Opinion ID: 1341011
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: On the afternoon of May 28, 1983, Smith, armed with a pistol, went to the home of Christy and Corrie Johnson, a couple in their eighties from whom Smith's family had previously rented a house. In a confession given when arrested, Smith described what happened at the Johnsons': I needed a ride and I wanted to see if Christy Johnson would let me borrow his car, so I walked up to his house and he wouldn't let me use the car. [We] got to arguing  I got mad and I hit Christy Johnson. He fell to the floor and Corrie, his wife, came at me with something. I don't know what. I pushed her back. I reached for a knife and I stabbed her several times. Then I stabbed Christy Johnson several times after he got up off the floor. I then got the keys and went and got the car. Smith later stripped and abandoned the car. He hid the pistol in a false ceiling at his place of employment. Autopsies revealed that each of the victims had multiple stab wounds and also blunt force injuries, consistent with having been struck by the pistol, upon which human blood was found. Mr. Johnson had 26 and Mrs. Johnson 17 stab wounds, to the face, neck, chest and back. Both had defense wounds on their wrists and hands indicating that, while conscious, they tried to defend themselves. According to Dr. Joel Sexton, the pathologist who conducted the autopsies, all wounds were inflicted before death. Considering the number of superficial wounds, it was his opinion that many were most probably inflicted while the victims were conscious. This fact was supported by the number and location of blood smears and pools of blood throughout the house. Many of the wounds, particularly those to the face and hands, would have been painful.