Police Zero in on Suspect in Johnson Case

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

March 4 -- A man who appears to be the prime suspect in the death of Kristine Louise Johnson has been convicted of luring two other women under circumstances similar to those that led to the Santa Monica woman's disappearance last month, police said Tuesday.

Specific evidence released by police seems to tie the man -- who is presently in custody for an unrelated felony charge -- to the possible murder of Johnson, whose body was found Monday afternoon in the Hollywood Hills.

The man was at the Century City Mall on the day Johnson said a man who claimed to be a photographer suggested she audition for publicity photos for a movie, police said. On February 15, the day she disappeared, Johnson told her roommate that she was off to Beverly Hills to meet the photographer for the audition.

In addition, Johnson was wearing the same clothes when her body was found that the man had asked a witness he met at the same mall to wear for a similar photo shoot, police said.

"We have a strong belief that the person in custody is the one involved," Butts said.

There also seem to be parallels between the circumstances leading to the disappearance of Johnson and to those described by the witness and her boyfriend, who helped police develop a composite sketch that matches the man in custody.

The two have now "positively identified" him as the man they met on a West Hollywood street corner under the same pretext that lured Johnson.

"This subject lives within two blocks of the intersection where he met this witness, on foot in January," Butts said, adding that the man's West Hollywood home was one of 10 locations searched by police last week.

"Additionally, this subject has been convicted of crimes in which the victims were female and were lured to the location of the crime under the pretense of photographing them for publicity type photos related to the entertainment industry.

"In one of the crimes, he stated that he was shooting photos for the same specific movie production that he mentioned to both the witness from January and Kristi Johnson," Butts said.

According to Butts, Johnson, who was found in a sleeping bag, partially clothed, with one of her hands bound, "was wearing an article of specific apparel that the subject asked both her and the female from January to wear to their purported photo shoots."

Though he remained tight-lipped about the man's identity and his previous convictions, Butts said that the subject served time for one of the two crimes he committed as recently as last year.

Butts said police would not identify the man, since he has not been arrested or charged in this case, which is still under investigation. The coroner's office is presently conducting an autopsy and is expected to determine the cause of death as early as Wednesday.

"There are other pieces of information that we believe tie this subject of interest to Kristi's disappearance," Butts said. "We await the forensic processing of evidence secured from Kristi's Miata and locations searched pursuant to search warrants before making a final arrest decision."

The man is presently in custody on a parole violation, Butts said. He was picked up shortly after abandoning Johnson's 1996 white Mazda Miata in the valet parking area at the St. Regis Hotel in Century City the day after she vanished.

"We're not concerned with him being released," Butts said, responding to questions about how long the man in custody could be held.

Asked whether police had dragged their feet before releasing information, Butts said, "Actually I believe we've been prudent. I believe we have released as much information as possible.

"Bear in mind that we had no way of knowing whether or not another suspect was involved (that could have endangered her life), and we did not want to release information about where we were in relation to another suspect that might give a co-conspirator ideas."

Meanwhile, Johnson's coworkers -- who have shifted their focus from searching for their colleague to planning memorial services -- are taking the news hard.

"Everyone in our office is completely devastated," said Edwin Ortiz, Johnson's former boss at CNCG Cellular in Marina del Rey. "Our condolences go out to the parents.