Bio 

Paul Beasley Johnson was born on July 8, 1949. By January 1981, Johnson was married. On the evening of January 8, 1981, Johnson and his wife visited friends Shayne and Ricky Carter. Court records state that the group smoked marijuana and injected crystal methedrine. During that evening, Johnson left the Carters’ home. Ricky Carter testified that Johnson said he intended to obtain more drugs and might steal or rob someone. Shayne Carter testified that Johnson said he was going to get money for more drugs and that, if he had to shoot someone, he would shoot someone.

Johnson’s defense later argued that he was legally insane at the time of the killings because of drug use. At his 1988 retrial, the defense presented expert testimony about amphetamine effects and testimony from people who knew about his drug use. Two psychiatrists testified for the defense that Johnson suffered from a drug-related psychosis. Prosecutors presented rebuttal psychiatrists who testified that Johnson was intoxicated but sane when the crimes occurred. The jury rejected Johnson’s insanity defense.

Murder Story

On the night of January 8, 1981, taxicab driver William Evans accepted a fare in Polk County, Florida. A dispatcher later heard a stranger’s voice over the cab radio after midnight, saying Evans had been knocked out. Evans was not heard from again after his earlier radio contact. His body was found on January 14, 1981, in an orange grove. He had been robbed and shot twice in the face. His taxi was also found in an orange grove about one mile away and had been set on fire.

In the early morning hours of January 9, 1981, Amy Reid and Ray Beasley left a restaurant after Reid finished work. Johnson approached them in the parking lot and said his vehicle had broken down. He asked for a ride, and Beasley agreed to take him to a friend’s house. During the ride, Johnson asked Beasley to stop so he could urinate. After Johnson got out of the car, he asked Beasley to come to the back of the vehicle. Reid then looked back and saw Johnson pointing a handgun at Beasley. She locked the car doors, moved into the driver’s seat, and drove away to call for help.

Reid called the sheriff’s department from a convenience store. Deputies Clifford Darrington and Samuel Allison responded and drove Reid back to the area where she had left Beasley and Johnson. While they were searching, Deputy Theron Burnham radioed that he had seen a possible suspect on the road. When Darrington and Allison reached Burnham’s location, they found his patrol car running with its lights on and a door open, but Burnham was not visible. Johnson then came into view, spoke to the deputies, and fired at them. The deputies returned fire, and Johnson fled across a field.

Deputy Allison found Burnham’s body in a roadside drainage ditch. Burnham had been shot three times, and his service revolver was missing. Later that day, Beasley’s body was found about seven-tenths of a mile from where Burnham had been killed. Beasley had been shot once in the head, and his wallet was missing.

The following afternoon, Johnson’s wife and the Carters saw a police sketch in a newspaper and discussed whether it looked like Johnson. Johnson later called the Carters’ home. Ricky Carter asked Johnson whether he had committed the killings described in the newspaper, and Johnson replied, “If that’s what it says.” Carter and Johnson’s wife went to pick him up. During the ride, Johnson discarded the shirt he had been wearing, which matched the shirt described in news reports. At the Carters’ home, Johnson described a struggle with Deputy Burnham and said he shot the deputy three times.

Johnson was arrested on January 10, 1981, for the murders of Beasley and Burnham. He was charged the following week in the murder of Evans. Amy Reid, Deputy Allison, and Deputy Darrington identified Johnson. Investigators also found Johnson’s fingerprints in Evans’ taxicab.

On January 23, 1981, Johnson was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery, kidnapping, arson, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty on January 30, 1981. On September 22, 1981, he was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to death for each of the three murders and received additional prison sentences for robbery, kidnapping, arson, and attempted murder.

Johnson appealed, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences on August 25, 1983. In 1986, after a death warrant was signed, Johnson filed a habeas petition. The Florida Supreme Court granted relief based on ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and ordered a new trial.

Johnson’s retrial began in Polk County in 1987, but a mistrial was granted because of juror misconduct. The case was later moved to Alachua County. On April 22, 1988, Johnson was again found guilty on all counts. On April 26, 1988, the jury recommended death for each murder. On April 28, 1988, the court again imposed three death sentences, along with additional sentences for the non-murder counts.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Johnson’s second set of convictions and death sentences on October 1, 1992. His later appeals and postconviction motions continued for years. In 2010, the Florida Supreme Court vacated his death sentences and remanded the case for a new penalty phase.

Johnson remained in Florida custody for more than 40 years. On September 30, 2023, he died at age 74 while receiving ongoing medical treatment in the custody of Union County Correctional Institution.