Speaker 1: The tragic death of nineteen year old Levenna Lynn Johnson,
Speaker 1: a private first Class Army soldier who is serving in Iraq,
Speaker 1: is a story that may have unveiled troubling secrets within
Speaker 1: the United States Army. Her untimely death has been ruled
Speaker 1: a suicide, even though evidence points to a murder, as
Speaker 1: her body shows signs of abuse, sexual assault, and a
Speaker 1: death beyond self infliction.
Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked
Speaker 2: and Grim, a true crime podcast.
Speaker 1: The following past material intend for a mature audience. Listener
Speaker 1: Discretion is advised. It's playoff season. The NHL Stanley Playoffs
Speaker 1: are on right now. Sorry, and just we're super excited.
Speaker 1: We watched the Canucks play their first opening game the
Speaker 1: other day, which they won. They did against Nashville Predators.
Speaker 1: It was a fantastic game on both sides. But we
Speaker 1: are rooting for the Canucks to go all the way
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: We totally are. I actually meant to throw on some
Speaker 2: of the games because there were some other Canadian teams
Speaker 2: playing tonight, but we were working. Yes, I just forgot,
Speaker 2: so we're gonna have to look up those scores.
Speaker 1: Fair enough I don't know if any of you guys
Speaker 1: out there are sports fans, we generally speaking aren't. We
Speaker 1: watched playoff hockey, and like, we root for the Canucks,
Speaker 1: but we really got into it this year.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we needed a winter hobby.
Speaker 1: And it's good because the Canucks just so happened to
Speaker 1: be doing phenomenal this year. So we can say that
Speaker 1: we're not bandwagoners because we watched almost their entire preseason.
Speaker 2: Games too, So yeah, pretty well, Hey, yeah, I think
Speaker 2: we missed a little bit at the beginning, but not
Speaker 2: a whole lot.
Speaker 1: We maybe missed. I bet you're like eight ten games
Speaker 1: at the beginning, and then we're watching them and they
Speaker 1: were doing really good, and then there was a bit
Speaker 1: of a lull where they weren't doing so good, but
Speaker 1: they're bringing it back and they play phenomenal first first
Speaker 1: NFL Stanley Cup playoff game.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Ripley hates our dog hates when when we're watching
Speaker 2: hockey because we get excited the playoffs. I feel like
Speaker 2: yesterday we got pretty dang excited, and she's like, oh man,
Speaker 2: she doesn't like it when like someone's kind of showing
Speaker 2: or being loud or kind of apprehensive or something right.
Speaker 1: She doesn't like loud emotion because she's like, is something wrong?
Speaker 1: Are you okay?
Speaker 2: She'll literally come up and like want to give you
Speaker 2: a hug and like confront, like comfort you, and yeah, even.
Speaker 1: If it's good emotions, she thinks that something could be
Speaker 1: wrong and you might be upset because like you're loud,
Speaker 1: you must be yelling, you must be angry, you must
Speaker 1: be mad, must be upset.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so it's going to be allowed a long
Speaker 2: playoff season for.
Speaker 1: Her, yes, most certainly. But before we just start ranting
Speaker 1: and raving about hockey, we want to make sure that
Speaker 1: we thank our patrons who sign up over on Patreon,
Speaker 1: who support us behind the scenes get that extra awesome content.
Speaker 1: And this week we had Amy Dunn sign up for Patreon,
Speaker 1: So Amy, thank you so much. We appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Thanks Amy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. I want to talk about one more
Speaker 1: quick little thing before we get into today's episode, and
Speaker 1: that is something that we forgot to mention last week,
Speaker 1: which I was going to ihad it on my list,
Speaker 1: but OJ Simpson died.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I was like, what was what.
Speaker 1: Did we So that was massive in the true crime
Speaker 1: world because O. J. Simpson, famous for the Hey.
Speaker 2: The glove doesn't fit.
Speaker 1: He has officially passed.
Speaker 2: Away in seventies. I think he was.
Speaker 1: Some I think seventy four, I want to say, or no,
Speaker 1: seventy six. I got it right here. Yeah, he passed
Speaker 1: away April tenth, twenty twenty four. I mean, technically speaking,
Speaker 1: he's innocent, technically speaking, according to the courts, But there
Speaker 1: is a lot that goes into that case which throws
Speaker 1: a lot of suspicion at him and the whole Hey,
Speaker 1: that glove doesn't fit, even though there's literal footage of
Speaker 1: him wearing those gloves and like TV reports and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. But yeah, anyways, he passed.
Speaker 2: Away, huh, which I feel like is a terrible segue
Speaker 2: into this next case because you always think, I don't know,
Speaker 2: people will get what's coming or whatever right, or like
Speaker 2: the I can't even speak today. I'm like Harma fausted,
Speaker 2: klarma arma, or just the the court systems, or like
Speaker 2: you know, you're going to get in jail if you
Speaker 2: did a crime.
Speaker 1: But I think you do the crime, you do the time.
Speaker 2: This one is going to make us mad, isn't it.
Speaker 1: Well you're about to find out, because this is the
Speaker 1: story of Levenna Lynn Johnson.
Speaker 2: Well, even after you read the intro, I was like.
Speaker 1: Nineteen, Yes, she's nineteen years old.
Speaker 2: That's young.
Speaker 1: So let's dive into this. Are you ready?
Speaker 2: I think so?
Speaker 1: You think so? Okay? Well. She was born on July
Speaker 1: twenty seventh, nineteen eighty five, in Florescent, Missouri. Levenna Johnson
Speaker 1: grew up in a close knit household with her parents,
Speaker 1: doctor Johnson and Linda Johnson. As she approached the end
Speaker 1: of her high school years, Levenna made the tough decision
Speaker 1: that would alter the course of her life and impact
Speaker 1: her family deeply. Now, of course, I mean this is
Speaker 1: we know, this is a true crime tale. The decision,
Speaker 1: regardless of the events that did play out, it's still
Speaker 1: a decision if it went the correct way or which
Speaker 1: she hoped, It's still a decision that's big and would
Speaker 1: impact your life and your family. So, despite her parents' reservations,
Speaker 1: Levenna resolved to join the military. She wanted to alleviate
Speaker 1: some of the financial strain in her family regarding the
Speaker 1: looming costs of college tuitions for both herself and her sister.
Speaker 1: So it was a choice, you know, more so for herself,
Speaker 1: not one only wanting to provide back to her family,
Speaker 1: of course, you know that monetary value, but also provide
Speaker 1: for herself in an onset in your onsetting adult years,
Speaker 1: a sense of independence, you know, is important for someone
Speaker 1: as in those younger years, being becoming an adolescent, you know,
Speaker 1: a young adult or whatever. And I think it was
Speaker 1: her way of just just gaining that per se.
Speaker 2: Well, it's impressive too that she's thinking about her parents
Speaker 2: and them not having to pay for two kids going
Speaker 2: to post secondary and you know, wanting to like provide
Speaker 2: some financial income herself.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: It is, And I don't think it was necessarily like
Speaker 1: like she was doing. She was thinking of about a
Speaker 1: few different angles. One on the surface, she was thinking like, hey,
Speaker 1: I want to I want to provide for the family,
Speaker 1: provide back for the family. But I think like subconsciously
Speaker 1: it is that you know, gaining your independence. She's just
Speaker 1: just about to graduate high school. That's when we're all
Speaker 1: you know, going off in the world and becoming ourselves,
Speaker 1: whether it's post secondary, moving out or relationships, whatever it is.
Speaker 1: You're spreading your proverbial wings, right, And I think this
Speaker 1: was a way of being able to do that, taking
Speaker 1: on a responsibility as an adult, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: that was a big part of her decision.
Speaker 2: Okay, good for her.
Speaker 1: I mean her parents, on the other hand, they weren't
Speaker 1: exactly concerned about her having to pay even though I
Speaker 1: means that's what she was trying to do. She's trying
Speaker 1: to like pay and ensure that she's putting in this
Speaker 1: money with the family as well. But her parents weren't concerned.
Speaker 1: They possessed the means to support not only enough money
Speaker 1: for her education, but the money for her siblings as well.
Speaker 2: So, Okay, I wondered because you said he was a doctor,
Speaker 2: but I was like, well, maybe not all doctors make
Speaker 2: good money. I don't know.
Speaker 1: No, they had the monetary value, they had the means
Speaker 1: of paying it. She just was like, hey, you know what,
Speaker 1: I can pay it too. And I think that's that's
Speaker 1: good on her for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: Now for her dad, doctor John Johnson, who was a
Speaker 1: military psychologist and his career immersed himself within the intricacies
Speaker 1: of military life quite a bit. But for him, Leavenna's
Speaker 1: decision came as quite a surprise. He never wasn't one
Speaker 1: to really like press the idea of the military on
Speaker 1: his family specifically, So it was kind of like, oh,
Speaker 1: almost came out of nowhere for him, and he couldn't
Speaker 1: really shake the belief that his daughter had been swayed
Speaker 1: by the persuasive recruiters who had frequented her high school.
Speaker 1: So whether she was indoctrinated that way or not, it's
Speaker 1: hard to say. And regardless of the origins of her decision,
Speaker 1: Levenna was determined to pursue a path in the military.
Speaker 1: It was a choice that spoke to her sense of duty,
Speaker 1: her purpose, one that she embraced, and it was going
Speaker 1: to be her conviction. So good on her.
Speaker 2: It makes sense a little bit more so to me
Speaker 2: now knowing that her dad too was part of it.
Speaker 2: Right person, the military, for sure, it does.
Speaker 1: She kind of grew up with that in the family,
Speaker 1: whether he pressed it or not, that still gives you
Speaker 1: perspective of that lifestyle or that sense of honor and
Speaker 1: respect service sort of things. So I totally get it. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: on May of two thousand and five, just a year
Speaker 1: after bidding farewell to her high school days, nineteen year
Speaker 1: old Levenna found herself deployed in the one hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty ninth Corps Support Battalion to balad Iraq. Despite the
Speaker 1: miles that separated her from her home, she made a
Speaker 1: point of reaching out very frequently. She would call, write
Speaker 1: letters reassure her loved ones of her safety and her
Speaker 1: well being. She shared tales of her experiences and service,
Speaker 1: and from these conversations she appeared happy with her decision.
Speaker 1: She was doing well where she was. However, as the
Speaker 1: months passed, Levenna began talking about mistreatment and disrespect from
Speaker 1: her superiors. She was always an optimist, but she downplayed
Speaker 1: these concerns as best as she could while still venting appropriately.
Speaker 1: Right so, she was insisting that the treatment was not
Speaker 1: unique to her and urging that her urging to her
Speaker 1: parents that there's nothing to worry about, there's nothing excessive
Speaker 1: going on. Yet behind these reassuring words, Leah growing unease.
Speaker 1: In her letters to her mother, Lavenna detailed the challenges
Speaker 1: she faced, including instances where her authority was undermined by
Speaker 1: insubordinate soldiers. One particular conversation with her father on January
Speaker 1: fourteenth in two thousand and five revealed the depths of
Speaker 1: her distress. She talked about an encounter with soldiers who
Speaker 1: defied her command. She told them to leave the communication room,
Speaker 1: but they ignored her. She felt helpless. She's sitting here
Speaker 1: facing this insubordination even though they all knew she was
Speaker 1: in charge. Instead of receiving support, though, she found herself
Speaker 1: chastisized by her superior officer for her perceived lack of assertiveness.
Speaker 1: She's too soft spoken. So the superior was a general
Speaker 1: who came in and ordered the soldiers to leave, and
Speaker 1: they did immediately. They listened to him, but they never
Speaker 1: listened to Levenna. They just ignored her.
Speaker 2: That's brutal, Actually it is, huh because no matter what,
Speaker 2: no matter say, she's soft spoken or just the way
Speaker 2: she speaks, like if she is of higher ranking ranking,
Speaker 2: like they should be listening to her.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the general like never never reprimanded these these
Speaker 1: soldiers for ignoring her either. Instead, he told her, you're
Speaker 1: too soft spoken. You need to speak up, you need
Speaker 1: to do better.
Speaker 2: That's like showing she has zero support.
Speaker 1: Yes, hmmm. So despite her father's suggestion of a battle buddy,
Speaker 1: a battle buddy battle buddy, Levenna couldn't bring herself to
Speaker 1: do it. I mean, so doctor Johnson urged her to
Speaker 1: seek this battle buddy, And this battle buddy is a
Speaker 1: trusted partner who would stand by a soldier's side through
Speaker 1: thick and thin, ensuring their safety in the whole military life. Now,
Speaker 1: I think it's more so employed in the field, so
Speaker 1: it's like you have someone watching.
Speaker 2: Your backs, right right, Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: But she feared this. If she implemented this or asked
Speaker 1: for this battle buddy, it might reinforce the perception of
Speaker 1: her weakness or her soft spokenness that was already being
Speaker 1: cast upon her by her superiors. And clearly her those
Speaker 1: been blow her as well. So nevertheless, she told her
Speaker 1: father that she would seek this out, she would request
Speaker 1: this from the general, but in reality, she was going
Speaker 1: to face the challenges on her own.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. And I know she's telling her parents
Speaker 2: not to worry, but I could only imagine that because
Speaker 2: you would be so helpless. So you can't really help
Speaker 2: her whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, you know.
Speaker 2: Like her dad's giving her a bit of advice or whatnot,
Speaker 2: but he's not there, you.
Speaker 1: Know, Yeah, he's not there. He can't protect her.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So anyways, a few weeks later, Levenna called home with
Speaker 1: some exciting news. She was going to be returning home
Speaker 1: for Christmas.
Speaker 2: Okay, now, which.
Speaker 1: Is fantastic because I know many people who are serving
Speaker 1: their country, whether it's across seas or even just stationed,
Speaker 1: you know, a few miles away, it's hard to actually
Speaker 1: get to come home for Christmas. That was major.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't imagine a lot of them get that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Necessarily, definitely not. And she immediately told her family, like,
Speaker 1: don't decorate the Christmas tree. It was her favorite part
Speaker 1: of Christmas. She wanted to be there to do it
Speaker 1: with them, so they held off on decorating the tree,
Speaker 1: waiting for her to get home so she could do
Speaker 1: it with them.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: The anticipation of her homecoming filled the household with absolute joy,
Speaker 1: in each passing day bringing them closer to reuniting with
Speaker 1: their daughter. They couldn't wait. However, the promise of a
Speaker 1: reunion would soon be shattered when a somber visitor knocked
Speaker 1: on their door just three days after Levenna's phone call.
Speaker 2: Okay, so shit, she's so young and it's the holidays, correct, Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's just some real shitty icing on the cake.
Speaker 1: There with heavy hearts, the Johnson's received the devastating news
Speaker 1: that their daughter would not be returning home alive. Levenna's
Speaker 1: dreams of college and a future beyond the battlefield were
Speaker 1: gone in an instant, eight short weeks after setting foot
Speaker 1: in Iraq, in a mere eight days before her twentieth birthday,
Speaker 1: Levenna Johnson's life was tragically cut short as the first
Speaker 1: female soldier to lose their life in the conflicts in
Speaker 1: Iraq and Afghanistan. The messenger standing at their doorstep delivering
Speaker 1: the harsh news shattered the Johnson families world, and it
Speaker 1: only got heavier when he told them that she had
Speaker 1: tragically taken her own life.
Speaker 2: Oh shit, Okay, that is the worst knock on the
Speaker 2: door you could ever get.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I believe so. I can think of something that
Speaker 1: would be worse.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now, of course, they were shocked and struggled to believe
Speaker 1: what they were hearing about their daughter. Doctor Johnson, drawing
Speaker 1: his own on his own military experience, couldn't shake the
Speaker 1: immediate nagging sense of suspicion that was gnawing at him,
Speaker 1: while his wife, Linda flat out rejected the notion that
Speaker 1: her daughter could ever take her own life. So immediately
Speaker 1: they were suspicious.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, yeah, she was pumped to come home. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you wouldn't think that, you know, if you have
Speaker 2: something that exciting to look forward to, that you would
Speaker 2: necessarily you know, well not necessarily.
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, I'm I'm. I would rebuttle that and say,
Speaker 1: many of the people who are struggling with with depression.
Speaker 2: Right before, yeah, they.
Speaker 1: Often are the ones that have the biggest smile on
Speaker 1: their face they hide it, or right.
Speaker 2: Before they have a little bit of time where you know,
Speaker 2: they are like quite happy, yeah, and life seems a
Speaker 2: lot better.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Generally speaking, you can never see this coming. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I would say that regardless of how happy she
Speaker 1: was or regardless of her mood, you never know. But
Speaker 1: there was a feeling that her parents had in their gut.
Speaker 1: They're like, there's no way they knew, and they just
Speaker 1: rejected that notion immediately. Now, a day later, a call
Speaker 1: came from one of the generals and they gave them
Speaker 1: more information and offered a glimpse into the events that
Speaker 1: led up to Levenna's untimely death. The investigation that ensued
Speaker 1: uncovered details that painted the puzzling picture. After completing her
Speaker 1: morning shift as usual, Levenna got changed into her training clothes,
Speaker 1: but failed to show up to meet her comrades for training.
Speaker 1: A soldier was sent to search for her, and they
Speaker 1: ultimately discovered her lifeless body in a contractor's tent, surrounded
Speaker 1: by charred remnants of paper.
Speaker 2: What the shit?
Speaker 1: The general believed that Levenna had been grappling with pain
Speaker 1: of a recent breakup with her boyfriend of two months,
Speaker 1: which he had done callously through email. They suggested that
Speaker 1: she had printed out these hurtful emails, tucked them away
Speaker 1: in her pocket, and then went on a errand to
Speaker 1: purchase some snacks and a six pack of pop or soda.
Speaker 1: Whether you're from the States or Canada, you call it
Speaker 1: pap or soda. And along with her on this little
Speaker 1: trek she went with an unnamed other soldier and in
Speaker 1: tow she had her N sixteen service weapon with her.
Speaker 1: So when M sixteen is a rifle? As a military
Speaker 1: narrative unfolded, doctor Johnson found himself increasingly troubled by the
Speaker 1: discrepancy surrounding Levena's death. Despite the official conclusion of suicide,
Speaker 1: He and his wife couldn't shake the idea their daughter
Speaker 1: had instead been murdered and someone was covering it up.
Speaker 1: One particular inconsistency inconsistency immediately cast out on the military's
Speaker 1: account the sheer physical impossibility of Levenna, standing at just
Speaker 1: five foot one inch tall and weighing less than one
Speaker 1: hundred pounds, maneuvering the bulky forty inch long M sixteen
Speaker 1: rifle into her mouth to fire the fatal shot upon
Speaker 1: herself as they said she did. They said she put
Speaker 1: the gun in her mouth, managed to pull the trigger
Speaker 1: to end her life. But a defied logic and deflated
Speaker 1: any sense of credibility upon the official version of events.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, Okay. Also, she's tiny.
Speaker 1: He she is very small. Yes. So, before Levena's body
Speaker 1: was returned home for burial, the military claim that they
Speaker 1: have conducted an autopsy as well, purportedly confirming their narrative
Speaker 1: on how events unfolded. As Levena's casket, draped in the
Speaker 1: American flag, arrived at the airport, the Johnsons grappled with
Speaker 1: the profound sense of loss and disbelief as they picked
Speaker 1: up the casket of their daughter. They were advised against
Speaker 1: viewing their daughter's body and having an open casket due
Speaker 1: to the grim condition of her remains. I mean, she
Speaker 1: had a loaded weapon, pulled the trigger with the barrel
Speaker 1: pointed in her mouth upwards. It wouldn't be a pretty sight.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, parent or no, yeah, you wouldn't.
Speaker 1: Want to see that, No, definitely not. But they did.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, Okay, it did not stop them because they
Speaker 2: just they knew, they just knew something was wrong.
Speaker 1: They knew knew something was wrong, and they were determined
Speaker 1: to face the truth. And they made the decision to
Speaker 1: open her casket.
Speaker 2: Okay, but fuck that that. They even had to you know,
Speaker 2: I know, like they had to look at that.
Speaker 1: So with trembling hands and heavy hearts, they began to
Speaker 1: lift the lid, and in that moment, as they gazed
Speaker 1: upon the face of their deceased daughter, she was remarkably intact,
Speaker 1: near perfectly intact. The fuck not what you expect from
Speaker 1: someone who shot themselves in the head with an M
Speaker 1: sixteen via the roof of their mouth. There was, however,
Speaker 1: a small hole, which was a gunshot wound, just on
Speaker 1: the left side of her head, and it sent a
Speaker 1: shiver down doctor Johnson's spine when he saw it. As
Speaker 1: he gazed upon his daughter, the realization dawned on him.
Speaker 1: Someone had gone through great lengths to conceal the truth
Speaker 1: behind Levena's death. Not only did she not have a
Speaker 1: gunshot wound in her mouth and exiting through the back
Speaker 1: of her head, the gunshot was on the side of
Speaker 1: her head. She had some abrasions, cuts, some bruising on
Speaker 1: her body around her neck, and even a broken tooth.
Speaker 1: They found much more than a discrepancy in the bullet
Speaker 1: wound these small minor abrasions on her remains. They also
Speaker 1: made the discovery that plastic surgery, which was done to
Speaker 1: mend her broken nose post mortem, existed.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, are you serious?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: Okay, this is making me feel like sick. Yes, like
Speaker 2: sick to my stomach. Holy shit.
Speaker 1: Yes, So she had a broken nose, plastic surgery was
Speaker 1: done to cover that up.
Speaker 2: Huh. Okay, that's a lot to take in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, despite the military's inconsistencies and insistence that the
Speaker 1: wound was done with an M sixteen rifle, experts Donald
Speaker 1: Marion and Cyril wetch contested this assertion, pointing to the
Speaker 1: evidence suggesting that a nine millimeter pistol was likely the
Speaker 1: weapon instead, and for some unknown reason, the bullet from
Speaker 1: this incident was not recovered, so there could not be
Speaker 1: a match to prove this.
Speaker 2: Okay, so they were just sorry, my brain's just going
Speaker 2: like spinning here, No spin away, they were. They were
Speaker 2: just coming up with some sort of story that would
Speaker 2: kind of would show like, would make a parent not
Speaker 2: want to open the coffin, right.
Speaker 1: It seems that way.
Speaker 2: Something so brutal, so graphic, so terrible to see that
Speaker 2: you know, probably a majority of parents and rightfully so
Speaker 2: wouldn't have opened it.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, No, I wouldn't want to open that casket.
Speaker 2: Like you just probably wouldn't because you're like, holy shit,
Speaker 2: Like I don't want to. I don't want to see
Speaker 2: like my kid like that.
Speaker 1: Oh definitely.
Speaker 2: But it was totally different than.
Speaker 1: No, they faced it despite what the military had said,
Speaker 1: despite whoever it was had said, and they discovered how
Speaker 1: inconsistent the story was. The reality is, she wasn't shot
Speaker 1: upward through her mouth. She shot sideways through what I'm
Speaker 1: assuming is approximately her temple. The plastic surgery done on
Speaker 1: her nose to cover up that her nose had been broken,
Speaker 1: the wounds that were on her body, which we will
Speaker 1: get into a little bit later on some of the
Speaker 1: wounds that were found. But there's abrasions, there's a broken tooth,
Speaker 1: there's bruising.
Speaker 2: Which is just shit that you wouldn't have if you
Speaker 2: committed suicide.
Speaker 1: Especially if it was via a gun. Yeah, if sure,
Speaker 1: if you maybe, if you can committed suicide by jumping
Speaker 1: off a cliff and tumbled or something, Yeah, maybe, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't fit. Yeah, doesn't fit the means of death.
Speaker 2: Holy crap. Okay, this is brutal.
Speaker 1: One of the more perplexing, or you could even argue,
Speaker 1: disturbing discoveries on her body was that Levenna's white dress gloves,
Speaker 1: which were part of her uniform that she was sent
Speaker 1: home wearing in her coffin, had been glued on her hands,
Speaker 1: which is not a normal practice, an unheard of practice.
Speaker 1: In fact, these gloves were glued on her hand and
Speaker 1: were concealing strange third degree burns.
Speaker 2: Wow, this is just like pissing me off.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, okay, I can't blame you on that way.
Speaker 2: Well, the fuck the gloves are glued to.
Speaker 1: Her hand, glued to her hands. They did not want
Speaker 1: these fucking gloves to be removed.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Okay, someone needs to just be completely
Speaker 2: disgusted in themselves because this is unreal.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm even wondering if the glue on the
Speaker 1: hands could potentially, like put the gloves on, could potentially
Speaker 1: be means of Hey, you know what if someone's attacked,
Speaker 1: you go defensive wounds, right, nails. DNA underfingernails is a
Speaker 1: very popular way to find DNA of an assailant from
Speaker 1: defensive victims. Yeah, gluing the hands, the gloves in the
Speaker 1: hands could be means of a preventing that DNA and
Speaker 1: b actually removing the DNA with the glue or tainting it.
Speaker 1: That's my assumption or assertion.
Speaker 2: But we and yeah, like also hiding more you know,
Speaker 2: evidence that points that this was not a suicide, correct, Yeah.
Speaker 1: So they were determined to find the truth, and the
Speaker 1: Johnson's enlisted the help of a private investigator. What then
Speaker 1: covered was a tale of unspeakable abuse, a reality far
Speaker 1: removed from the sanitized version, if you will, presented by
Speaker 1: the military. The decision to hire this private investigator marked
Speaker 1: a turning point for the Johnson family, But even as
Speaker 1: Levenna's hidden suffering emerged, the Johnson's grappled with the staggering
Speaker 1: weight of betrayal from the military. Beyond verbal assault, which
Speaker 1: we already know ones that she was already kind of
Speaker 1: complaining or alluding to her family about but still downplaying.
Speaker 1: The discovery of ongoing sexual abuse at the hands of
Speaker 1: her peers was uncovered, and the treatment Levenna was undergoing
Speaker 1: for sexually transmitted infections as a result also cast harsh
Speaker 1: light on her ordeal.
Speaker 2: Seriously, yes, this was something that was ongoing.
Speaker 1: Correct.
Speaker 2: Holy shit?
Speaker 1: Okay, so we're looking back and seeing people who are
Speaker 1: not giving her the respect, who are not listening to her,
Speaker 1: and I'm pretty sure probably would have been ones who
Speaker 1: would have turned on her.
Speaker 2: Holy what kind of environment is this? I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know much about this sort of shit, but like that,
Speaker 2: I mean, that is just not okay.
Speaker 1: No, Now, like I've I've worked in some pretty toxic,
Speaker 1: uh work environments, ones where like not office environments, I'm
Speaker 1: talking like you know, production where you're cursing and screaming
Speaker 1: back and forth and it's like you don't Like I've
Speaker 1: been inches for my boss's face, telling them to like
Speaker 1: fuck off, like get the fuck out of my face.
Speaker 1: Like that sort of shit. So I've been in toxic
Speaker 1: environments and I get it. I understand it's how things
Speaker 1: are sometimes that doesn't mean it's okay.
Speaker 2: Well, and but and not to like downplay what you
Speaker 2: just said or anything, but the sexual assault, that's not all.
Speaker 2: That's a that's a crime. Yeah, No, that needs to
Speaker 2: be like taken care of.
Speaker 1: What I'm alluding to is I'm saying, I understand there's
Speaker 1: ways things are done in certain workplaces, right, And I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's certain ways things are done in the military
Speaker 1: that you were or even potential people who are listening
Speaker 1: just will not understand. And if we heard it, we'd
Speaker 1: be like, how dare they do that? But it's like
Speaker 1: that's just how.
Speaker 2: It works, right, Oh, yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: But there's lines. There are lines you do not fucking
Speaker 1: cross in the military. You listen to your fucking superiors.
Speaker 1: In the military. You need to have discipline, you need
Speaker 1: to look out for those beside you, behind you, And
Speaker 1: like you say, sexual assault, assault, that's a fucking crime.
Speaker 1: You are now looking at treason. You should be going
Speaker 1: to fucking jail. So I understand there's ways things happen,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean that there's an excuse for this bullshit.
Speaker 2: No, no, this like, yeah, I mean yelling at someone
Speaker 2: or trying to get things across in like you know,
Speaker 2: a rude tone or mean tone or whatever, something completely
Speaker 2: different than the shit that she is having to go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that's that's unacceptable. By far, Yeah, by far so.
Speaker 1: Over the ensuing years, the Johnson's waged a tireless battle
Speaker 1: for transparracy, with the military wielding the power of the
Speaker 1: Freedom of Information Act to pry open the tightly sealed
Speaker 1: secrecy that they were holding. Slowly but steadily, little bits
Speaker 1: of truth were beginning to emerge. There was the revelation
Speaker 1: of a second autopsy that was done when that was
Speaker 1: devoid of any trace of gun residue powder on Levena's hands,
Speaker 1: which shattered the reality of the suicide narrative, especially if
Speaker 1: it was done with a nine millimeter pistol. You may
Speaker 1: argue that if she used the rifle, that she would
Speaker 1: not be using her hands. Sure, okay, because you know what,
Speaker 1: you're probably using your foot to pull the trigger. It's
Speaker 1: that far away. You're not gonna be able to reach
Speaker 1: the trigger or some sort of implement. Your hand's not
Speaker 1: gonna be around the barrel, gotcha, sure, but it most
Speaker 1: likely was done with a nine millimeter to the side
Speaker 1: of the head. Would be gun residue on her hands
Speaker 1: if she did that. Did pull that trigger?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Yet, as the Johnson's delve deeper, the truth was consistently
Speaker 1: being obscured more and more. There was, of course, pieces
Speaker 1: they were getting, but there was also more that was
Speaker 1: being hidden, more and deeper, and more and more and more,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it was being obscured by the
Speaker 1: blurry photographs that were provided by the military of this scene,
Speaker 1: the crime scene scene, of her body and along with
Speaker 1: concealed documents and information. Now, these blurry photographs that they
Speaker 1: were provided were basically like shitty, low resolution photos that
Speaker 1: were then photocopied, So it's black and white, shitty photocopies
Speaker 1: that like you can barely see shit.
Speaker 2: So this is unbelievable. I mean, and the parents are
Speaker 2: already having to face that their daughters has died and
Speaker 2: they're having to go through all this bullshit.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's I can't imagine having to go through these.
Speaker 2: No, I just think it would just be raging.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So within these piles of documents they have been
Speaker 1: able to actually get from the military, Like I said,
Speaker 1: through things like the Freedom of Information Act. There was
Speaker 1: a Now I couldn't find a whole lot of information
Speaker 1: on what this exactly was, but there was a mysterious
Speaker 1: page that was found in this document pile one where
Speaker 1: there was a lot of illegible things on it, whether
Speaker 1: it was things that were smudged or blacked out, but
Speaker 1: it seemed like it was a page that shouldn't be
Speaker 1: in there. They shouldn't have it. It held a lot
Speaker 1: of information that had been not given to them so far.
Speaker 1: Oh shit, so information that wasn't given to them, and
Speaker 1: a lot of it was blotted out, blacked out, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. So they're like, we want to know
Speaker 1: what this blacked out stuff is, Like, you clearly have
Speaker 1: this document, what the fuck is that? Hand it over
Speaker 1: right now. Some speculate the document was accidentally included in
Speaker 1: the pile, while others actually speculate that there was a
Speaker 1: deliberate act from someone who wanted the family to actually
Speaker 1: uncover the truth. And I hope it is the latter.
Speaker 1: I hope that there was someone good out there who's
Speaker 1: trying to do the bet the right thing, regardless of
Speaker 1: its origin. Though the page held the promise of unlocking
Speaker 1: these concealed secrets, which ignited a fierce legal battle for
Speaker 1: the access of these documents. Doctor Johnson refused to relent,
Speaker 1: and turning to their congressman for assistance. The Johnsons waged
Speaker 1: a tireless campaign, and they did not yield until the
Speaker 1: elusive document was finally pride from the military's grip.
Speaker 2: Okay, see, I was thinking that was going to be
Speaker 2: like a battle that he was going to lose.
Speaker 1: They got it. WUS paid off and they were given
Speaker 1: the file CAM.
Speaker 2: I'm a bit surprised with.
Speaker 1: Clarity afforded by the newly obtained files, the Johnsons were
Speaker 1: confronted with a chilling horror. Instead of the pixelated, grainy,
Speaker 1: black and white photocopied images that they were given initially,
Speaker 1: the file contained clear color of photos of the crime
Speaker 1: scene and autopsy. So the photos that were actually taken,
Speaker 1: rather than shittley copied, emailed and whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and trying to just conceal exactly so.
Speaker 1: Previously obscure details could be seen very clearly and very sharply.
Speaker 1: The images painted a scene of nothing more than brutality.
Speaker 1: Their Dottie's body is seen covered in bruises, scratches, and
Speaker 1: teeth marks on her torso. The presence of what appeared
Speaker 1: to be LIE or another caustic substance was found on
Speaker 1: her vaginal area, which hinted at an attempt to erase
Speaker 1: any DNA evidence.
Speaker 2: Oh man, holy shit, this is just getting worse and worse.
Speaker 1: There was mud, dirt, and debris coating her back in
Speaker 1: a trail of blood leading from the tent she was
Speaker 1: found in, which suggestested a desperate struggle.
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, yeah, are you good? I don't even like gosh,
Speaker 2: just processing this right now is just like it's just
Speaker 2: like breaking me a little bit. This is unbelievable. This
Speaker 2: is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I couldn't believe when it actually was reading about
Speaker 1: this case. I can't believe I haven't heard of it sooner, honestly,
Speaker 1: And I.
Speaker 2: Just I'm trying to figure out too, why the fuck
Speaker 2: would would anyone like gobot covering this up. I don't know,
Speaker 2: Like I mean, I mean, I get why they would,
Speaker 2: but like they shouldn't have they shouldn't have had to.
Speaker 2: I mean, whoever did this just needs to face the consequences.
Speaker 1: Yeah, someone knows something and someone who is not responsible.
Speaker 1: Let me put it that way, because someone who's responsible
Speaker 1: is of course going to cover their own tracks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: someone who was not involved knows something is yes, also helping,
Speaker 1: and they're also helping.
Speaker 2: I don't know, you know the only reason I'm thinking
Speaker 2: in my head right now is if it was quite
Speaker 2: a few people that were doing this to her, which
Speaker 2: is horrible, you can think, because then you know, like
Speaker 2: you want to hide. I guess if there's like numerous
Speaker 2: people there that need to face some serious shit. But
Speaker 2: if it was just one, I don't think you would
Speaker 2: necessarily hide it.
Speaker 1: Whether it's one, fucking five, ten, I don't care. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: there is someone who fucking knows, and I guarantee you
Speaker 1: it's going to be a superior who knows, a general,
Speaker 1: someone who fucking knows. Gosh, that is so disgusting, because
Speaker 1: there is fucking superiors who signed off on the documents
Speaker 1: of this, people who issued get her plastic surgery on
Speaker 1: her fucking nose, for example, to fix this so no
Speaker 1: one finds out.
Speaker 2: You know, that's almost being just as guilty. Really.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, So as they tried to process this new
Speaker 1: information that was now in their hands, the Johnsons were
Speaker 1: left to just ponder the unanswered questions that lingered. Had
Speaker 1: Levenna been targeted for retribution by those she tried to
Speaker 1: challenge or speak up against? You know? Was she a
Speaker 1: victim of a brutal salt? Was it like who was responsible?
Speaker 1: Was it a superior? Was it someone that answered to her? What?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: All these questions came up and there was no answers.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, the Johnson's relentless pursuit of justice would hit
Speaker 1: a brick wall when the US Army callously refuse their
Speaker 1: demands for accountability, insisting that the case was closed and
Speaker 1: beyond re examination. It's closed, it's done. Nothing more can
Speaker 1: be can be done from here?
Speaker 2: They should they That's embarrassing.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: The Johnson family, though, still didn't want to give up.
Speaker 1: They turned to the mainstream media for assistance, hoping to
Speaker 1: amplify their cries for justice to a wider audience. CBS
Speaker 1: and ABC responded to their plea financing another autopsy in
Speaker 1: a bid to uncover the truth behind Levenna's tragic demise.
Speaker 1: The findings were horrifying. Levenna's neck had also been broken,
Speaker 1: and parts of her vagina tongue and anus had been removed.
Speaker 1: Oh shit, Yet the military's autopsy made no mention of
Speaker 1: such removal, nor did they inform the Johnson's of the
Speaker 1: extent of their daughter's injury. Despite investigating significant resource or sorry,
Speaker 1: investing significant resources into investigating the Levenna sorry Levenna's case,
Speaker 1: both CBS and ABC inexplicably chose not to run the story.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: Allegations of military pressure and threats to withhold advertising revenue
Speaker 1: and funds were rumored to be partially part of the reason.
Speaker 2: Why well, yeah, that's kind of earlier. While why I
Speaker 2: was so surprised that they were able to get this
Speaker 2: the folder with more information because they're literally up against
Speaker 2: you know, like the government.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they are so that It just yeah, not only
Speaker 1: the government. It's not like you're sitting here like fighting
Speaker 1: Donald Trump or Justin Trudeau. It's like, no, you're going
Speaker 1: up against the armed military government. Like this is a
Speaker 1: whole other category here. You got the dudes who are like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we got a fucking sniper up on the tower with
Speaker 1: his crosshairs on you right now.
Speaker 2: It really shows like the character of the parents though,
Speaker 2: like they are they are like badasses. Hey, like, they
Speaker 2: don't give a shit. They're just like, we want to
Speaker 2: figure out what happened to our daughter, and we don't
Speaker 2: care who we're dealing with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were fucking relentless. They did what they could
Speaker 1: fucking do, and they did tenfold beyond that.
Speaker 2: Which is so awesome in honor of their daughter.
Speaker 1: Right, I couldn't agree more. That's all they did is
Speaker 1: continued their fight. And that's literally what I have written next.
Speaker 1: The Johnson's continued their fight because that's what they did.
Speaker 1: They continued. They were listing support of congressional representatives to
Speaker 1: pressure the Army into reopening the investigation. Yet, when confronted
Speaker 1: with the contradictions that were brought up via autopsies, the photos, everything,
Speaker 1: all the unanswered questions surrounding her death, Army officials remained
Speaker 1: with the narrative. Out with the narrative they had It
Speaker 1: was a suicide. What about her broken nose, a broken neck?
Speaker 1: It was a suicide.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's no way, there's no whole way.
Speaker 1: Both the drag marks from the tent, What about the
Speaker 1: teeth marks on her torso it was a suicide. What
Speaker 1: about the removal of orifices from her body, which were
Speaker 1: clearly done in one of the autopsies you guys did.
Speaker 1: It was a suicide. She put an N sixteen into
Speaker 1: her mouth, pulled the trigger, even though that M sixteen
Speaker 1: is way too big for her body and the bullet
Speaker 1: hole is found on the side of her fucking head.
Speaker 2: It was smaller gun.
Speaker 1: Like they just no suicide, this is what happened.
Speaker 2: I don't even understand how that's like, how that can
Speaker 2: be justified.
Speaker 1: That's literally like I've got my hand in the cookie
Speaker 1: jar and I'm eating a cookie and there's chocolate all
Speaker 1: over my face, and you walk into the kitchen, Ben,
Speaker 1: are you eating cookies? And I'm just like, no, no,
Speaker 1: And I just keep chewing and I keep pulling cookies
Speaker 1: out of the cookie jar and I keep stuffing my face, which, honestly,
Speaker 1: that kind of sounds like me thanks for backing me up.
Speaker 2: I kind of like could really relate to this just
Speaker 2: picturing it and.
Speaker 1: I'm just looking at you. No, I didn't touch the
Speaker 1: cookies and I'm literally eating it in front of you.
Speaker 1: That that's no fucking different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because like what this girl, this woman went through
Speaker 2: just seems like complete hell.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And the fact that they're covering it up. Makes it
Speaker 2: so much worse.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so much worse. Yeap. So the Johnson family were
Speaker 1: left with the painful reality that their daughter's killer remained
Speaker 1: unpunished or killer, while they were condemned to a lifetime
Speaker 1: of anguish unanswered questions without their daughter. Her tragic fate,
Speaker 1: it seems, will forever be buried by a bureaucratic red
Speaker 1: tape of the USA military. And that is the story
Speaker 1: of Levenna Johnson.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, that is horrible. That's a horrible story.
Speaker 1: I know it, just there is no resolve. It got
Speaker 1: worse and worse and worse. We know the fucking answer,
Speaker 1: but we will never get confirmation of it. We will
Speaker 1: never understand who. We only understand what. We don't know why,
Speaker 1: we don't know who, We don't know how many.
Speaker 2: I'm I feel like it would be more than one.
Speaker 2: I agree, because I think it was just one person. Well,
Speaker 2: A like that her injuries were so substantial, and if
Speaker 2: it was just one, I'm not sure superiors would go
Speaker 2: to the extent that they are they have to cover
Speaker 2: that up necessarily if it was just one individual, right,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: I agree?
Speaker 2: So I think it was many many. I agree, and
Speaker 2: maybe even them themselves could have.
Speaker 1: Been very well could have been. We recently just did
Speaker 1: an episode on a high ranking military official who commanded
Speaker 1: some fucking atrocious crimes on a subordinate in fact, broke
Speaker 1: into her house and fucking sexually assaulted her and killed
Speaker 1: her and hit her body. I can't remember the dude's name.
Speaker 1: It was just a couple episodes ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we just forget it's instantly, Okay, was she r?
Speaker 1: I don't want to remember those guys.
Speaker 2: Well, I know, we don't even try to, but like
Speaker 2: she the only the only woman there. I we don't
Speaker 2: even know how big it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, how I don't know. Yeah, I don't know how
Speaker 1: big the camp was. I don't know how big her
Speaker 1: regime or whatever the word is called. I said it
Speaker 1: at the very beginning. Hold on, I'm gonna go back.
Speaker 1: Where is it now or no, battalion? Is it battalion?
Speaker 2: I don't know, I can't remember.
Speaker 1: Yeah, her battalion? Okay, yeah, okay, I don't know how
Speaker 1: big her battalion was. I don't know if there's other
Speaker 1: battalions stationed in the same camp encampments as them as
Speaker 1: For all I know, it could be like fucking twelve
Speaker 1: of them camping out in the bush and there's like
Speaker 1: three tenths I don't know, Yeah, yeah, you don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh my goodness, just like such an innocent life
Speaker 2: that just had the best of intentions.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I know, and then some fucking piece
Speaker 1: of shit decided that, uh, and they're.
Speaker 2: Just getting away with it, living their life like holy shit.
Speaker 2: I hope that they are just haunted, like just fucking
Speaker 2: haunted of what they did, their actions, to the extent
Speaker 2: that they just can't even live a normal life whatsoever.
Speaker 2: I hope so too, because they should not.
Speaker 1: They should be in jail, I agree, But instead they're
Speaker 1: most likely getting praise for their service to the country,
Speaker 1: which makes me fucking sick to my stomach.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah that does.
Speaker 1: Anyways, Hopefully, you guys, I don't want to say enjoyed
Speaker 1: this episode every time I'm like, hopefully enjoyed this episode.
Speaker 1: It's hard to say enjoyed this episode because they're fucking shitty,
Speaker 1: shitty stories. Hopefully hopefully.
Speaker 2: I don't know how any word that because right now
Speaker 2: I'm just pissed.
Speaker 1: I know me too, So hopefully you thank you for
Speaker 1: being here. You guys are awesome. For supporting us. How
Speaker 1: is that hopefully one day Levenna gets some fucking retribution
Speaker 1: to her name, because that would be amazing. If you
Speaker 1: guys want to check out any more of our stories
Speaker 1: that we have, I listened to our whole back catalog.
Speaker 1: We got over one hundred and eighty episodes out there
Speaker 1: on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you're listening, you're listening right now,
Speaker 1: you have access to like almost two hundred.
Speaker 2: Episode that's impressive look at Us.
Speaker 1: And then on Patreon we got even more, so you
Speaker 1: can sign up there and get more Look.
Speaker 2: At Us go Whoever, who would have ever thought, hey,
Speaker 2: I don't know when we first started in our living room,
Speaker 2: this is a This.
Speaker 1: Has taken me to that Hot Wings episode with what's
Speaker 1: his name? Paul Rudd? Look at us, look at us?
Speaker 2: Always well done. That is a story that really did
Speaker 2: does need to be brought to to attention.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, Levenna's story needs to be told more often.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so wow, this one broke my heart. But anyways,
Speaker 1: thanks for being here. We appreciate you, and as always,
Speaker 1: stay wicked