#103 Jason Flom with Bobbie Jean Johnson
Wrongful Conviction
Lava for Good Podcasts
4.4 • 5.8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2019
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bobbie Jean Johnson was given up for adoption at birth, survived abuse in foster care, and ran away into the sex trade of New Orleans as a teenager. In 1977, a New Orleans antiquities dealer, Arthur Samson, was shot in the stomach and stabbed approximately 100 times inside his shop at 1130 St Charles Ave. His store was ransacked, and the safe was missing about $2,000. A month later police stopped 2 men and Bobbie Jean Johnson for a traffic violation in a stolen car. At the time Johnson was not a suspect, but police were on the lookout for a .32 caliber revolver. They found one in Bobbie Jean’s purse. She endured a violent interrogation that resulted in a tape recorded false confession, riddled with inconsistencies. One of the men that had been in the car with Johnson told police that he had slipped the gun into her purse while they were being pulled over, but his statement was both ignored by the prosecution and hidden from the defense. To make matters worse, her trial lawyer, Thomas Baumler, had been described as a “warm body”. In 1978, Bobbie Jean Johnson was convicted of 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. After serving 41 years behind bars, Bobbie Jean continued to maintain her innocence; however, she was forced to plead guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery in order to obtain her freedom in February of 2018. To make this story even more tragic, Bobbie Jean spent less than 18 months as a free woman before passing away.
Donations made to IPNO with the note “Bobbie Jean Johnson” will be matched dollar for dollar! https://ip-no.org/support/donate/ or can be mailed to P.O. Box 792808, New Orleans, LA 70179.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Bobby Jean Johnson was given up for adoption at birth, and later, molested, while she |
| 0:07.4 | was in foster care. |
| 0:08.9 | She ran away from that horrible situation and tried to survive as a sex worker on the streets |
| 0:13.2 | of New Orleans. |
| 0:14.2 | In 1977, an antiquities dealer named Arthur Samson was found dead at his St. Charles Avenue |
| 0:20.8 | shop. |
| 0:21.8 | He had been shot once in the stomach with a 32-calibre bullet and stabbed over 100 times. |
| 0:27.2 | The store was ransacked and safe was missing about $2,000. |
| 0:31.4 | A month after the murder, Bobby Jean was riding in what she did not know at the time was |
| 0:35.1 | a stolen car with two men. |
| 0:37.0 | When they were pulled over by the police for a traffic violation, one of the men stashed |
| 0:40.8 | a knife and a 32-calibre revolver in Bobby Jean's purse. |
| 0:45.2 | At 18 years old, Bobby Jean Johnson was brought in for a violent interrogation that would |
| 0:50.0 | change the course of her already tragic and vulnerable life. |
| 0:54.7 | This is a wrongful conviction. |
| 1:24.7 | Last season, millions tuned into the betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. |
| 1:38.7 | I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. |
| 1:43.8 | Ashley Litten was helping her husband set up a business van mel account when she discovered |
| 1:47.8 | a terrible secret. |
| 1:48.8 | I saw a hidden folder and I opened it. |
| 1:52.8 | What the hell did I just see? |
| 1:57.0 | Listen to season two of betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get |
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