Donna Johnson: The Road to Justice Remains Unfinished

Donna Johnson was brutally murdered in a small Georgia town in 1984. No one has ever been arrested in her case. Please note that this post contains descriptions of violence and death. All suspects and/or persons of interest described in this content are to be considered innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

In 1985 writer Robert Coram described Barnesville, Georgia as a town where “newcomers were automatically given credit at the hardware store; where young women were not afraid to go jogging alone at night; where homes were not locked, and cars were left on the street with keys in the ignition.”

Barnesville is located in Lamar County, about 60 miles south from the capital city of Atlanta. Lamar County is rural, with large swaths of open land. Barnesville was founded in the mid-1820’s and was once known as the “buggy capital of the south”. It is home to Gordon State College which was founded in 1852. It is also the birthplace of notorious murderer Franklin Delano Floyd. Today it has a charming downtown area with several locally owned restaurants, antique stores, a salon and a bakery.

The summer of 1984 changed the small town forever. One hot day in July Donna Johnson was murdered. Her case has been referred to as the “most heinous crime” in the history of Lamar County.

Who Was Donna Johnson?

Donna Marie Ogletree was born on December 27, 1955 to her parents Beulah and Ed. Her only sibling, a sister named Rebecca is six and a half years older. She graduated from Lamar County High School in Barnesville in 1973. She worked all throughout high school, first at a shoe store, then at a downtown department store. Linda, a friend from school described Donna as a kind person who was always laughing and cheerful.

In 1978, Donna married a local man named Jimmy Johnson. It was the second marriage for both. They lived in an old fixer-upper farmhouse on over 40 acres outside of town. Donna was employed by Eckerd Pharmacy. The couple didn’t have any children yet, but they did have a dog. Donna’s sister Rebecca says her sister always wanted kids of her own.

Mysterious Disappearance

Around 2p.m the afternoon of Monday July 16^th original reports stated that Donna left her home to go take household trash down to the local dumpster. She loaded her car trunk with bags and brought her dog, a Poodle and her father-in-law’s dog, a Pomeranian along for the short ride.

A couple hours later, around 4pm, Donna’s mother Beulah spotted her car, a 1971 Buick Skylark backed up to the dumpsters. The windows were cracked, the doors were locked and the two dogs were found inside, unharmed. Beulah immediately knew something was wrong, and contacted authorities. Interestingly, Donna’s keys have never been found. Donna was reported missing by her nephew, Mike Johnson.

According to weather data, the high temperate that day was 85 degrees. The Stanford School of Medicine did a study in 2005 that showed “a car’s interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour, regardless of ambient temperature. Eighty percent of the temperature rise occurred within the first half-hour.” ¹https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2005/07/parked-cars-get-dangerously-hot-even-on-cool-days-stanford-study-finds.html  It seems whoever left the windows down – if it wasn’t Donna herself –cared for the health and well-being of the two dogs inside and wanted the vehicle to be found quickly.

The Rain-Soaked Search for Donna Johnson

Deputy Rene Hood was the first to arrive on the scene, at around 4:30p.m. Shortly after she arrived, it started to rain. Approximately two to three inches of rain pelted the area in a couple hours time and hampered the search for Donna. Police, firefighters and neighbors joined the search. It is unclear if Donna’s husband Jimmy was part of the search team. Donna’s immediate family gathered at her parent’s home and prayed while waiting for news.

According to reports at the time, the search was absolute mayhem. It was unorganized, and a grid search wasn’t done. Anyone that wanted to help jumped in. Just after 7:45 on that Monday evening, Donna’s body was found. Deputy Hood described the location as a long-closed road, reported as anywhere from 1/4 mile to 2 miles from where her car was found. The dump site was not cordoned off, people walked all over it and vehicles drove down to it. The muddy road caused all the vehicle tracks to run together. It became impossible to differentiate between the tracks of the killer’s vehicle, vehicles belonging to law enforcement and those belonging to local busybodies. According to the local newspaper, the area her body was found in had already been searched by police and/or volunteers.

A Grim Discovery

One of Donna’s neighbors – a man named Herman Coffey found her body. He described the discovery to the Barnesville Herald-Gazette Newspaper.

“It was a corn field and there were some fertilizer sacks laying around. At first, I thought she was one of those sacks but then the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

’I walked up on her. I knew she was dead. She was not breathing. She was waxy looking. Her head was tilted back in the rut. She had just been thrown out. The tracks were fresh. After all that rain, her clothes were dry. Whoever did that was a cruel individual. It unnerved me. She was our neighbor.

’They were in a small vehicle because it turned around in the road. It looked like they turned around and just dumped her. It had to be after the rain or just as the rain was ending.”

Based on Mr. Coffey’s recollection, Donna’s body was dumped after the rain fell. It is unclear from public reports how much time passed between the rains end and the discovery of Donna’s body. Mr. Coffey passed away in 2012 at the age of 89.

Donna’s body was taken to the Lamar County Courthouse first, before being taken to a hospital in nearby Thomaston for an autopsy.  Her body was put into a used body bag, which –bafflingly – was common practice at the time. This of course, impacted the case heavily. Crime scene protocols were changed soon after.

A Merciless Death

Donna Johnson’s murder was particularly brutal. She had been raped and sodomized with a foreign object, beaten unmercifully with a roofing hatchet or similar tool, and run over by a vehicle. She was found hogtied in a ditch, and had been gagged with her own underwear.

Dr. Byron Dawson performed the autopsy. He estimated her time of death as being between 2 and 4pm on Monday, the day she disappeared. Dr. Dawson determined that the blows to her head were what ultimately killed her. She had various cuts and bruises on her body, including vertical cuts along the tops of her thighs. Members of the Vidocq Society would say in 2005 that Donna was tortured for a long time before she was killed.

The community stepped into to support the family and tried to help catch Donna’s killer in any way it could. They held a two-day fundraising event at the shopping center where Donna worked to raise money for a reward fund. Donations were also made through the local bank.

Grief and Shock

Donna’s family was thrown into unimaginable grief. Her sister Rebecca said that she didn’t go to the visitation, because “if I did not have to see her, this would not be true.²http://www.barnesville.com/johnson-case-victims-sister-becky-peterman/ Donna’s funeral was held on July 18^th, just two days after she was murdered. Law enforcement secretly photographed and videotaped the hours-long visitation held right before the funeral. Rebecca said that Donna’s husband, Jimmy and his family isolated themselves from the rest of the mourners at the funeral. She told the Herald-Gazette that they sat in a glass-walled room adjacent to the chapel during the service. Donna was buried at the Crystal Hill Cemetery in Thomaston.

Donna’s widower Jimmy was so devastated by his wife’s death that he was out of work for over four months.  He said that he believed the killers would be caught, telling the Herald-Gazette, “I still got a lot of hope. I may be wrong. It could happen anytime. Something, sooner or later, will be said.” He went on to say that while he feels sadness over the way she died, he is not angry. “Angry? I guess, I don’t know. Who is there to be angry at? Sure the ones who did it, but I can’t be angry with the whole world.” He said he felt that then Lamar County Sheriff Chuck Keadle was a good lawman and “doing all he can.” “We have a system that hopefully will work” Mr. Johnson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1985.

“I will never forget hearing Donna’s mother wailing in agony on her front porch when they told her she was dead.”

Walter Geiger, publisher of the Herald-Gazette

Who would Have killed Donna Johnson?

People were afraid that there was a killer on the loose, targeting women. An article with the headline, “Safety tips given for Women” ran in the local newspaper. People were advised not to travel alone at night. Self-defense seminars were well-attended. The number of gun permit applications in the county increased significantly. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation set up a command post in Barnesville.

The weekend before she died, Donna spent Saturday with her sister Rebecca. They traveled to Atlanta to see a family member who was in the hospital. She spent Sunday with her husband, Jimmy. In a 1985 interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution Jimmy shared that Donna had gotten up early at 5am that Monday so she could pack his lunch for work. She kissed him goodbye and sent him off.

During the investigation, hairs were found on Donna’s body that pointed investigators toward a Black man. A Black man had been seen in the area where Donna’s car was found. Sketches were released of the man but he was found and determined to have no connection to the case. These hairs were ultimately determined to have already been in the used body bag that Donna’s body was placed in.

Police were originally working off the theory that Donna was a victim of opportunity and didn’t know her killer. Police thought she may have happened upon a crime, possibly a drug deal happening at the dump and was killed to keep her from talking. Theories abounded, from people living in a known local drug house to Florida gangs. Police chased down lead after lead and got nowhere. The case eventually went cold.

The Investigation Gets Fresh Eyes

In 2005 newly elected Lamar County Sheriff Joe Buice reopened Donna Johnson’s case. Along with both the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the famed Vidocq Society, Buice started the investigation over at the very beginning. Donna’s body was exhumed to see if new technology could be used to search for evidence.

“People want to know the truth. Donna was more than a number in a forgotten file. She was a living, breathing human being who was loved by all who knew her. She deserves justice.”

Sheriff Joe Buice, The Herald-Gazette 2010

When looking into the case files, Buice discovered that previous administrations had failed to gather much new information; they seemingly had just run down the same leads over and over again without any answers.

The brutality of the murder is what stood out most to Buice. He told the Herald-Gazette “This wasn’t about sex or money. Any detective would agree. It was overkill. The perp wanted her to suffer. The brutality is the biggest piece of proven evidence. It narrows the field of suspects.” While stranger murders do occur, statistically speaking killers are usually known to the victim.

Having the advantage of fresh eyes, Buice and his team worked carefully through the case file. They realized that no one actually knows if Donna left her home on her own accord that Monday, nor what time she may have left. Sheriff Joe Buice said that he believed Donna’s car was staged at the dump. I was unable to clarify if any witnesses came forward about seeing Donna on Monday. The police were able to eliminate the original theory that Donna had been a victim of opportunity. Her car being wiped down completely of fingerprints stuck out to the investigators. They theorized that a random murderer or serial killer probably wouldn’t have taken the time to do that, especially in broad daylight. Police were ultimately able to eliminate over 30 persons of interest.

A Timeline Turned on its Head

Buice also looked into the forensic evidence. During the original autopsy in 1984, Dr. Byron Dawson noted in his report that Johnson had maggot eggs in her hair and mouth. Two days after her murder while mortician Kenny Coggins was preparing her body for the funeral, he noticed fly larvae in her hair. He had training as a medical examiner and knew what he was looking at and contacted the GBI. From contemporaneous newspaper reports, it does not seem that these findings were ever followed up on. It was 1984, and entomology was not widely used in criminal cases until the 1990’s.

 In 2005 the fly larvae and maggot findings were sent over to three different forensic entomology experts, as well as Dr. Bill Bass, a Smithsonian cataloger, forensic consultant for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and founder of The Body Farm. Dr. Bass told investigators that flies seek out death and often find bodies within 10 minutes. Each expert, independent of the other found that “the latest the eggs could have appeared on Johnson’s body was between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. on July 16.”³https://barnesville.com/the-impact-of-entomology-on-the-johnson-murder-case/ The new time of death was almost 12 hours before the original estimated time of death which was between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m on July 16^th.

 As one can imagine, this new time of death changed everything police thought they knew. All suspects would have to be interviewed again to see what their alibis were for the morning.  If Donna was already dead by 8 a.m. Monday morning, who was it that parked her car at the dump that afternoon?

Witnesses were re-interviewed; some were given polygraph tests. One of those people was Jimmy Johnson, Donna’s widower. Several taped interview files were turned over to the GBI. These included interviews with several people, including a registered sex offender, who all lived within five miles of the murder scene.

A Prestigious Society is Called In

Lead investigator Steve Burge contacted the Vidocq Society and they agreed to look at the case. Burge and another Lamar County investigator traveled to Philadelphia in early 2005 and presented their case to about sixty of the society’s 150 members. After their meeting, investigators were newly fired up and encouraged to close this case. “They have led and guided us. If we get off the path, they get us back on it.” Investigator Burge said of the Vidocq Society members.

Suspects Emerge

For the first time in the investigation, a suspect was named by police. That person was Donna’s husband, Jimmy. ⁴Geiger, Walter. “Super Sleuths take on Johnson Case.” The Herald-Gazatte Barnesville, GA 17 May 2005 Sheriff Buice told local reporters that Johnson was not the only suspect, although he didn’t directly name anyone else. . I did reach out to now retired Sheriff Buice, but he did not respond to my inquiry. No one has ever been charged with the murder of Donna Johnson.

In the late summer of 2005, it was reported that the case of Donna Johnson would be presented to a grand jury. This didn’t happen in 2005 and hasn’t happened since. Then District Attorney Richard Milam was quoted as saying in 2005, “It wasn’t a question of whether there was enough evidence but of whether there was any evidence.” He also said, “The work done by Sheriff Joe Buice’s office, the GBI and the Vidocq Society in 2005 produced no new evidence, only a new theory….nothing that was presented to me indicated probable cause.” ⁵https://barnesville.com/johnson-case-richard-walter-richard-milam/ Richard Milam lost his reelection bid in 2016 after sixteen years on the job.

Donna’s mother, Beulah Ogletree died in 2010 never finding out who killed her youngest daughter. Her father, Ed passed in 1995. Her sister, Rebecca has taken over as the torchbearer in her family’s fight to find Donna’s killer(s).

“We all wonder what Donna would be link today. Hers is the empty chair at the table. To have an arrest and conviction would end it for me. I pray for that every day. It has been torture. An arrest would help us rest easier at night.”

Rebecca, Herald-Gazette, 2005

In 2017, newly elected District Attorney Johnathan Adams said that the case is moving forward. He put together a team consisting of a retired F.B.I agent and an investigator from his office to coordinate with the Lamar County Sheriff’s Department and the local GBI office. Adams told the newspaper, “These efforts have led to many meetings with several witnesses and specific reexamination of certain evidence collected at the time of the crime.” He declined to give any details going on to say, “We all want to protect the progress that has been made and ensure we don’t tip our hand to any potential suspects by being specific about who we are looking at or the results of the examination of the evidence.” ⁶https://barnesville.com/adams-updates-donna-johnson-cold-case-probe/ No updates from Adams’ office have come since 2019.

Donna Johnson’s Family is Still Waiting

In 2020, the Barnesville Herald-Gazette reported that Lamar County investigator Shannon Williamson confirmed that the police do have “comparative DNA evidence” to send out for testing. Williamson said the cost which is about $17,000 is prohibitive for the small county. Jimmy Johnson, Donna’s widower informed the police of a reward fund that was created days after Donna was murdered. Then Sheriff Frank Monaghan estimated the fund was “over $10,000” in August of 1984. 

In 2020, the newspaper reported the fund “should amount to about $20,000 by now.” Unfortunately the bank that held the fund was one of the many small town banks that failed in the 2000’s banking crisis. About $9,000 of the reward money was eventually located. Current Lamar County sheriff Brad White was reported to be making inquiries as to the location of the rest of the money. No further updates regarding the reward money or DNA has come from the sheriff’s department since March of 2020. I did reach out to the sheriff’s office but I have not received a response.

In the summer of 2022, 38 years after the murder, the GBI have begun re-investigating Donna’s murder as a part of a cold case project.

 If you have any information on the murder of Donna Johnson, please contact the GBI field office at 478-445-4173 or through the tip line at 1-800-597-TIPS. You can also contact the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office at 770-358-5159. You can remain anonymous.

I would like to extend my thanks to The Barnesville Herald-Ledger. They have done a phenomenal job over the years in reporting on Donna’s case. They have never allowed the people of Lamar County to forget about Donna Johnson or what happened to her. If this case is ever sold, it will be due in part to their dogged journalism. Please support your local newspaper.