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Source: Baby Gabriel's Mom Confessed Twice
Johnson Confession Reportedly Came During Jail Interview
Pat McReynolds, CBS 5 News
POSTED: 1:30 pm MST December 7, 2010
UPDATED: 11:02 am MST December 8, 2010

A source close to the missing Baby Gabriel investigation has told CBS 5 News that his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, confessed to a San Antonio, Texas, detective in May she killed her son.

That confession came during an unauthorized meeting between Johnson and the detective in the Estrella Jail in Phoenix, a meeting of which her attorney was unaware.

Because the meeting was unauthorized, it is not admissible in court unless there is a ruling otherwise.

Detective John Salame of the San Antonio Police Department might have been just moments away from learning the location of Gabriel Johnson's body when Johnson's attorney appeared and ended the meeting, the source said.

snip

Despite Johnson's alleged confession, McQueary said he maintains his belief that Gabriel is still alive.


http://www.kpho.com/news/26050243/detail.html
 
Defense: Adoption talk for missing boy's mom legal
Posted: 10:49 PM
Last Updated: 8 hours and 34 minutes ago

Gabriel's grandfather, Frank McQueary, told ABC15 he and his family appreciate the public support and continue to search for Gabriel.

"We're holding out hope, but with everything that has happened and there being no sign of Gabriel, it really calls into question what exactly did Elizabeth do with that child," said McQueary.

snip

"We've decided as a family that the best thing we can do to assist the county attorney's office is to let them do their jobs," said Frank McQueary. "We want them (Smith & Elizabeth Johnson) to go through the court process, we want them to be successfully prosecuted."

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/regio...se:-adoption-talk-for-missing-boy's-mom-legal
 
Admission of guilt reported in baby's death
Published: 12:00 a.m., Thursday, December 9, 2010

SAPD refused to comment on the alleged confession.

“The details of that interview are part of the investigative case file,” SAPD spokesman Sgt. Chris Benavides said in an e-mailed statement. “Therefore, the details cannot be discussed.”

snip

SAPD Chief William McManus has said the allegations made about Salame were unsubstantiated and would be answered in court, but declined to comment further.

Feldman found out about the interview while it was taking place and stopped it, Alcock said Wednesday by phone.

Johnson filed a motion to change counsel Sept. 27, and last week attorney Marci Kratter became her lead defense attorney.

Kratter, who said Wednesday she “has no idea what's going on,” confirmed she will represent Johnson at a status conference on the case scheduled for Thursday. She declined further comment.

“The only person who really knows what happened in that meeting was Detective Salame,” Alcock said. “He wasn't on drugs.”

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...tedly-confessed-to-killing-missing-869422.php
 
Texas Cop To Be Called In Baby Gabriel Case
Elizabeth Johnson A No-Show At Hearing
POSTED: 11:13 am MST December 9, 2010
UPDATED: 3:46 pm MST December 9, 2010

A judge paved the way for attorneys to interview the San Antonio police officer to whom Elizabeth Johnson reportedly confessed to killing her son Gabriel.

The mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson did not appear at the status hearing on her case in a Phoenix courtroom Thursday. The judge said he and the attorneys received a seven-page letter from her, but did not release details.

snip

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie granted the prosecuting attorney's the motion to depose Salame. The next status hearing on the case is set for Jan. 24.

snip

Johnson is set to go on trial May 9 in Judge Paul McMurdie's courtroom.

http://www.kpho.com/valleynews/26078410/detail.html
 
Recorded Call From Jail Pits Gabriel's Mother Against Woman Seeking Adoption

Pat McReynolds
Reporter, KPHO.com
POSTED: 9:06 pm MST December 14, 2010
UPDATED: 10:19 pm MST December 14, 2010

PHOENIX -- CBS5 News has learned that prosecutors met with Elizabeth Johnson in the Estrella Jail to convince her to have a phone confrontation with Tammi Smith. Johnson had told investigators that Smith was behind the arrangements in Texas to hand Gabriel off to an anonymous couple. They attempted to set up a sting to get Smith to incriminate herself over the phone.

The call starts out innocently enough. Elizabeth Johnson assuring Tammi Smith that they are not being recorded, But then she confronts Smith about the things she's been saying on TV.

"Needless to say, I am very very upset at you," Johnson said shortly after Smith answered her phone. "I can't hide all of this anymore. Your involvement in all of it. All the plans that you made and you are completely denying all of it." "Wait, Wait, what plans did I make? What are you talking about?" said Smith. "You wanted the baby and you had a million plans how to get the baby," answered Johnson.


much more here

http://www.kpho.com/news/26137317/detail.html
 
Year-old tape reveals Baby Gabriel's mother confessing
Dec. 14, 2010 03:17 PM

Elizabeth's grandfather, Bob Johnson, said Elizabeth recanted the statements she made to McQueary almost immediately. He said McQueary must have given the recording to a Phoenix television station, KPHO-TV, which aired it Monday. McQueary could not be reached for comment.

"This isn't doing Elizabeth any good at all," Johnson said. "Logan is the only one who has access to it (the tape) outside of the police."

snip

What it all proves, Bob Johnson said, is that Elizabeth was furious at Logan for cheating on her. It does not prove she killed her son, he said.

He said he believes that Elizabeth gave the baby, who would now be 19 months old, to a couple in a San Antonio park, as she has consistently said since recanting the murder statements.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/...ther-elizabeth-johnson1215.html#ixzz18Bad1xWR
 
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010
Baby Gabriel Mom Makes Possible Confession
In Taped Phone Calls, Voice Said to Be Elizabeth Johnson Tells Baby's Father She Suffocated Son, Put Him in Dumpster

Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/15/earlyshow/living/parenting/main7152004.shtml

Looks like you have to click the title on each of these videos to get them to play.

"Baby Gabriel" Case: A Closer Look
December 15, 2010 8:56 AM
TruTV's "In Session" correspondent, Beth Karas talks to Harry Smith about the "Baby Gabriel" case.

Video: [ame="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7152651n"]"Baby Gabriel" Case: A Closer Look - CBS News Video[/ame]


Possible "Baby Gabriel" Confession
In audio tapes acquired by CBS station KPHO, the mother of missing baby Gabriel allegedly confesses to killing him to get back at her boyfriend. Bill Whitaker reports.
11:46 AM EST 12/15/2010

Video: [ame="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7152078n"]Possible "Baby Gabriel" Confession - CBS News Video[/ame]
 
Elizabeth Johnson's Last Days With Baby Gabriel
Jailed Mother Details Who Helped Her Give Her Boy Away

POSTED: 8:49 pm MST December 15, 2010
UPDATED: 9:21 pm MST December 15, 2010

For several weeks, Elizabeth Johnson told investigators, Tammi Smith was trying to adopt baby Gabriel. So much so that Johnson felt pressured and had to get out of town.

"I just freaked out. I felt like I was being trapped and I think Tammi picked up on that and she was like, 'Well, if you don't want to come back, there's other options. We're going to help you no matter what,'" said Johnson.

Smith allegedly had previously offered Elizabeth money, forged court documents, and according to this interview with police, Johnson said that was just the beginning of Smith's schemes.

"She said that her adoption lawyer in Tennessee could get a birth certificate saying she gave birth to the baby. She said she had 30 days to be able to turn that in, saying it was a home birth and that she, you know, no one would know the couple months difference, and you know, in a few years, no one would know what the baby looked like," Johnson told investigators.

When Johnson, on a whim, went to Texas instead of Tennessee, she said Smith had another plan to wrestle Gabriel from his father's custody.

http://www.kpho.com/news/26154024/detail.html
 
Baby Gabriel's mom says ex-attorneys put her case in peril
Dec. 16, 2010 12:00 AM

Baby Gabriel Johnson's mother claims in a seven-page letter that her former defense attorneys dropped the ball on a motion to dismiss charges in her case, putting her case in peril.

"They shouldn't be allowed to start something this monumental and not finish it," Johnson said in the Nov. 20 letter to the court about her former attorney, Nick Alcock, and one of his associates, Adam Feldman.

snip

The motion, she said, was eight months in the works. Johnson believed that Nov. 22, when the motion at one point was to be argued, was supposed to be "my day."

She was convinced the Maricopa County Superior Court judge would grant the motion, and she would go home, said her grandfather, Bob Johnson.

Instead, Johnson said, after she withdrew a bar complaint, Alcock and Feldman withdrew as her lawyers.

snip

Johnson's case is now in the hands of attorneys Daniel Raynak and Marci Kratter, her third set of defenders since October.


http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...x-attorneys-imperiled-case.html#ixzz18HNOCqCM
 
Direct link to audio of Elizabeth being questioned by LE:

http://www.kpho.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks={videoid:4462642}


Direct link to audio of Elizabeth in call where she said she killed Gabe:

http://www.kpho.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks={videoid:4457646}
 
New recordings paint different picture in Baby Gabriel case

Posted: 11:05 PM

Logan McQueary: Where are you? And why are you saying you killed Gabriel?
Johnson: You trapped me and you scared me and you left me with no choice.
McQueary: Where are you?
Johnson: I don't exist anymore I'm a ghost. You'd be surprised what a person will do if you push them enough.

Johnson continues describing to McQueary how she suffocated the couple's young son and left his body in a dumpster.

snip

McQueary: Where are you and where's Gabriel?
Johnson: Killed him this morning. So find some new girl to make you a new baby. You know what I'm capable of and you pushed me anyway.
McQueary: You did not hurt Gabriel.
Johnson: Yes I did, I suffocated him and he turned blue and that's when I put him in his diaper bag and put him in the trash can.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/regio...-paint-different-picture-in-baby-gabriel-case
 
After nearly a year, is missing Baby Gabriel still alive?
Posted: Friday, December 17, 2010 6:00 am | Updated: 9:51 am, Fri Dec 17, 2010.

Now forensics experts and authorities say they believe the child is dead.

snip

Dr. Steven Pitt, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist in Scottsdale who has worked on high-profile cases, told the Tribune that a mother not sharing information about where her child is and not cooperating raises a “huge” red flag.

“Good money says that the child is dead,” Pitt said. “This is not rocket science. You have a defendant who has allegedly made statements implicating herself in the disappearance of her child, but more importantly, has refused to share information about where her child could be. In my business, that’s a clue.

“At the end of the day, the absence of the mother sharing information about the whereabouts of her child is disturbing and very troubling, and the fact that she claims she gave the child away begs the question, to whom?”

snip

If alive, he now would be 19 months old and would be walking and talking. He also would weigh more, his hair might be darker and he might have been renamed.

However, Gabriel would have no recollection of Johnson or McQueary, according to Dr. Barbara Tinsley, a child psychologist and child development expert who is a professor at Arizona State University’s Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“His well-being highly depends on if he’s in a good and loving environment and if he has good nutrition,” Tinsley said. “That is critical. If he’s in a deprived environment, his development has been slowed down, including his physical, cognitive and social development. But, if he’s in a good loving environment, he’s in pretty good shape.”

snip

Salame told Johnson he was the only one who cared for her and he was her best chance of being spared the death penalty, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court document.

snip

A San Antonio police spokesman told the Tribune on Wednesday that its investigators have discussed seeking murder charges against Johnson with the district attorney’s office there, and are investigating the case as a homicide.

snip

But Texas authorities aren’t forthcoming with information about that interview with those involved in the case in Arizona. San Antonio police contend they are in the midst of an active homicide investigation and still are working with Tempe police on it.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_ac085656-0963-11e0-9db6-001cc4c03286.html
 
Elizabeth Johnson's Attorneys Speak
Elizabeth Johnson new attorneys have their ideas on who is to blame for the disappearance of Baby Gabriel.

Video:
http://www.kpho.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks={videoid:4466449}
 
Almost 1 Year Since Gabriel Went Missing
Updated: Friday, 17 Dec 2010, 9:40 PM MST
Published : Friday, 17 Dec 2010, 9:40 PM MST

(Note: Includes more audio of Elizabeth on the phone to Logan.)

Tempe Police have released some chilling recordings between Johnson and the baby's father, Logan McQueary, where she talks about some of what happened.

Police have not been able to verify if Elizabeth Johnson killed Gabriel or not, which is why she is facing only kidnapping charges.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/1-year-baby-gabriel-12-17-2010
 
Transcription of interview with Bob Johnson, Elizabeth's grandfather, Monday Decemer 21, 2010, on MSNBC Today Show.


Reporter: When you heard her confession, which of course was on a phone conversation nearly a year ago, just released now, what did you think?


Bob: Well, I was aware of that conversation a year ago, and I was aware of Elizabeth recanting the incident. I've talked to my granddaughter two days ago and she still proclaims her innocence. I believe she's innocent. She did not harm that child.


Reporter: Now her attorney...


Bob: There was a lot of information...


Reporter: Her attorneys, as you may have heard in the piece that we just all watched says that she could be bipolar, that she could suffer from that condition, and that could explain why maybe she confessed, and then ended up taking that confession back. You've known her her whole life. Do you think that she's bipolar? Are there other examples that could show this sort of behavior?


Bob: Well, she is definitely bipolar. However, she did not harm the child. I firmly believe that. It's not within her nature. She was a good mother. She loved the child. She just felt that her and Logan could not give it a life better than what she had, so she wanted to adopt it.

Logan agreed to the adoption one day, and the next day he was off of the adoption idea. Well, Elizabeth proceeded on the basis that he was going to sign the adoption papers, and gave the baby to Tammi Smith. And then, Logan found out about it, took her to court, got a custody visitation, and that, that's how that went together.


Reporter: Well, if Elizabeth didn't kill Gabriel as you believe is the case, where do you think he is, for so many people it's just hard to imagine a baby just disappearing, and there being no word of him.


Bob: Erin, that's a great question. I'm glad you asked it. I talked to my, I talked to Elizabeth two days ago, Saturday, and she told me something she had never told me before, and that was that Tammi Smith orchestrated that entire trip, from Phoenix to San Antonio.

When they got to San Antonio, she talked to Tammi. Tammi arranged this meeting in the park. This was a neighborhood park. This was a twenty minute ride from the hotel.

Elizabeth rides with the baby, gives the baby to these two people, and leaves. I asked her very specifically if she could describe the people, and she said, "No.". She was, I'm sure, very overwrought. This was the end of the journey...


Reporter: Yes.


Bob: ...and she left, and that was that. I think the best person to be asking where the baby is, based on what I just heard from out of her own lips, two days ago, is Tammi Smith.

Why they have not been able to focus on that, I just wonder why there hasn't been some more effort in that direction.


Reporter: Well, hopefully, they will, sir. I do want to ask you this. As her grandfather, if it does turn out that she was involved, that Elizabeth did kill this baby in a moment where she lost control, will you still support her?


Bob: Well, of course. Of course. I love Elizabeth, and she's a good person. She was a good student. She was a 4.0 grade average student in high school. She got a four year full ticket scholarship to Northeastern University in Boston. She's a very capable person.

You know, half of the people in the world, or the United States, is bipolar, so there's a, there's a way to manage against that. She'll be, she'll be okay when we get this behind us. I very strongly feel...


Reporter: Thank you etc....


Video link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/40749024#40749024
 
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