IL - Attorneys Thomas Johnson & wife Leslie Jones, found stabbed to death, Chicago, 15 Apr 2020

[Andieinsyd]

One year later, murders of prominent Oak Park attorneys remain unsolved: ‘Their loss is immeasurable’

“Those close to the family worry that the person (or people) responsible for the murders has yet to be identified, and expressed frustrations at the perceived lack of progress being made in the case.”
...
““We’re working through that case every day,” Reynolds said. “It’s a meticulous process and the detectives are hard at work. We continue to engage with the family and we’re working very hard.”

Very strange case and I’m surprised it gets so little press and attention. Prominent community members, insane overkill, bloody footprints, one of the victims oversaw police misconduct hearings... there are so many strange aspects and clues. JMO.

Yes totally agree, would have expected this to be a very high profile case, two well loved and well respected people. I thought perhaps they were keeping things quiet at the family's request , but doesn't sound like it from above. No efforts made to keep it in the public sight. Does this mean that they think they know who did it?

 

[VivMarlowe]

It's not uncommon for murders in Oak Park to go unsolved. That's all I'll say.

 

[Razz]

It's not uncommon for murders in Oak Park to go unsolved. That's all I'll say.

I'm not familiar with the Oak Park neighborhood. Or much in Chicago other than the city's numerous shootings every week. Is Oak Park on the edge of a seedy area? Why would homocides likely go unsolved there?

 

[Iona]

I would consider Oak Park to be a non seedy area, my description would be older historic ( there are a number of Frank Loyd Wright homes there…) I would imagine that what they are referring to is the city management, and political climate…

 

[BeckyF]

This case is still unsolved.

 

[Falcon500]

It's not uncommon for murders in Oak Park to go unsolved. That's all I'll say.

Such as?

 

[Yemelyan]

Just thinking about this strange case. I recently read a news article about an Indiana woman who was shot and killed in her home during a burglary attempt and the perpetrator was a 13 year old. It made me wonder if some of the strange features about this case, such as how many times the victims were stabbed, could be due to a young, inexperienced perpetrator. Sometimes we see a stabbing like this and think it's "overkill" or the assailant knew the victim and had personal rage against them, but what if it's more due to being out of control and panicking?

We know LE was processing forensics from the scene but young perpetrators are much less likely to be traceable this way, I would think. Just a thought.

 

[acehard]

Just thinking about this strange case. I recently read a news article about an Indiana woman who was shot and killed in her home during a burglary attempt and the perpetrator was a 13 year old. It made me wonder if some of the strange features about this case, such as how many times the victims were stabbed, could be due to a young, inexperienced perpetrator. Sometimes we see a stabbing like this and think it's "overkill" or the assailant knew the victim and had personal rage against them, but what if it's more due to being out of control and panicking?

We know LE was processing forensics from the scene but young perpetrators are much less likely to be traceable this way, I would think. Just a thought.

This couple seems to have some enemies through their work. If it's a paid hit, it would be hard to uncover after all this time.

 

[Yemelyan]

This couple seems to have some enemies through their work. If it's a paid hit, it would be hard to uncover after all this time.

They also did a lot of work with youth organizations, including troubled youths. I don't think a messy stabbing seems like a paid hit, but who really knows?

 

[acehard]

They also did a lot of work with youth organizations, including troubled youths. I don't think a messy stabbing seems like a paid hit, but who really knows?

Hit's are not all professional like in the movies. Usually it's some ex-con addict who's a friend of a friend of an acquaintance for some cash. Guns are more common, but what else is the motive? They don't got no money. If it's a troubled youth, it's hard not to leave any evidence IMO

Must have to do with the law work I think.

 

[Yemelyan]

Hit's are not all professional like in the movies. Usually it's some ex-con addict who's a friend of a friend of an acquaintance for some cash. Guns are more common, but what else is the motive? They don't got no money. If it's a troubled youth, it's hard not to leave any evidence IMO

Must have to do with the law work I think.

I don't know what their finances were like, so maybe the person who did this also was guessing. Whatever the initial motive, I think it could be that the person responsible lost control of the situation, given how the female victim was on the stairs. Stabbing has a high percentage chance of leaving the offender's DNA behind, so hopefully that is the case here.

 

[Bridger]

Stabbings are usually personal. And I don’t think for a second that anyone would pay for a professional hit to be carried out by stabbing. Too messy, too much potential for leaving DNA, takes too long, not quickly lethal enough. Wouldn’t surprise me if the killer is within their social or family circle.

 

[Yemelyan]

Stabbings are usually personal. And I don’t think for a second that anyone would pay for a professional hit to be carried out by stabbing. Too messy, too much potential for leaving DNA, takes too long, not quickly lethal enough. Wouldn’t surprise me if the killer is within their social or family circle.

I agree with this, and would also add - there is a type of person who may use a knife, which as you correctly pointed out, is not as reliably lethal - it's someone who doesn't have access to a gun. Which again, might be a point in favor of a younger offender.

 

[acehard]

Stabbings are usually personal. And I don’t think for a second that anyone would pay for a professional hit to be carried out by stabbing. Too messy, too much potential for leaving DNA, takes too long, not quickly lethal enough. Wouldn’t surprise me if the killer is within their social or family circle.

You don't pay to stab someone. You pay to get rid of them and make it look like a burglary or something. A high paid professional would use a gun and shoot behind the ear etc. A local ex-con/addict can be sloppy.

> Johnson presided over police misconduct cases in which officers lost their jobs and pensions

IMO that's the simplest explanation why they're dead. Family and friends were cleared by LE.

 

[CliffyTruxton]

I think the same person probably killed both people; the method is distinct and appears to have been done for the same reason and with the same implement. They were both stabbed a lot of times. Murderer had decent cardio. Johnson was in a bedroom, on but not in a bed, if I'm remembering that right. News articles all seem to mention he was stabbed in the head and neck and back. Jones was on the landing, pointing toward escape. Her wounds are mostly described as being in the front or side or forehead. A few mentioned her arms. She's got defensive wounds. He doesn't. She was stabbed a lot more times. I think that, of the two, only Jones understood her life was in danger. I think she was facing her attacker and Johnson was not.

I've looked at a map of the home - it's on Zillow or RedFin or whatever one of those places, anyway the floor plan is visible and there's interior shots of the house that were taken after the murders (and after everything was cleaned up and redecorated). We can see the layout of the place. It happens that two of the bathrooms were completely redone recently and the floors were redone too. The floors are definitely because some people got a lot of blood on them, but the bathrooms might be too - it's just a suspicion I've got. Anyway that part's not important. There's a floor plan of the house and you can see where she ended up. He was stabbed 17 times and she was stabbed 34. I don't know where in the house she was stabbed but the landing is where she ended up. If she'd already been stabbed elsewhere then it was where she lost consciousness from blood loss and then died.

It seems like he was attacked completely without warning in a room on at least the second floor (maybe third!) of a house with a dog who was described by neighbors as "known to bark." And it sounds like she was stabbed somewhere in the house and made it to the first-floor landing. I think there's a possibility that when the stabbing began, Jones and Johnson were not in the same room. I think Johnson probably was attacked first because he seems to have been surprised, whereas Jones would be able to see the person who just stabbed Johnson and they'd be holding a knife and covered in blood so she'd be hard to surprise. And she might do something like run, or fight to get away from someone so she can run.

I think also that the dog not warning anyone and the really personal nature of the method make me wonder if this was a home invasion or if the person was already in the home and known to them. If that's true then I don't think his work presiding over police stuff has much to do with what happened.

 

[TheCookieMonster]

I have thoughts and theories as to what happened. I also have two specific people in mind who could have possibly done this. No worries, I will not name names or speculate.

I came to ask a question:

Was any CCTV footage ever publicly released? If so, did anyone see a white 2017 Ford F-150 Pickup in that CCTV footage?

 

[Cryptic]

> Johnson presided over police misconduct cases in which officers lost their jobs and pensions

IMO that's the simplest explanation why they're dead. Family and friends were cleared by LE.

I agree that that could serve as a motive. Occam's razor, however, could cut in several directions regarding this crime:

- Police misconduct hearings (as you indicated)

- Close and personal involvement with troubled youth. Not all troubled youth think objectively regarding cause and effect or proportionality. Troubled youth can become equally troubled young adults.

- Both were attorneys. Though their area of practice were not exactly contentious 1-800 Sue' em law suits, there is a winner and a loser behind nearly every legal proceeding. Sometimes losers may take it personal.

 

[JosieMae]

It seems the murderer would have left behind physical evidence. I can't understand why this case has gone cold. (Other than the Chicago Homicide Division being overwhelmed.)

 

[Knitty]

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[Cryptic]

In regards to a motive stemming from their legal work, evidently one or both of their areas of practice included litigation which could involve civil law suits. It might be good to run their legal work from all their practice area through several filters:

- Was the opposing party a corporation / government entity -or- a private person / privately owned business?
Corporate / government parties unlikely to get passionate about monetary losses. Private party can be a different story.

- Was the outcome a loss more than the standard insurance coverage?
Leads to out of pocket expenses for a private party. If so, how much and what was the impact on the other parties quality of life?

- Did either of the victims represent anybody in potentially hot button child custody disputes, inheritance disputes, contentious divorces etc. ?

- Was any opposing private party later disciplined as a result of a successful legal action by the victims. For example, later referred to a board resulting in loss of medical license, BAR membership, CPA license, brokerage license etc.?

- Did any private opposing party potentially have a disproportionate amount of self identity invested in the legal dispute. For example, operating a family farm- now with a losing debt dispute. Operating a small business for decades at one location- now with a losing lease dispute?