State v. Johnson

The lifeless body of William Sykes, an Australian who was visiting in the area, was discovered on a graveled road just north of the Interstate Highway near where it junctures with the West Boulevard Interchange serving Rapid City, South Dakota, about 6:30 a. m. on May 21, 1963. An information was filed naming the defendant, then residing at Sturgis, South Dakota, as being responsible for this death. Count I charged him with premeditated murder by strangulation, and Count II with unpremeditated murder in the commission of a robbery. He pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The…