A long marriage in Savannah ended violently on October 31, 2009. Neighbors and family described a heated argument between 69-year-old Robert M. Johnson and his 66-year-old wife, Mary Ellen Johnson, that day. Their son saw Robert choking Mary Ellen outside the home and intervened; later Mary Ellen began packing to leave. When her brother, Nathaniel Harris, arrived she said she would wait for the police before retrieving belongings. Robert threatened to kill her for involving the police, went inside and came out with a rifle. Harris tried to calm things, Robert pointed the rifle at him, and after a brief exchange between husband and wife a single gunshot was heard. Mary Ellen was found shot in the upper right chest, taken to a hospital and later died.

Robert Johnson fled in an SUV but was stopped at a nearby gas station by a responding officer and arrested. A Chatham County grand jury indicted him on multiple counts including felony murder and aggravated assault. At his June 2012 trial the jury acquitted him of malice murder and the aggravated assault charge involving Harris but convicted him of felony murder and aggravated assault on his wife; those convictions were merged and Robert Mumford Johnson was sentenced to life in prison. The Supreme Court of Georgia later affirmed the conviction.

Did anyone know Mary Ellen’s routine or who might have seen the couple that day who hasn’t yet spoken up?