Wilbur G. Johnson, a 42-year-old Native American man and member of the Yankton Sioux tribe, was found dead in an alley in the 500 block of East Monroe Street in Rapid City on December 22, 2000. He had been beaten to death with a heavy blunt object. Authorities say he left a downtown Rapid City bar with two other individuals and was later seen running from two men not long after.

Some of Johnson’s personal items were missing, so robbery was considered, but investigators also said the killing might have followed a disagreement and could have been premeditated. Police arrested James Ray Jamie Howard of Rapid City the day after the body was found and charged him with first-degree murder. A second suspect, 23-year-old Adrian Gilbert Black Bear of Rapid City, was arrested on December 27 at a residence in Wanblee on a first-degree murder warrant. Both faced possible life or capital penalties if convicted.

Did anyone in Rapid City or at the downtown bars on December 22, 2000, see Johnson with these men or notice what happened that morning?