Chapter 6

IN HIS OWN DEFENSE

“Dale, did you kill them?

“No,  I did  not,” Dale  Johnston insisted,  after taking the stand on his own behalf.

“Did you cut them up?”

No, I did not,” replied Johnston.

“Did you put them in that cornfield?”

“No, I did not,” Johnston said in a monotone.

Johnston  told  the  court  how  police detective Thompson  had   attempted  to  badger   him  into  confessing to the murders.

“I know you killed the  kids. Confess, the city is scared  to  death.  Put   their  fears  at  ease,” Johnston quoted Thompson as saying.

Thompson questioned him  for almost  seven hours in a smoky room shortly after the body parts were found  in the cornfield. During  much of this time  he  wore  only  a  pair  of socks and jeans, because his undershirt, boots, shirt, hat and vest had been taken from him.

Johnston emphatically denied ever telling Thompson he masturbated in the presence of Annette.

“Every  time I  told him  something, he [Thompson] would  twist it  around, trying  to make something dirty out of it.”

When Johnston offered to take a lie detector test, he said,  Thompson replied, “Well  you better pass it or I’ll arrest you on the spot.”

Johnston also denied saying  he wasn’t in Logan on Oct.  4--the  day  the  teenagers disappeared—but told Thompson he wasn’t in Logan that evening.

Attorney  Tyack  inquired,   “You  loved  Annette, didn’t  you.”  Johnston  replied  quietly, “Yes, I did.”

When  asked whether  there was  any sexual contact with Annette in 1975  or 1976, Johnston said there had  been.   Tyack  then  dropped   that  line  of questioning.

Johnston said he first  became concerned about his stepdaughter’s whereabouts after  Don Schultz told him that Todd had said he would kill himself if he couldn’t be with Annette all of the time.

Dale and Sarah were told by Sandra, Todd’s mother, that  “she knew  Todd was  dead, that  he had been shot  and  was  in  the  cornfield.” Johnston then decided  to consult  a psychic,  who told  him the young people were alive.

He told the court  he had successfully made mental contact with  Annette and saw visions  of Todd and Annette holding hands by  some water and trees. He also reported  a vision of  Annette driving a  car with three passengers.

Johnston explained the nude photographs of Annette as a legacy for her  to show her children—“One of those occasions when you wished you had a camera.” Because  of legal  technicalities, the  family was not permitted  to live in the  cabin they had just purchased.  While  sleeping  outside  in  a  tent, Johnston  heard his  dog barking.  Three boys were apparently  trying  to  break  into  the cabin, he testified.

Upon investigating, he said  he heard Annette say, “Kill those S.O.B.s daddy.” Turning around he saw Annette standing  naked, holding his  shotgun. The next  day, Dale  and Sarah  took Annette’s picture posing with  the shotgun. This  was the photograph given  to former  Logan police  captain Mowery  to identify Annette.

Dale  first met  Todd in  February, 1982.  “We go along  well.” The  entire family  had in  common a love of  horses. Because of  Annette’s involvement with 4H’s  horse program, she had  been invited to participate in the 1982  Ohio State Fair. Johnston said, Todd didn’t approve of Annette’s involvement in the fair, “but  didn’t really oppose it either. He  just wanted  to  be  involved with  her.” Todd wanted  to  accompany  them,  but  was  told there wasn’t enough room in the camper for him.

They stayed  at the fair  overnight, leaving after Annette’s  competition.  “She  did  well,  but the horse done lousy,” Johnston laughingly said.

He told how, the day  after they returned from the fair, he saw Todd in  Annette’s bedroom as she was starting to  change into a  swimsuit. He  said he told Todd they were getting a little too familiar, and asked him to leave the room, which he did.

Later  Annette  asked  her  stepfather  why it was improper  for Todd  to watch  her change  clothes Johnston said he told  her, “We have certain rules in  this house,  and if  you can’t  abide by those rules, you’re old enough to leave.” Johnston later found  out from  Michelle that  Annette had  moved out.

Johnston testified he had  been hauling hay on the day of  the disappearance. Sarah  and Michelle had come home  early in the  evening. While they  were having   coffee  together,   Michelle  tended  he evening chores.

He wasn’t too concerned when first contacted about the  teenagers  being  missing.  “I first thought they ran off and got married,” he said.

A VHS or DVD video documentary, “Reasonable Doubt,” is available    from   Land of Canaan Communications. The award-winning  program is only  $19.95 postpaid. It can be ordered  by sending a money order  for $19.95 to Don Canaan, 611 St. Andrews Blvd., The Villages, FL 32159 or via PayPal to dcanaan@israelfaxx.com