Bio

Malcolm Rent Johnson was born on January 25, 1958. Public records show that he had a troubled history before the murder of Ura Alma Thompson. As a teenager, he left his father’s home in Oklahoma City and went to live with his mother in Illinois. At age 15, he was arrested in Chicago for carrying a gun.

By age 19, Johnson had already been convicted of serious violent crimes. He pleaded guilty in Illinois to raping and robbing two women and was sentenced to prison. He was later released on parole and allowed to move to Oklahoma City in 1981 to be closer to family. About five months after moving back to Oklahoma, he became the suspect in the death of 76-year-old Ura Alma Thompson.

Court records also show that Johnson had prior convictions for rape, armed robbery, burglary, and weapons-related offenses. He was on parole from Illinois at the time of Thompson’s murder. Prosecutors later used his criminal history during trial and sentencing to argue that he remained a continuing danger to the public.

Johnson continued to deny guilt throughout his time on death row. His case later received renewed attention because of concerns about testimony given by Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist. Gilchrist had testified about forensic evidence at Johnson’s trial, but years later she was fired after serious questions were raised about her work in multiple cases. Later retesting in Johnson’s case reportedly showed discrepancies in some of the evidence she had described. However, prosecutors maintained that other evidence still supported the conviction.

Murder Story

On October 27, 1981, Frank Thompson found his 76-year-old aunt, Ura Alma Thompson, dead on the floor of her Oklahoma City apartment. An autopsy found evidence that she had been sexually assaulted before death. The medical examiner concluded that Thompson died from asphyxiation, either because pressure was placed on her chest or because her mouth and nose were covered.

That same day, police arrested Malcolm Rent Johnson on an unrelated weapons-related charge at his apartment. During the arrest and search, officers found several items later identified as belonging to Thompson. These included furs, a typewriter, a watch, key rings, a cigarette case, a hand mirror, rings, a purse, and other valuables. Johnson denied knowing anything about Thompson’s death.

Forensic evidence became an important part of the prosecution’s case. Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist testified that semen found on bed coverings in Thompson’s apartment was consistent with Johnson’s blood type. She also testified that hairs found at the scene were microscopically consistent with Johnson’s hair. A neighbor also placed Johnson near the scene around the time of the crime.

Johnson was tried for Thompson’s murder in 1982. The defense did not call any witnesses. Prosecutors presented the stolen property, forensic testimony, Johnson’s prior criminal history, and statements he allegedly made after being confronted with evidence. The jury found Johnson guilty and sentenced him to death.

Johnson appealed his conviction and sentence for nearly 18 years. His appeals were unsuccessful, and in November 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal. Johnson chose not to appear before the Oklahoma clemency board to ask for his sentence to be commuted.

Malcolm Rent Johnson was executed by lethal injection shortly after midnight on January 6, 2000, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was pronounced dead at 12:13 a.m. Johnson was 41 years old. His execution was Oklahoma’s first execution of 2000 and the first execution carried out in the United States that year.

After Johnson’s execution, his case drew renewed scrutiny because of Joyce Gilchrist’s role in the forensic testimony. In 2001, reports stated that re-examination of some slides in the case contradicted parts of Gilchrist’s trial testimony. The findings did not legally overturn Johnson’s conviction because he had already been executed, but they raised questions about the fairness and reliability of the forensic evidence used at trial.