other recent prints found outside of yours and the three victims in the cabin."

"What can I say, I told the truth. I blacked out and when I awoke the three bodies that I saw lying there when I first walked in were now nearly headless. It was a crime of pure violence. I'm not capable of doing that."

"Jeff, a witness for the prosecution stated that as tiny as Darcy was, there was no way she could swing a machete so as to decapitate three men. He felt it would take a man to swing a machete to do the damage it did."

"I agree, but Shauna is an Amazon of a woman. I believe she would have been capable of doing it."

"Again Jeff, it's pure conjecture. Why would she have cut off the head of her husband and two of his friends who might have already been dead when you got there? Makes no sense. And again, Darcy and Shauna were both seen at the mall and the theatre."

"Joe, I told you that Shauna spent a lot of time at our home. I even told you that I didn't believe she loved Brad. I was thinking back how many times she talked about Brad to Darcy when they thought I was downstairs. I could hear them talking through the vents even though they talked low. One time I heard Shauna say, 'I hope this is over soon, I can't stand acting like the naïve wife knowing he is cheating on me constantly.'

"At the time I wasn't sure what she was talking about. I figure she was hoping he would stop his cheating but now I have to believe it had to do with his murder."

"Why didn't you say anything about this at the trial or at least tell your lawyer?"

"Look at all the things I told him and there was no proof to back anything up. Who would have believed me? Who would believe me now? I can answer that: Nobody!"

I knew he was right. Nobody believed him then and nobody is going to believe him now. I can't even say that I believed him. There was just no evidence to back up any of his claims. I told him to go ahead and tell me what he believed happened.

"I think that the guys did tell Darcy they knew about her and Brad. She had this planned with Shauna from the beginning. As I mentioned many times, I don't know why she did it but I'm sure she did.

"She agreed to meet them at the cabin and of course they jumped at the thought of finally getting in her pants. As I've told you she was quite the actress. I figured they called me just so they could gloat and brag about what they were going to do. They have always harassed me when it came to Darcy. They would have done anything to break us up. You could see the jealousy when they saw us together.

"I believe that Darcy figured I would call Shauna when I wasn't able to contact her, which of course I did. As far as the gun taken out of my gun locker only three people knew the combination, me, my dad and Darcy. I figured she took the gun out of the cabinet that morning or maybe came home for lunch and got it.

"I have so many guns in my collection that I would never have spent the time to look for one unless I thought it was missing. Before going to pick up Shauna I went to the cabinet and took out the machete. I swear I was only looking to protect myself, not to kill anyone. I was going there to see if what Bob said was true. When I stopped at Shauna's I was a mess. She gave me a couple of pills, she said to calm me down.

"Now I believe it was some type of date rape drug. I read up on them and they work in about twenty minutes for someone my size. It would put me out for forty-five minutes to an hour. I figured that was why Shauna was worried about me driving. She hoped I would make it to the cabin.

"I think while I picked up Shauna, Darcy did go to the cabin and when she walked in she shot all three men. I don't know if they were dead or not when Shauna and I got there. They definitely were lying there on the floor.

"I figure after shooting them in cold blood that Darcy left the gun there. She probably wore gloves, as did Shauna. Darcy then went to the mall, which was only fifteen minutes away, and quickly made a couple of purchases. During this time Shauna and I arrived at the cabin. I was unsteady on my feet and passed out as soon as I opened the door.

"I feel Shauna took the machete and slashed the necks of all three men. If they weren't already dead, they would have been then. I don't know how she left but I figure after making a couple of purchases that Darcy came back and picked her up. They went back to the mall and made sure they were seen. At eight o'clock they went to the movies.