On July 3, 2015, a married couple was found shot to death in their rural Buchanan County home near St. Joseph, Missouri. Victims were identified as 72-year-old James Aunon Johnson and his 76-year-old wife, Beverly Ann Betty Johnson. James Johnson had been shot in the back of the head and his wife in the temple; the bodies were discovered on Independence Day, prompting an investigation by the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office.

Police quickly identified the couple’s 16-year-old grandson, Joseph Johnson, who had been adopted and lived with them, as a suspect. He was stopped and arrested hours after the killings in Platte County and was found with about $600, a grandparents’ credit card, and written directions to Louisville, Kentucky. He later told the court he had mistaken discipline for abuse, admitted using two pistols during the attack, and described his actions as those of a spoiled and stupid child. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. The house where the murders occurred was destroyed by fire in January 2016 while the property was unoccupied.

Does anyone have information about the family or what led to the conflict that preceded these killings?