A Robbery, Murder and Prison Escape — True Crime
By: Lisa Marie Fuqua
Tags: Murder, True Crime, Corruption, Crime, History

One Way or Another

For the following year, after having his parole denied, Smith continued being a model prisoner. But on October 28, 1985, he made a move.

A prison guard noticed that Smith was nowhere to be found, and they put the prison on lockdown looking for him. After an extensive search, it was clear that Smith had escaped.

The first place they looked for Smith was with his wife, Jo Beth. But what they found at her address proved who had helped Smith escape.

Jo Beth had closed out her checking account, sold all of her belongings, and borrowed $1,000 from friends all in the week before Smith escaped.

Hunting the Couple

In February 1986, the Smiths were seen at a gas station in Arkansas. But they were gone by the time authorities showed up.

In March of 1993, an anonymous tip came in that Smith and his wife were in Spearfish, South Dakota. They said that Smith was working as a service manager at a dealership under the name Gary Johnson.

Working together local police, the sheriff’s department, state troopers, and FBI agents surrounded the Ford dealership with guns drawn.

Smith didn’t resist and quickly told authorities who he was. His wife Jo Beth, who was going by Bobbie, was in town and taken into custody also.

Everyone who had known the Johnson’s was shocked. The man they knew as Gary was mild-mannered and had never caused a problem. He and his wife had made friends, and no one suspected them of being criminals on the run.

“Without a doubt, he was the best person I ever worked for,” said a mechanic named Bob Larson, who worked with Gary/David.

The dealership owner Doug Johnson said he would rehire Gary/David in a minute if he could.

The couple had been living in South Dakota for six years on a seven-acre ranch outside of Deadwood. The couple kept horses, dogs, and cats and were considered just your average couple.

Bobbie/Jo Beth had been working at a hospital in Deadwood, where no one knew of her double life.

Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash

Was There More to the Story?

After he was arrested back in 1978, Smith confessed to his part in the crimes. He said that he had been forced at gunpoint to commit the robbery.

And as for the Reason that he Escaped?

Jo Beth was being extorted by a prison official for money and was forcing her to have sex with him. The official threatened if she didn’t comply, he would have her husband killed in prison.

One day out of the blue, a prison official stopped by her house, saying he wanted to talk about her husband, she let him in. “He jumped me and raped me.”

After he told her, he could easily have Smith killed in prison if she ever told anyone. He continued to blackmail and force her to have sex with him.

Betty Jo felt so helpless she stole drugs from the hospital she worked at, in an attempt to kill herself. A friend found her in time and got her help, but she was still suicidal from the abuse. She finally broke down and told her husband what was going on.

Smith confronted the prison official. “He just laughed,” David said. “He threatened to put a rat jacket on me.” Being labeled a snitch in prison is a death sentence.

When you look at Smith’s background, it doesn’t appear to add up to a robber and murderer. His father was a college professor, and his mother was a dietitian.

He attended college for a while then got a good-paying job at a lumber yard. He was doing well, was engaged, and had never gotten in trouble with the police.

So how did Smith End Up in that Driver’s License Center?

He said his neighbor Jackie Ray Young who he sometimes helped work on cars, forced him into the robbery.

On the morning of September 1, 1978, Young asked Smith to help him drive a car across town. Smith said he wondered if it was stolen, but he didn’t know. While they were in the vehicle, Young said they were going to rob a “tag agency” in Catoosa.

When Smith protested, Young pulled a gun on him. “I was too damn scared to try anything, Smith said. “I should have done more, but I didn’t. It was a pretty gutless reaction, but it’s what I did.”

During his trial, Smith swore he was coerced into the shooting, and that he never fired a shot. He passed a lie detector test. He said that Young had been holding both guns.

Smith also claimed that he was kneeling on the floor, saying he surrendered when JB Hamby shot him.

Conclusion

Smith was returned to Oklahoma and charged with escaping, adding an additional four years onto his sentence.

Jo Beth ended up spending a year in prison. In 2003 she passed away.

In 2008 Smith was denied parole again. He’s currently still incarcerated for the murder of JB Hamby.