State v. Johnson

MEYER, Justice.

The State’s evidence tended to show that the defendant and his wife, Brenda Johnson, separated in March 1984, and the defendant retained custody of the two children born of the marriage. The separation was less than amicable. At one point, the defendant and Mrs. Johnson engaged in a heated confrontation concerning Mrs. Johnson’s access to the children. On that occasion, the defendant asked Mrs. Johnson if she “remembered Jim Ward and what he done to his family.” Mrs. Johnson testified that, approximately ten years earlier, Ward had killed his children and then committed…