Speaker 1: That'sled. At the foot of Pike's Peak lies Colorado Springs,
Speaker 1: a city where the air is crisp and the skies
Speaker 1: are wide. Long before any European ever laid sights on
Speaker 1: this land, it was home to Native American tribes. They
Speaker 1: referred the land and spiritual energy pulse through the forests
Speaker 1: and across the open plains. By the late eighteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: that pulse had changed. General William Jackson Palmer was a
Speaker 1: Civil War veteran, and he envisioned the land as a
Speaker 1: resort destination. In eighteen seventy one, he founded Colorado Springs,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't long before British settlers arrived in droves,
Speaker 1: earning the city its early nickname of Little London, and
Speaker 1: its growth didn't stop there. With the expansion of the
Speaker 1: railroads and the rush of the nearby mining booms, Colorado
Speaker 1: Springs grew rapidly. By the turn of the century, it
Speaker 1: was no longer a vacation destination. It was a real city. Today,
Speaker 1: Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County.
Speaker 1: Many people who live here are drawn to the lower
Speaker 1: cost of living on the slower pace. Many come for
Speaker 1: the mountain views for the safety and the sense of community.
Speaker 1: But even in the most serene of places, darkness confined
Speaker 1: its corners. It was a typical June evening in Colorado's
Speaker 1: Springs in twenty twenty two inside a Walgreens store. Business
Speaker 1: was moving as usual. Behind the counter, staff organized prescriptions,
Speaker 1: a few customers browsed the isles. One of the employees
Speaker 1: on duty that evening was a teenage girl. It was
Speaker 1: just another shift. She clocked in, stocked shelves, worked on
Speaker 1: the till then she went on her break. After some time,
Speaker 1: her coworkers realized she hadn't come back. Colorado Springs was
Speaker 1: home to seventeen year old Riley Whitelaw. She lived at
Speaker 1: home with her mother, Courtney, and her mother's longtime partner,
Speaker 1: Chris Johnson. Those who loved Riley said that she had
Speaker 1: that rare kind of spirit, wise beyond her years, yet
Speaker 1: still brimming with tea age wonder. You could talk to
Speaker 1: her like she was an adult. Conversations with Riley weren't
Speaker 1: filled with eye rolls or one word answers. She listened,
Speaker 1: she asked questions, and she genuinely cared. But Riley also
Speaker 1: had a silly, carefree side and could goof around with
Speaker 1: people her own age. She was that rare blend of mature, grounded,
Speaker 1: and full of joy. At Air Academy High School, Riley
Speaker 1: was known not just for her intelligence. She was a
Speaker 1: straight a studing, but she was said to have a
Speaker 1: warmth about her. She didn't need to be the loudest
Speaker 1: person in the room, and yet her presence was still
Speaker 1: the loudest in all the best ways. Her classmates called
Speaker 1: her Smiley Riley. She had a long list of passions
Speaker 1: and commitments. She was active in her school's Color Guard
Speaker 1: and Winter Guard programs, and was said to be named
Speaker 1: Section leader, a role she'd earned through hard work. Riley
Speaker 1: also loved animals, especially her dog Judy. She worked part
Speaker 1: time as a pet sitter when she wasn't at her
Speaker 1: other job while Green's on Centenius Boulevard, and if that
Speaker 1: wasn't enough, Riley volunteered her spare time in the Humane
Speaker 1: Society of the Pike's Peak Region. That was Riley in
Speaker 1: a nutshell, always doing, always giving, always smiling. She also
Speaker 1: had a deep love for the arts. She could often
Speaker 1: be found with a sketch pad in hand, filling it
Speaker 1: with pencil drawings and paintings, and then there was the guitar,
Speaker 1: another creative outlet that she'd fallen in love with. It
Speaker 1: was like Riley lived in full color. Everything she did
Speaker 1: was with intention. Her mother, Courtney said to CBS, anything
Speaker 1: Riley ever has taken on, she's always got both feet.
Speaker 1: In the eleventh of June twenty twenty two began like
Speaker 1: any other day for seventeen year old Riley Whitelaw. It
Speaker 1: was a Sunday, and Riley was scheduled to work her
Speaker 1: usual shift at Walgreens. Her mother dropped her off that morning,
Speaker 1: just like always, and told her she'd be there to
Speaker 1: pick her up eight PM. It was part of their
Speaker 1: weekend routine. Riley got to work, She stopped shelves, graded customers,
Speaker 1: and quietly went about her day. Something about Riley seemed different.
Speaker 1: Her co worker, Rita Beverly Crider noticed right away. Riley,
Speaker 1: who was typically bright and chatty, seemed withdrawn. She was
Speaker 1: quieter than normal, like something was weighing heavily on her.
Speaker 1: Later that afternoon, Riley approached Rita with an unusual request.
Speaker 1: She asked if she could work with her in the
Speaker 1: beauty department. Then, around five thirty PM, a co worker,
Speaker 1: twenty eight year old Joshua Johnson, came over to Rita.
Speaker 1: He said that it was time for Riley's break. Rida
Speaker 1: a grade and Riley walked off, leaving Rida to take
Speaker 1: over the register. But Riley never came back. This evening
Speaker 1: war on, the store began to fill with the buzz
Speaker 1: of post workshoppers. Riley's manager, Crystal Ishmael, noticed the absence.
Speaker 1: She thought maybe Riley had left early, but that was
Speaker 1: unlike her. She rang another manager, Justin's uniow, and mentioned
Speaker 1: that Riley hadn't returned from her break. Cristel decided to
Speaker 1: step outside to check for her. She had it towards
Speaker 1: the dumpster area, and that's when she noticed something strange.
Speaker 1: The smell of bleach was thick in the air. She
Speaker 1: tried the door nearby, but was met with a voice
Speaker 1: behind it. A man said that he was changing. Crystal
Speaker 1: glimpsed a pair of feet beneath the door. Thinking little
Speaker 1: of it, she turned around and went back to work.
Speaker 1: About half an hour later, Justin arrived to begin his shift.
Speaker 1: Riley was still missing at this stage, when Cristel told
Speaker 1: him about the bleach and the man changing outside Justin's
Speaker 1: instincts kicked in. Something wasn't right. He stepped outside to
Speaker 1: check it out for himself. The man was gone now,
Speaker 1: but there on the ground was an empty bottle of bleach.
Speaker 1: Justin couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
Speaker 1: Riley would never just disappear midshift without saying a word.
Speaker 1: When the store quieted, he decided to check the security footage.
Speaker 1: What he saw left him uneasy. Just before Riley's break,
Speaker 1: the footage showed Joshua Johnson, her co worker, stacking bins
Speaker 1: in front of the surveillance camera. It looked as though
Speaker 1: he was deliberately blocking its view. Justin made his way
Speaker 1: towards the shared breakroom. As he approached, he noticed that
Speaker 1: paper had been taped over the windows. Somebody had also
Speaker 1: placed a restroom clothes signed near by, something usually only
Speaker 1: done at closing time, not during the rush. He opened
Speaker 1: the breakroom door and froze inside. The scene was unimaginable.
Speaker 1: Blood was everywhere. It was splattered on cabinets, streaked across
Speaker 1: the counters, but most of it had pulled across the
Speaker 1: floor and in the center of it lay Riley. She
Speaker 1: had been stabbed forty two times. The wounds were all
Speaker 1: over her face, neck, and chest. Her arms and hands
Speaker 1: had been slashed. It was clear she had fought with
Speaker 1: everything she had. Blunt force trauma was also found on
Speaker 1: her head, torso and limbs. Her employee badge and radio
Speaker 1: earpiece lay near her feet. Beside them lay a gerb
Speaker 1: or Milty tool with its knife extension extended and slick
Speaker 1: with blood. Justin stood frozen for a moment, then quickly
Speaker 1: pulled out his phone and called nine one one. Officers
Speaker 1: arrived within minutes. He led them to the break room.
Speaker 1: There was nothing anybody could do. Riley Whitelaw was dead.
Speaker 1: As the crime scene was being uncovered, Riley's mother, Courtney,
Speaker 1: was on her way to pick her up. She was
Speaker 1: completely unaware that her world was about to shatter. But
Speaker 1: before she could even pull into the parking lot, Courtney
Speaker 1: was met with the nightmare. Flashing red and blue lights
Speaker 1: slid up the front of Walgreens. Police vehicles lined the curb.
Speaker 1: She immediately tried calling her daughter, but the phone just
Speaker 1: rang and rang. Panic said In. Courtney threw her car
Speaker 1: into park and rushed towards one of the officers outside.
Speaker 1: Her voice trembled as she asked if her daughter was okay.
Speaker 1: The officer looked at her solemnly and then delivered the
Speaker 1: words that no parent should ever hear her daughter, Riley
Speaker 1: was dead. Inside the store, manager justin's Niew was speaking
Speaker 1: with the detectives. He told them what he'd seen on
Speaker 1: the surveillance footage, how Joshua Johnson had deliberately stacked bins
Speaker 1: to block the camera's view shortly before Riley disappeared. Johnson
Speaker 1: had also been working that evening, but now he was missing.
Speaker 1: Riley was dead, and suspicion was quickly narrowing in on him.
Speaker 1: In a nearby storage area just off the break room,
Speaker 1: detective spotted something lang discarded on the floor. It was
Speaker 1: Joshua Johnson's name tag, his radio in a face mask
Speaker 1: ol of it seemed to have been left behind in
Speaker 1: a hurry. Justin and Crystel told detectives about the smell
Speaker 1: of bleach near the dumpsters and the man who said
Speaker 1: that he was changing. They wondered could it have been
Speaker 1: Johnson attempting to clean up after killing Riley. While detectives
Speaker 1: gathered statements from its staff, they were approached by a customer,
Speaker 1: Elisa Schwink she had been shopping in the store earlier
Speaker 1: that evening and what she heard had been bothering her.
Speaker 1: She explained that around five forty five p m. She
Speaker 1: was in the deodorant aisle when she suddenly heard screaming.
Speaker 1: She said it was a female voice, followed by what
Speaker 1: sounded like a metal stall door slamming shut. At the time,
Speaker 1: she thought she might have been imagining it, so she
Speaker 1: finished her shopping and left, But when she drove past
Speaker 1: later and saw the store swarming with police, her heart sank.
Speaker 1: She knew she had to go back and report what
Speaker 1: she had heard. As the investigation progressed, detectives learned that
Speaker 1: employees kept their belongings in a secure staff area, one
Speaker 1: that customers couldn't reach, they decided to search Joshua Johnson's locker. Inside,
Speaker 1: they found something chilling. There on a single sheet of
Speaker 1: paper were Riley's personal details, including her address, her phone number,
Speaker 1: her social Security number, and her locker combination. But it
Speaker 1: didn't end there. He had the same details for Riley's boyfriend,
Speaker 1: and then tucked into the locker, they found something else,
Speaker 1: a sheath for a Gerber multitool, the very same kind
Speaker 1: of tool found blood covered beside Riley's body. The evidence
Speaker 1: was stacking up. Joshua Johnson wasn't just missing, he was
Speaker 1: now the prime suspect in a brutal targeted killing. Once
Speaker 1: detectives had colected witness statements and processed the crime scene,
Speaker 1: they issued it beyond the lookout for Joshua Johnson. It
Speaker 1: didn't take long. Just ours later, an officer patrolling Interstate
Speaker 1: twenty five near Trinidad, over one hundred miles from Colorado Springs,
Speaker 1: spotted a man walking alone along the side of the highway.
Speaker 1: Something about him looked familiar. The man resembled Joshua Johnson,
Speaker 1: but something was off. His hair had been crudely and
Speaker 1: incompetently shaved. The sides were buzzed short, while tufts of
Speaker 1: longer hair remained clinging to the top of his scalp.
Speaker 1: It looked as though he had tried to alter his
Speaker 1: appearance and then stopped halfway. Even more ominous were the scratches.
Speaker 1: There were several visible marks across his face and scalp,
Speaker 1: especially noticeable where the hair had been removed. It looked
Speaker 1: like he either started shaving and realized the wounds were
Speaker 1: now exposed, or somebody had torn out chunks of his
Speaker 1: hair in a struggle. The officer pulled over and approached him.
Speaker 1: When he got closer, there was no doubt that it
Speaker 1: was indeed Joshua Johnson. He was placed under arrest. As
Speaker 1: the officer slipped the handcut on to his wrists, he
Speaker 1: noticed more scratches, this time across Johnson's hands. When asked
Speaker 1: where they had come from, Johnson claimed that he had
Speaker 1: been attacked at Walgreens. Johnson was transported back to Colorado
Speaker 1: Springs and brought into custody. His clothing was seized for evidence.
Speaker 1: Officers noted burizing across his arms and torso as if
Speaker 1: he had recently been in a physical fight. He was
Speaker 1: led into the interrogation room, where he immediately admitted that
Speaker 1: he knew that Riley was dead, but the story he
Speaker 1: told was one that nobody could quite believe. Johnson then
Speaker 1: claimed that he had witnessed Riley's murder, not committed it.
Speaker 1: According to him, he had been working that day when
Speaker 1: he heard a scream coming from the break room. He
Speaker 1: said he rushed in and found a man in a
Speaker 1: black mask stabbing Riley. He described the attacker as having
Speaker 1: blue eyes with a gray tint. He said that the
Speaker 1: man turned on him, scratched him, and that he slipped
Speaker 1: in Riley's blood while trying to defend himself. But instead
Speaker 1: of calling for help or learning anybody, Johnson said that
Speaker 1: he ran. He explained he had run away because the
Speaker 1: man had told him his name and address, and he
Speaker 1: was scared that the man would come after him. It
Speaker 1: was a strange and elaborate story, one with no evidence
Speaker 1: to support it. Detectives listened quietly and then began presenting
Speaker 1: what they had. They told him that they had seen
Speaker 1: the surveillance footage the way he had deliberately obscured the
Speaker 1: camera by stacking bins in front of it before Riley
Speaker 1: went missing. They asked him about it directly. Johnson denied it.
Speaker 1: He said he wasn't trying to hide anything. He then
Speaker 1: admitted that, yes, he was the man outside by the dumpster,
Speaker 1: the one who told Cristel he was changing. He said
Speaker 1: he was trying to leave the store because he was afraid,
Speaker 1: but his story continued to unravel. Detectives obtained a search
Speaker 1: warrant for Johnson's home. Inside the bathroom, on the floor,
Speaker 1: they found a pile of crumpled clothing, all of it
Speaker 1: soaked with blood. With Riley dead and the lead suspect
Speaker 1: behind bars, detectives turned their focus to understanding why this
Speaker 1: had happened. What could have led a seemingly ordinary shift
Speaker 1: at Walgreens to end in such a gruesome way. They
Speaker 1: began interviewing Riley's co workers, and soon enough a motive
Speaker 1: started to come to focus. Nearly a year before the murder,
Speaker 1: Riley had approached her manager Justin with a concern. She
Speaker 1: said that Joshua Johnson had been making her uncomfortable with
Speaker 1: repeated and unwanted advances. There was one comment that especially
Speaker 1: unsettled her. Johnson had said something to Riley, a seventeen
Speaker 1: year old girl, about how she wanted to be dominated
Speaker 1: in a sexual context. Justin warred Johnson to remain professional.
Speaker 1: He said that kind of talk had no place at work,
Speaker 1: and for a while it seemed like the issue had
Speaker 1: been dealt with. Justin did his best to make sure
Speaker 1: Johnson and Riley weren't scheduled on the shame shifts. But
Speaker 1: a few months later Riley asked for more ours. Justin
Speaker 1: told her that would mean working with Johnson. She hesitated,
Speaker 1: but eventually she said it was fine. Only it wasn't fine.
Speaker 1: Just a week before Riley was killed, she made another complaint.
Speaker 1: She said Johnson was still making her feel uncomfortable and
Speaker 1: asked to be scheduled on different shifts. Again, she didn't
Speaker 1: want to work with him any more. Riley's boyfriend, Jacob Leacock,
Speaker 1: had recently started working at the store. Their other manager, Crystal,
Speaker 1: noticed that Johnson seemed visibly unhappy about this. In fact,
Speaker 1: he seemed jealous. His behavior changed. He became cold, short,
Speaker 1: and snappy, especially when Riley and Jacob were together. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just the managers who are aware of Johnson's behavior.
Speaker 1: Riley had confided in several of her friends that Johnson
Speaker 1: had made for sexual advances, the kind that made her
Speaker 1: dread going to work. It wasn't just lude comments either.
Speaker 1: Riley told her mother, Courtney, that Johnson had once touched
Speaker 1: her bottom. To her friend Jordan Swayne, she said, bluntly,
Speaker 1: he made gross comments and did gross things to me.
Speaker 1: The picture that emerged was clear. Riley had tried to
Speaker 1: speak up. She had gone to her managers, She had
Speaker 1: voiced her discomfort more than once, and still she was
Speaker 1: scheduled to work with the man She feared. When these
Speaker 1: facts became public, outrage followed online. The hashtag justice for
Speaker 1: Riley Whitelaw began trending. People across the country were appalled
Speaker 1: by Walgren's handling of the situation. One person waited directly
Speaker 1: at the company. Sheame on you for allowing a culture
Speaker 1: of harassment, for ignoring an employee's mental health, for not
Speaker 1: taking a minor employee safety seriously, for grossly mishandling and
Speaker 1: hr situation, and telling the world women are not safe
Speaker 1: in your store. Many others echoed the same sentiment that
Speaker 1: Riley had been let down, not just by her killer,
Speaker 1: but by the very people who were supposed to protect her.
Speaker 1: She had done everything right, she had reported Johnson's behavior,
Speaker 1: she'd asked for help, she made it known that she
Speaker 1: felt unsafe, and yet nothing meaningful was done. Johnson was
Speaker 1: told to keep a professional and that was that. Even Crystal,
Speaker 1: the manager who had noticed Johnson's jealous behavior, didn't intervene
Speaker 1: beyond noting the change in attitude. But workplace harassment isn't
Speaker 1: just about uncomfortable conversations or off call, it remarks, It's
Speaker 1: about poor and fear. It's about young women like Riley
Speaker 1: being forced to endure inappropriate and threatening behavior just to
Speaker 1: keep a job, and when employers failed to take decisive action,
Speaker 1: when they downplay reports or avoid confrontation, it sounds a
Speaker 1: very dangerous message that safety can be compromised in the
Speaker 1: name of convenience. For Riley, that failure cost her life.
Speaker 1: As Joshua Johnson was charged with the murder of Riley Whitelaw,
Speaker 1: the community she left behind tried to make sense of
Speaker 1: the loss that her high school students, teachers, and parents
Speaker 1: gathered to celebrate her life. One by one, her classmates
Speaker 1: stepped up to speak. There were those who had known
Speaker 1: her for years and those who had only met her recently,
Speaker 1: but all of them spoke of the same girl, somebody warm, creative,
Speaker 1: and kind. She wasn't just part of one social group.
Speaker 1: Riley fit in everywhere. She was the type of person
Speaker 1: who would spot the new kid to make sure they
Speaker 1: never meat lunch alone. She shared her art, her music,
Speaker 1: her laughter. There were recurring memories about her gentle smile,
Speaker 1: her drawings, and her love of music. Once students said
Speaker 1: she made them feel sane when nobody else did. Another
Speaker 1: remembered her helping them study even when she had her
Speaker 1: own deadlines to meet john her memory, Riley's family announced
Speaker 1: the creation of a scholarship fund and her name. A
Speaker 1: GoFundMe page was launched, and within ours it surpassed its
Speaker 1: goal of ten thousand dollars. The fundraiser read, in part,
Speaker 1: all funds will go towards the long term scholarship fund
Speaker 1: in Riley's name and genetic research projects we think she
Speaker 1: would appreciate. Then, on the twenty third of June twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two, Riley was led to rest during a funeral
Speaker 1: service at Woodman Valley Chapel. Hundreds of mourners filled the chapel,
Speaker 1: wearing lilac and soft blue, Riley's favorite colors. But while
Speaker 1: Riley's loved ones tried to grieve, the criminal proceedings against
Speaker 1: her alleged killer were just getting underway. A preliminary hearing
Speaker 1: was held to determine whether there was enough evidence for
Speaker 1: Joshua Johnson to stand trial. Detective Stephen Olino was called
Speaker 1: to testify. He was asked directly by Prosecutor gioa, who
Speaker 1: do you believe was responsible for the death of Riley whitelaw.
Speaker 1: He didn't hesitate and said Joshua Johnson. Prosecutors outlined the
Speaker 1: evidence they had collect from the surveillance footage Johnson tried
Speaker 1: to block to the bloody multi toll to the suspicious
Speaker 1: items found in his locker, including a shade of paper
Speaker 1: with Riley's personal details. Several people also testified about Johnson's
Speaker 1: bizarre claim that a masked man had entered the break
Speaker 1: room and killed Riley. Detective Onlino revealed something chilling. He
Speaker 1: believed that Johnson had already been planning to blame somebody
Speaker 1: else before Riley was even killed. Earlier that day, Johnson
Speaker 1: had commented to co workers about a man that was
Speaker 1: in the store, someone who happened to be friends with
Speaker 1: the Walgreens manager. Johnson had said that the man looked suspicious.
Speaker 1: That same man would later become the one Johnson seemed
Speaker 1: to be describing when he told police his story about
Speaker 1: the masked killer. But there was one major problem with
Speaker 1: that narrative. That man had an airtight alibi. Surveillance footage
Speaker 1: showed that he was at work at the time of
Speaker 1: the murder. There was no way he could have been
Speaker 1: at Walgreens. Had never directly named the man, but it
Speaker 1: was clear he had tried to plant the seed of
Speaker 1: suspicion in advance. It was premeditation, a cover story waiting
Speaker 1: in the wings. Judge Eric Bentley listened carefully to the
Speaker 1: prosecution's case. In his ruling, he stated, the evidence presented
Speaker 1: in this case is sufficient to very easily clear the bar.
Speaker 1: The case would proceed to trial. That November, Johnson returned
Speaker 1: to court. He stood before the judge, looked up and
Speaker 1: pleaded not guilty. As the prosecution and defense prepared for
Speaker 1: Joshua Johnson's upcoming murder trial, charges were simultaneously unfolding in
Speaker 1: the state's legal system. These changes were driven in part
Speaker 1: by Riley Whitelaw's case. In February of twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: Colorado lawmakers introduced Senate Bill seventy five, a piece of
Speaker 1: legislation that aimed to protect the identities of minor victims
Speaker 1: and witnesses in public criminal justice records. If passed, the
Speaker 1: law would require the names of minor to be replaced
Speaker 1: with designations such as child victim or child witness, shielding
Speaker 1: them from public exposure, especially through media coverage or open
Speaker 1: court documents. Riley's mother, Courtney, supported the billholeheartedly in the
Speaker 1: wake of Riley's murder, Many of her friends, even some
Speaker 1: family members, learned about what had happened from the news
Speaker 1: or social media before Courtney had the chance to tell
Speaker 1: them herself. It was a trauma compounded by public exposure.
Speaker 1: Courtney later said, my family and I had no time
Speaker 1: to grieve in private. The children didn't deserve to find
Speaker 1: out such horrors from news or social media. Under Colorado's
Speaker 1: existing law at the time, the names of minor victims
Speaker 1: were only automatically redacted in certain cases, usually sexual assault,
Speaker 1: but for crimes I comicide there were no protections in place. Ironically,
Speaker 1: perpetrators who were miners often did have their names shielded
Speaker 1: unless charged as adults. Senator Tony ExHAM, a sponsor of
Speaker 1: the bill, said perpetrators are protected more than victims. That's
Speaker 1: not right, that's not fair. Whilst Senate Bill seventy five,
Speaker 1: which was later renamed Riley's Law, made its way through
Speaker 1: the legislative process, Johnson's murder trial was facing its own delays.
Speaker 1: Judge Eric Bentley ordered a competency evaluation to determine whether
Speaker 1: Johnson was mentally fit to stand trial. Prosecutors argued that
Speaker 1: the request was nothing more than a stralling tactic by
Speaker 1: the defense. Still, the evaluation moved forward. In May of
Speaker 1: two thousand and twenty three, Riley's Law passed unanimously. It
Speaker 1: was a landmark moment not only for Riley's family, but
Speaker 1: for future victims and witnesses across the state. Representative Brianna
Speaker 1: Tittone announced that it would officially carry Riley's name. She stated,
Speaker 1: this bill is about a mom who is fighting for
Speaker 1: her daughter and her friends. We thought it would be
Speaker 1: fitting that she's worked so hard for this bill that
Speaker 1: we name it after her daughter. Just days after Riley's
Speaker 1: Law passed, Johnson was declared competent to stand trial, and
Speaker 1: with that, Judge Bentley said an official date the twenty
Speaker 1: fifth of September twenty twenty three. That would be the
Speaker 1: day that Joshua Johnson faced a jury and the day
Speaker 1: that Riley's family would take one more step towards justice.
Speaker 1: After two days of jury selection, twelve jurors were chosen
Speaker 1: and the murder trial of Joshua Johnson was ready to begin.
Speaker 1: On the morning of the trial, Johnson was escorted into
Speaker 1: the courtroom dressed in an ill fitting black suit. He
Speaker 1: sat alongside as defense team at the front largely expressionless.
Speaker 1: The courtroom gradually filled with Riley's family, friends, teachers, and classmates,
Speaker 1: their presence forming a visible wall of support behind the prosecution.
Speaker 1: The other side of the gallery behind Johnson was sparse.
Speaker 1: Most if the seats were occupied by members of the
Speaker 1: media and a few representatives from the Public Defender's office.
Speaker 1: During opening statements, the prosecution and defense laid out two
Speaker 1: very different versions of what happened to seventeen year old
Speaker 1: Riley Whitelaw prosecutor Anthony Gioa kept his remarks brief but pointed.
Speaker 1: He told the jury that not only did the state
Speaker 1: believe that Johnson killed Riley, they had overwhelming evidence to
Speaker 1: prove it. He alleged that Johnson had developed obsessive and
Speaker 1: unwonted romantic feelings towards Riley. When she rejected him and
Speaker 1: began dating someone else, Johnson became increasingly hostile. The prosecutor
Speaker 1: said this was gruesome and meticulously planned by the defendant.
Speaker 1: He showed surveillance footage that captured Johnson's stacking bins in
Speaker 1: front of the break room camera, a clear attempt to
Speaker 1: obstruct the lens. He pointed out that Johnson had also
Speaker 1: parked his car out of view of the store's external cameras,
Speaker 1: suggesting premeditation, and while defense attorney Jonathan Stafford painted a
Speaker 1: completely different picture. He said Johnson was simply in the
Speaker 1: wrong place at the wrong time, an innocent bystander to
Speaker 1: a horrific murder. He stated, Joshua Johnson was the easy
Speaker 1: and convenient target for investigators in this case, wrong place
Speaker 1: and the wrong time. He argued that Johnson had accidentally
Speaker 1: left a side door open, which allowed a mysterious man
Speaker 1: to enter the store. This was the same man, he said,
Speaker 1: who Johnson later claimed he saw attacking Riley. Stafford even
Speaker 1: suggested that Johnson had bad vibes about a friend of
Speaker 1: the manager who had visited earlier in the day. It
Speaker 1: was a vague attempt to cast out mister Johnson did
Speaker 1: not murder Riley whitelaw, he concluded. Testimony began with those
Speaker 1: closest to Riley. Her friend Anna Shelton, testified that Riley
Speaker 1: had confided in her about Johnson's repeated sexual advances at work.
Speaker 1: She said that Riley felt uncomfortable and that she had
Speaker 1: reported the behadaviar to management, but in her words, not
Speaker 1: a lot was done. Ridley's mother, Courtney, also took to
Speaker 1: the stand and told the jury she got a weird
Speaker 1: vibe from him. Her impression was maybe he liked her.
Speaker 1: The prosecution played a video message that Riley had sent
Speaker 1: to her friends before her death. In it, she referred
Speaker 1: to Johnson as Pedro Josh and described him as creepy, unprofessional,
Speaker 1: and disgusting. Other friends confirmed hearing similar concerns. However, under
Speaker 1: cross examination, they admitted that Riley had never explicitly said
Speaker 1: that she was afraid of Johnson, a detail that the
Speaker 1: defense clung to. Walgreen's employees also gave compelling testimony. Crystal,
Speaker 1: one of the managers, said that in the days leading
Speaker 1: up to Riley's murderer, Johnson had grown noticeably distant and upset,
Speaker 1: especially after Riley's boyfriend, Jacob began working at the store.
Speaker 1: Rita and other employee said that on the day of
Speaker 1: the murderer, Riley was more nervous than usual. She wanted
Speaker 1: to work in the beauty department with her, possibly to
Speaker 1: avoid Johnson, but he had also noted something strange. Johnson
Speaker 1: had told Riley when to take her break, even though
Speaker 1: he wasn't her manager. Justin another manager spoke about saying
Speaker 1: Johnson's stack creates in front of the surveillance camera. At
Speaker 1: the time, it seemed strange, but none of them imagined
Speaker 1: what it was foreshadowing. Then came a surprise witness, Johnson's mother,
Speaker 1: Victoria Cox. Her testimony was brief and tense. She confirmed
Speaker 1: that Johnson came home around six pm the day that
Speaker 1: Riley was killed, only to leave five minutes later, claiming
Speaker 1: he needed to return to work. She described his behavior
Speaker 1: as abnormal. Next, the prosecution introduced forensic evidence, and it
Speaker 1: was damning. Donomanogue testified that Riley's blood was found on
Speaker 1: Johnson's body. DNA collected from underneath Riley's fingernails also matched Johnson,
Speaker 1: suggesting a violent struggle. Jennifer Finelli testified the Johnson's fingerprints
Speaker 1: were discovered on a mop pocket covered in blood. Crucially,
Speaker 1: the prints were on top of the blood, meaning he
Speaker 1: had touched the bucket after the murder, not before. The
Speaker 1: jury was then showed Johnson's interrogation footage, where he spent
Speaker 1: an hour claiming he had witnessed the murder but hadn't
Speaker 1: committed it. It was a desperate and unconvincing attempt to
Speaker 1: distance himself from the crime. When the prosecution rested, the
Speaker 1: defense presented a much shorter case. They called the detective
Speaker 1: to ask about Crystal's demeanor when she first reported the
Speaker 1: smell of bleach. He replied that she was hysterical, implying
Speaker 1: that her judgment might have been clouded. Then they called
Speaker 1: blame with there's a manager from another Walgreens. He was
Speaker 1: briefly questioned about an inventory tracking device before being dismissed,
Speaker 1: and that was it. Including arguments, the prosecutor told the
Speaker 1: jury the evidence of deliberation is extensive and significant. He
Speaker 1: walked them through the timeline, the stacking of the create,
Speaker 1: the tampering with surveillance, the isolated break room, the attempt
Speaker 1: to frame a mysterious man. The defense argued that Riley
Speaker 1: never told anybody she feared Johnson and claimed there was
Speaker 1: still room for doubt. The jury didn't take long. After
Speaker 1: just one ar of deliberation, they returned with a verdict
Speaker 1: guilty of first degree murder. The sentencing phase followed after
Speaker 1: the verdict. At the front of the courtroom, placed gently
Speaker 1: on a table sat three symbolic items, an empty glass phase,
Speaker 1: a bag of purple stones, and a small bundle of sunflowers.
Speaker 1: Riley's cousin, Jeremy Modle, stood before the jury to explain
Speaker 1: their meaning. He said that inside the bag were forty
Speaker 1: two purple stones, each one representing one of the forty
Speaker 1: two stab wounds that Riley had suffered. As each person
Speaker 1: and delivered a victim impact statement, they would take a
Speaker 1: handful of those stones and place them in the vase,
Speaker 1: slowly filling it with a physical representation of grief, loss
Speaker 1: and remembrance. He stated, we want to fill it with kindness.
Speaker 1: It would be what she wanted. Kelly Whitelaw, Riley's aunt,
Speaker 1: turned to Johnson and said, you are a monster. I
Speaker 1: can't even speak your name. Riley mattered, her life mattered.
Speaker 1: Chris Johnson, Riley's stepfather, was visibly emotional as he said,
Speaker 1: I was blessed enough to be a part of Riley's
Speaker 1: life for the past six years. Riley was the daughter
Speaker 1: I never had. Her grandparents, Robert and Pamela Whitelaw, shared
Speaker 1: their heartbreak over the loss of their only grandchild. There
Speaker 1: would be no college graduation, no wedding day, no more
Speaker 1: family dinners filled with Riley's laughter and with each statement.
Speaker 1: The vase slowly filled purple stones clinking softly as they
Speaker 1: were dropped in the Last to spake was Riley's mother, Courtney.
Speaker 1: She wore an Heir Academy color guard jacket, a tribute
Speaker 1: to her daughter, who had proudly served as co captain.
Speaker 1: She referred to Johnson only as the monster, refusing to
Speaker 1: give him the dignity of a name. She said, I
Speaker 1: pray the vileness of your act haunts you for the
Speaker 1: rest of your life. How could you be so rage
Speaker 1: filled by someone so kind? She spoke about the strength
Speaker 1: Riley had shown in life and in death, and about
Speaker 1: the kind of person she had grown to be. She said,
Speaker 1: I love Riley, and her death will not diminish that
Speaker 1: or take that away from me or from her. She concluded,
Speaker 1: I gave Riley her name because it means courage. She
Speaker 1: had so much courage, courage to speak out when something
Speaker 1: is wrong, courage to step up and quietly. Late. When
Speaker 1: Courtney sat down, the room fell silent. Joshua Johnson was
Speaker 1: then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Speaker 1: But even in Deathley Whitelaw's legacy lives on in the
Speaker 1: wake of the tragedy, Riley's Law was passed, ensuring that
Speaker 1: juvenile victims and witnesses in criminal cases in Colorado can't
Speaker 1: be publicly identified in official records. Her family also funded
Speaker 1: a nonprofit in her honor, and Within Wakes raised over
Speaker 1: sixty thousand dollars through gofund me. That same year, the
Speaker 1: Riley whitelaw Memorial Fund awarded its first round of scholarships
Speaker 1: and grants. In death, Riley held graduating students from Air
Speaker 1: Academy High School pursue their dreams, just like she should
Speaker 1: have been able to pursue hers. Well, Bessie's. That is
Speaker 1: it for this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for and I'd like to say a massive
Speaker 1: thank you to my newest Patreon supporters Miranda, Maya, Kim,
Speaker 1: and Stephen. The link to Patreon is in the show
Speaker 1: notes if you'd like to join. I'd also like to
Speaker 1: thank my Patreon supporter Cullen for suggesting this case. If
Speaker 1: you'd like to support the show in another way, please
Speaker 1: consider leaving me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Speaker 1: or wherever else you may be listening. I genuinely do
Speaker 1: appreciate the feedback that some of you may know. Morbidology
Speaker 1: is now up on YouTube, so if you'd like to
Speaker 1: head on over there and hit the subscribe button, I'd
Speaker 1: be eternally grateful. Remember Jack is out at more biology
Speaker 1: dot com for more information about this episode and to
Speaker 1: read some True Grime articles. Until next time, take care
Speaker 1: of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing way