Jury finds Johnson guilty in killing of teen baby sitter a decade ago

A six-woman, two-man jury found Terry Louis Johnson guilty of murder Thursday night for a crime committed 10 years ago.

Prosecutors said new, improved DNA testing showed the blood of Christopher Mosier, 14, who was baby-sitting Johnson's son, was on the baby blanket in Johnson's possession. The jury deliberated nearly six hours. After the verdict was read shortly before 10 p.m., Johnson's weeping mother, Lida Johnson, collapsed in the hallway outside the 3rd District courtroom, and paramedics rushed to the scene.

Inside the courtroom, Scott Mosier, the father of the victim, said, "I think justice has been served. Something we've been praying for has finally come. We're grateful for the work and dedication of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, the District Attorney's Office and the people who kept this case alive for the last 10 1/2 years."

Defense attorney John O'Connell said in closing arguments, "This is a weak case. It's very circumstantial."

O'Connell said the prosecutors' timeline, during which the crime could have been committed, was geared to make Johnson look guilty.

O'Connell also suggested many other people could have been responsible: the boyfriend of the boy's mother, seventh-graders at school with whom he had had a confrontation, gangs that he openly disliked or his friend Brandon Bray. O'Connell suggested Bray seemed to know more about the crime than he was telling.

O'Connell also stated Johnson didn't have a motive to brutally stab the teenager, who was tending his baby.

"Why would Terry kill this child? There isn't a reason," O'Connell said.

He also said certain prosecution witnesses were not credible. One of them, Matthew Rushton, received a plea bargain and is avoiding prison for his testimony. As for the testimony of Johnson's ex-wife Linda, "She clearly hates Terry. She left the state and won't let him see his son. She has every motive to try and make him look bad," O'Connell said. He added that Linda Johnson stood by Johnson at first and didn't change her story until the "after the relationship had gone sour."

Prosecutor Katie Bernards-Goodman disputed every defense point. Linda Johnson lied to protect her life, then spoke out once she was safe, the prosecutor said. "If she really wanted to nail her husband, she'd made up a really good story. What she came in here with are bits and pieces, what she knew."