Ep 71 | GERALD JOHNSON Transcript
Ep 71 | Gerald Johnson Part 1
Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised. On this week's episode of Voices of a Killer, we talk to Gerald Johnson, convicted of the felony murder of Ida Taylor.
Twenty years ago, Gerald Johnson's flight from police led to a high speed chase through Kansas City that ended in a collision with an innocent bystander. The driver of the car lost her life in the crash, and Gerald was sentenced to life in prison for four years. Since the day of his crime, Gerald has openly admitted to killing Ida Taylor.
However, he insists that justice was not fairly served in his case. He claims that prosecutors fabricated the fact that Gerald was carrying a weapon to secure a harsher sentence against him. Decades later, Gerald is on a mission to prove that prosecutors manipulated the evidence, suppressed testimony, and coerced witnesses in order to trump up the charges stacked against him.
In this episode, we investigate Gerald's allegations of judicial misconduct. Now 20 years on from the crime, we'll talk to key witnesses to unearth the truth and understand whether justice was really compromised. Was Gerald's conviction a result of prosecutorial overreach? Or was it a fair outcome? Hear the facts of Gerald's case and decide for yourself
on this episode of Voices of a Killer, Gerald, where are you originally from? Off of Kansas City, Missouri. You grew up there all your life? Yes, sir. I grew up there all my life on 43rd and Forest. Yeah. How would you, describe your childhood? My mother was a dr*g user as well as a dr*g seller, and I was taken from her at the age 11
and put in the foster care system. Like child protective, like took you? Yeah. In Kansas City, it was a thing called, DFS, Division of Family Services. Right, right. How do you think that affected you? Oh, it affected me real bad, man. Cause in the foster care systems, I was beaten. I was also molested two different times.
So really, I really became a runner, man. I started running away and just raised myself in the streets, like taught me everything. Yeah. So these, basically these foster parents, like when something would happen with your mom, you'd get put in foster care. These people weren't very nice to you.
Well, actually, when the situation happened with my mom, I got put in the foster care system and she never, my family never tried to get me back. So I've been in the system all my life. Did you have siblings? Yes, sir. I do. Yes, I do. Do they go through all the same stuff you went through? Nah, actually they didn't.
My sister went with her father and my brother, he went with his grandfather. You didn't have any grandparents or an aunt or uncle or something like that wanted to help out? Yeah, I had my grandmother, but back then, way back then, my grandmother, she had 12 kids of her own, so they would never let my grandmother get me.
She tried to get me. When I turned 15 years old, I was adopted by Rosie Frazier. Okay. How was that experience with them? Oh man, she treated me like family. She passed away a couple of years ago in October, but she treated me like I was her son. I was raised over there on 43rd and 4th in Kansas City, Missouri, but it was a dr*g infested area, gangs, pr*stitution, whatever.
At what age did you spend with Rosie, the one that you consider family? She adopted me like when I was like 15 years old, and that's where my whole life changed. It went into a whole different direction. Yeah. Did you get into crime at that age when you were around her? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Some of her family members was into criminal activity.
So I just fell right into that. Cause like I said, all I knew was the streets. Yeah. Did you finish high school? No, actually I didn't, man. I went to Westport middle and then from Westport middle, I got kicked out because I got caught smoking marijuana. So they put me in another alternative school called DeLisle and I went there a half a day.
And eventually I stopped going to school and just in the streets, man, because really, I felt alone. I didn't feel like I could trust nobody. I was really like, I felt abandoned, man. I felt like didn't nobody care about me. So I really just let the streets raise me how they raised me. And it was rough.
It was scary. It was rough. But you know, I only can be honest with myself and lay it straight out to you like that. Yeah, so Gerald, did you ever get in a gang on the streets? Yes, I was affiliated with the Bloods in my neighborhood. It was Bloods, it was called 43rd Street Bloods, 39th Street Bloods, and I grew up around them, and I was eventually branded in there with them.
So it's pretty safe to say you were pretty deep into criminal activity? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Gerald Johnson's troubled upbringing is a story we're familiar with on this podcast. Growing up in Kansas City, Gerald fought for survival in a world where the odds were stacked against him. His mother battled dr*g addiction, and the state stripped her of custody of her young kids.
At just 11 years old, Gerald was placed into the foster care system, a move that, instead of protecting him, exposed him to severe physical and psychological abuse. Over the years, as Gerald bounced from home to home, he ended up in households where he was neglected, beaten, and even molested. Eventually, Gerald decided enough was enough. He broke free of child services and took to the streets instead. This taught him some harsh life lessons. "Trust no one, fend for yourself, and do what it takes to survive." Gerald's luck eventually turned when he was adopted by a woman called Rosie Frazier. Unlike many adults who had failed Gerald, Rosie treated him like her own flesh and blood, and for the first time, Gerald found love and stability.
However, some of Rosie's family members had ties to the Bloods, a notorious African American gang. Through this affiliation, Gerald was drawn into gang life, where he found a sense of belonging he'd been lacking. Before long, he was fully immersed in a world of gang warfare, dr*g dealing, and a disregard for the law.
By 22 years old, Gerald Johnson had amassed six state felony convictions for various crimes, four probation warrants, and 22 city warrants for petty crimes. But how did Gerald, a boy raised by the streets, end up behind bars for the death of an innocent victim. Let's hear what Gerald has to say about the crime that ultimately landed him a life sentence in prison.
So, you're actually sitting in prison right now for, according to the courts, being responsible for someone's death. The era that this happened, were you pretty deep into criminal activity at this time? Yes, when this happened, I was pretty deep off in the streets. Like I said, the streets raised me. I had a high speed chase running from the police, and ultimately, I hit somebody and killed them.
So, take me back to the day that the police chase happened. Where were you driving? Well, I was going northbound on Troost. I was in my Grand National. I had a Regal Grand National. Right. And I was going northbound on Troost. Right, and where were you, what was your destination though? I was going back to my neighborhood on 43rd and 4th.
Okay, so you're basically going back home? Yes, sir. I guess the, did the cops come behind you and light them up? Yeah, the police got behind me for whatever reason they got behind me, 55th Street, it's a traffic street, so it's a four way street light right there, and it was red, so as it turned green, I proceeded on through it, but I seen them trying to maneuver behind the cars that get behind me.
But you know, I answered them because it was tagged up right and everything. Whenever they lit them up, did you have a warrant? Did you have dr*gs, a gun? Why would you have wanted to run? Well, when they pulled me over, they pulled me over in front of a college on 50, it was on 52nd and Troost. You actually pulled over for them?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I actually pulled over. So they walk up, they get out and approach you at the driver's door? They get out with their guns drawn. And that's when I made a U turn and proceeded to run from the police. Okay, so whenever they drew their guns, you went ahead and took off and the pursuit started?
Yes, sir, I made a U turn going back towards 50 50 Troost. Yeah. So I'm going to stop now. Yes, sir. About how far did you get from them until they were able to make that U turn and catch up behind you again? Actually, it's crazy because it's a videotape of it, and when I made a U turn and ran, they made a U turn as well.
They jumped back in their cars and made a U turn as well. When I came to the light at 50 50 Troost, where the collision happened, We was going so fast that they had to go around the wrecks. Because they said it wasn't a high speed chase, but it was. So they had to, and at that time, you're not supposed to high speed in a residential area.
they called it loot. Right. But when I wrecked, they went around the car wreck. And then, When I hit the car, I jumped out and proceeded to run, to take off running. Whenever you hit this car, were they crossing the intersection and you just like t boned them? Yeah, the car was out at the intersection when I hit it.
How fast do you think you were going? I probably was going about 80, 85 miles per hour. Did you have your seatbelt on? No, sir. No, sir. What kind of damage did you get from that impact? Well, my face hit the steering wheel and it slit my lip. But, I don't know if you ever been in a car wreck, but it knocked me out, and I came back to real quick, and immediately, my adrenaline was running, so I just jumped out the window and took off running.
Right. Whenever you took off running, were the cops already, like, yelling, "stop"? The cops? Were they there yet? Yes, sir. The cops were already there. They went around the car wreck. And one of the officers, his name is James Regula, who they didn't let testify, he jumped out and chased me on foot. Now, let me back up just a little bit.
The car that you hit, did you happen to look back and see what you had did, the damage of the other car? Actually, when I hit the, when I hit the car, I kind of pushed it up the street, up further of the street, so I really didn't, I'm not gonna sit here and I tell you, I really didn't pay attention to the damage because of my adrenaline was so high.
I was just trying to run and get away. Did you, because I did have. Did you notice a person inside of it? Yeah, I knew somebody was in there, but I didn't know who was in there. I didn't know the person that was in there. In March of 2002, Gerald Johnson was at the center of a high speed police chase that culminated in the death of an innocent bystander.
Around the time of this incident, Gerald was deeply entangled in gang activity and in constant conflict with the law. It was a result of his actions that day that 45 year old Ida Taylor lost her life. It all started with a routine traffic stop. Initially, Gerald complied, pulling over as instructed.
But when Gerald saw the two armed officers approach his car, alarms swept over him. He spun the wheels of his Buick Grand National and took off, the police following in hot pursuit. The vehicles tore down Troost Avenue, the busy main road that slices Kansas City in two. Desperately trying to cut the officers loose, Gerald sped at 80 miles an hour through traffic lights until at one intersection, he crashed into another car. The driver was Ida Taylor, a middle aged mother on her way home. The collision was severe enough to kill her instantly. The impact also knocked Gerald unconscious momentarily. When he came around, though dazed and injured, Gerald bolted on foot. He was unaware of the life he'd just taken, or perhaps unwilling to confront it.
There's no disputing the facts of what happened that day. Video footage from a nearby CCTV camera captured the police chase and the car wreck, and it corroborates everything gerald tells us. What exactly happened next, however, is where the story gets complicated. Contradictory accounts would emerge, which would ultimately determine the course of Gerald's life.
So you take off running. How far did you get? So, okay, so when I hit the car in the intersection and I jumped out and started running southbound, the police had came around the car and tried to cut me off by the sidewalk. So James Regula, which was one of the officers, he jumped out and started to pursue me on foot.
When he started to pursue me on foot, I ran back to the intersection of northbound on 55th. The truth to some people car, and I open the door and sit on her lap. You, is this car that you basically jacked, was it moving or were they at a stop sign, a red light? It was at a stop light looking at the whole wreck that had just happened.
Okay, and you open up the pass, the driver's door? I open up the driver's door. Now, I open up the driver's door and I sit down on her lap. I couldn't sit on her all that, but I just sit down on her left leg. Okay, and then he pulls her out of the passenger side? Her husband, was so scared, he opened the door and pulls her over to a stick shift.
It's an escort. It's a stick. Are they saying anything to you? No, sir. They like, they, well, he like, man, you can take the car, just take the car, just take the car, don't hurt us, don't hurt us, don't hurt us, don't hurt us. But me, you make this clear, me, I never said not one word. Right. Not one. And you didn't have any kind of weapons on you?
I didn't have no type of weapon. This is where it gets tricky right here. In your case, it basically states that you had a weapon, a gun at the time, right? Exactly. Yes, sir. Yes, that's what it stated. That's what it states. After he pulls her out of the vehicle, did you know how to drive a stick shift? I actually, I didn't.
Actually, I started it and it jerked. And when it jerked, it kind of went. So I just left it right there and it kept, it was like, whoa, it was real loud. So after you steal the car, they get out and you punch it and you're trying to go, in first gear, obviously. And I get away. How far do you get?
I drove it back to my neighborhood and I ditched it. Oh, so you made it up that far, huh? Yeah, I made it back to my neighborhood, yes sir. And two days later, I turned myself in with my lawyer. Okay, so you did turn yourself in. Did you hear about the Yes sir. Did you know that the girl in the vehicle died?
Yes sir. When I seen that on the news, because I didn't watch the news because I was laid up in the hotel room. When I seen that on the news and they kicked in my grandma's house, I told my grandma, listen, I'm going to get me a lawyer and turn myself in and that's exactly what I did. So you did do the responsible thing after that and turn yourself in.
That's good. Yes sir. All right. I was gonna say it ain't a day that I don't get up and I don't reflect back on the pain and the harm that I caused to the Taylors family, because I didn't mean in no shape, form, or fashion, Mr toby, to hit that lady and kill her. I really didn't. I was young. I was 22 years old, man.
I made a grave mistake, and I'm paying the price for it right now, but Mr toby, I promise you, and I promise the world, I never had a gun. I would take a lot of detective tests. I would do anything. I never had a gun. I was young.
Gerald says he fled the police that day out of self preservation. He was carrying dr*gs and was intent on not being caught with them. After colliding with Ida Taylor's car, he abandoned his vehicle and took off running. One of the officers tailing him remained in the police car, while the other, an officer named James Regula, pursued Gerald on foot.
Thinking fast. Gerald spotted a nearby car, whose two occupants, a married couple, sat frozen in shock as they watched the chaos unfold. Gerald forced himself into the driver's seat, where the wife sat, and the couple put up little resistance. The car, however, was a stick shift. And as Gerald struggled with the gears, it lurched and stalled.
Somehow, Gerald managed to floor the gas and made it all the way back home. It took two days for the news to reach Gerald that he was to blame for taking an innocent victim's life. Gerald expresses a genuine sense of remorse for killing Ida. He admits his actions were reckless, but he claims he never intended to hurt anyone
and regrets his decisions that day. So far in our conversation, Gerald has been surprisingly honest and candid about his crime. But there's one detail he firmly denies. To this day, Gerald insists that he was not carrying a gun. The question of a gun might seem like a small one, but it was a critical point of contention in his case.
One that added years to his sentence. So did Gerald Johnson really have a gun that day? Where did that allegation come from and what evidence is there to support it? After the break, we revisit the trial and explore Gerald's claims of judicial misconduct.
And you actually got charged with armed criminal action, ACA? I got charged with second degree felony murder, first degree robbery, armed criminal action, and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and resisting arrest. Is there any gun that was presented at trial? Absolutely not. And I want to say one thing to you, Toby.
This is very important. The Ms Cates, the car that I took at the light, she said from day one, all the way to trial, "Mr Johnson never had a gun." Well, that was my next question. Did the people that you jacked their car, did either one of them say at trial that you had a gun? The driver of the car, Ms Cates, she said, "Gerald Johnson never had a gun and I've never seen a gun."
Her husband said, oh, "he had a gun in his hand." But if you read his statements, he is so inconsistent, it's like they coached him to say that.. What if I called him up and asked him for you? I'll hire a private investigator to find him and I'll see if I can't get hime to say, I'll try to pull the truth out of him.
You know what, that would be a blessing, because, I'm gonna tell you something, his name is Daniel Cates, and his wife's name is Shawna. So, the reason, for people that are listening to this, the reason it's important about, obviously, you're admitting to all the stuff that you've done, you're not trying to act like it's something good.
But the ACA, the Armed Criminal Action, that puts everything, like, puts a spin on your whole situation as far as time in prison, and if we want to do justice the way it's supposed to be done, Don't put something that's not supposed to be there, you'll serve the time that for the crime that you did, but not for something that you didn't do.
I want to say something, Mr Toby, because I've been gone 24 years now. I don't, have a reason to, because I'm not looking for no pity party. I'm not looking for no handshakes and nothing like that. No "I'm sorry"s. I just like to be truthful. I'm a man and I grew up in here and Mr toby is, God is my witness. They didn't let the police officer to chase me on foot. Even testified she, the prosecutor, said that he was outta state. His name was James Regula. That was the police officer's name like Kansas City Department. The Kansas City Police Department, and he's no longer even with the force.
I'm talking about a year or two years later, he was removed From the force. Yeah. The, driver, Eric Everhart, he was also removed from the forest and one time I had them looked up and they both is in Key West Florida, which was kind of odd to me. It was kind of odd to me. So I'm like, man, all these people just sit here and just do me like this just to enhance my sentence.
Because the alternative in my indictment, the alternative count was involuntary manslaughter. Which only the max would have been seven years. But they didn't want to give me the seven years because they wanted to enhance my charge. Because they wanted to say that I had a gun. This was quite some time ago.
Do you think these folks are still alive? Yeah, because I don't, to be honest with you, I didn't have them looked up. I done looked them up on Facebook and everything. I just didn't bother, try to send a message, try to send and see if they're, talk about the gun again, because the wife made it clear.
She's the driver. How can a passenger charge me? How come the police officer that chased me on foot didn't give a statement saying that I had a gun? Because in his statement, he got statements too. They made statements too. Neither one of them on a day that it happened said I had a gun, but that police officer, Eric Everhart, he came back a year later and said I had a gun, Mr toby. Why he didn't say it on a day it happened? Gerald raises some serious concerns about the fairness of his trial. He accuses the prosecution of fabricating the existence of a gun to Trump up his charges. This detail might seem small, but it had major consequences for the length of Gerald's sentence.
Typically, in a case like Gerald's where someone is killed in a car wreck, the charge would be manslaughter. That charge carries only about seven years in prison. However, if the prosecution could prove that Gerald had an illegal concealed gun at the time of Ida Taylor's death, they could push for felony murder instead, which carries a harsher sentence, and could lock Gerald up for life.
But what proof did they have that Gerald was wielding a gun? Here's where things get murky. There are four key eyewitnesses in Gerald's case who gave conflicting accounts. First, there's the driver of the car that Gerald stole, a woman called Shawna Cates. Shawna testified that she didn't see a gun on Gerald, and her story remained unchanged.
But the passenger of the car, a man named Daniel Cates, told a different story. Daniel took the stand to testify that Gerald had a weapon. This testimony was fundamental to the prosecution. However, Gerald questions the credibility of Daniel, pointing out that his story changed over the years, which raises Gerald's suspicions that he was coached by the prosecuting team.
Then there's the officer Eric Everhart, who states Gerald stayed in the police vehicle while his partner chased Gerald on foot. Although initially Everhart didn't mention a gun, he told the court a year later that Gerald was definitely armed. Gerald insists this was a bold faced lie and questions why Officer James Regula, who pursued him on foot and had a clearer look at Gerald, was never called to testify.
To put it simply, Gerald believes the prosecution deliberately manipulated the witness testimonies and selectively excluded key evidence to enhance Gerald's Charges. He's adamant that introducing a gun to the narrative wasn't just an exaggeration. It was a calculated move to upgrade his charge from manslaughter to felony murder with a far steeper sentence.
It's important to note that Gerald isn't denying his involvement in the high speed chase or trying to downplay the tragic death that followed. He's taking full accountability for his careless actions. What Gerald is contesting are the alleged injustices that occurred during his trial. After all, this is a man who's already served over two decades in prison, and as Gerald tells me, he's put that time to good use.
Alright, so Gerald, whenever you went to trial, did you see the victim's loved ones there? Yes, sir, her husband came, Mr rickey. Did they say anything to you, look at you, was there any words exchanged, did they have a victim inspects? Yeah, he, well actually her mother Ms nuggets came and Rickey, and her mother said, She said, "I want him to pay for what he did, but I don't want him to spend the rest of his life in prison."
But the husband said, now that I understood his pain wholeheartedly, he said, "man, I want him to spend the rest of his life in jail because I'm never going to be able to see my wife again." And me growing up in here, Mr toby, I understand that now because I understand that I took a victim and I left a victim with no more choice in the matter.
I understand that now. You see what I'm saying? So, yeah, I, it's heartfelt to all of my pain that I caused to the community, that I destroyed the community, man, and here I rebuild myself to make myself better, and here I vow never to take a victim again. So, Gerald, when do you go in front of the board?
I'm going to see them in 2029 with a projected release date on 2031. But, I got a chance to go in and see them in 2026 too. So, why did you say the first one first and then 2026? Because the Edgar Ruling, they came out with this Edgar Ruling and that pushed everybody's time back. It kind of messed people's sentences up, they were already sentenced.
So, these are being fought, these are being fought regarding the Edgar Ruling that came out. So, do you think you deserve to be back out on the streets? You know what? I just I feel like I deserve another chance at society. I came in here, I changed my whole life around. Actually, I work in restorative justice.
What would you say to, somebody out in public? And a lot of people will, have negative thoughts towards somebody that's done something like you've done. And they may say, "you know what? I can't see you changing because you've been through so much and that caused you to have a rough life and get into criminal activity and now you've been to prison, how are you going to come out and be better?"
You know what I mean? What's your answer to that? Can I read something to somebody that a staff member wrote? Yeah. A staff member wrote. Okay, I'm going to read something to you. These are some of the things that I do. They say, "to whom it may concern," they say, "it is my pleasure to write a report of Mr gerald Johnson for outstanding service. I have been fortunate enough to witness Mr johnson within the institution provide leadership, mentorship, and overall care to others as they accumulate to being in the institution. I have worked with Mr johnson at Restorative Justice and have had him to participate in my group meetings, managing emotional intelligence, where he is always a welcome addition and also a humble facilitator.
As is evident from his time here and his impact on others, Mr johnson has excelled in his role as a mentor and facilitator with many notable accomplishments. My experiences with Mr johnson, primarily those related to his mentorship and facilitator ability, would demonstrate excellent knowledge, organization, trust, and leadership have inspired many to turn over a new leaf and to focus on the rehabilitative aspect of incarceration.
I have observed Mr johnson in both the classroom and general population settings, taught him in class, and worked with him as program executive. In addition to considerable intellect and experiment performances, Mr johnson is a warm, engaging individual who teaches others by example, is inclusive and consistently exhibits curiosity and motivation to learn.
He comes prepared for all types of learning situations, having researched the relevant topics so that he can provide quality care as well as participate actively in class and inspire others on the prison yard. In addition to prioritizing his own learning, Mr johnson considers the needs of others. On multiple occasions, he has arrived to restorative justice with handouts and literature on relevant topics tailored for them to team and assist rehabilitate care.
In closing, Mr johnson is an integral part of the rehab based community at Jefferson City Correctional Center and continues to find new and innovative ways to assist others in his time here at the facility." Now that's from my boss, Kevin Yancey. That's my boss that I work for at Restorative Justice. So, me giving back to the community, Toby,
it ain't a day that I don't get up there. I walk this prison yard with my face up, with my chest out. That you can call the warden, you can call Ms brenna Martin, you can call Ms dolores Falkenrath, you can call the Deputy Warden Craig Crane, even the Major Norman Graham. And they will tell you I'm an outstanding role model in this prison.
I changed my whole life around, and I also assist and help others change their life around. And that's what I do, and I ain't never gonna stop, and I'm gonna continue to give back to the community wherever I'm in here or out there. And I don't deserve to get them no "sorry," what I owe is an apology and a plan and a course of action to take the responsibility of my crime that I took in destroying the communities and I have rehabilitated myself in here to go back out there to be a positive role model to live next door to you and anybody else and they'll never know that I went to prison and that's that on them.
So, I'm curious, Gerald, this person that you just, you read the letter, about this Gerald, where was this Gerald at 22? You know what? This Gerald was a lost child. I, was lost, I was lost to the streets. The streets taught me everything. I knew, man, and I was a scary little child.
I was molested, you know what I'm saying? I was beat, you know what I'm saying? I was affiliated with gangs. I was doing things that no child should never had to witness, and no witness nor be involved of. But I didn't know that then, because I felt like nobody loved me. I felt like nobody cared. I was abandoned.
I was neglected. And that's the facts of it. if anybody go back and look at the beginning for me, they'll see I was in Trinity Group Hospital. I was in Menorah Hospital. I was in Residential Care Facility. I was in West Missouri Mental Health. This is things that I was in as a child. So nobody ever came and gave me the guidance of a chance to show me something different.
And here I am today in prison and I changed my life around and did it from the ground up. And I renovated, I built myself from the ground back up to be better. Gerald's story didn't end the day he was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison. Looking back now, he admits that he was a misled young man who made devastating choices.
But today, Gerald insists he's no longer that 22 year old who once carelessly caused Ida Taylor's death. Over the past 20 years, he's undergone a significant transformation, immersing himself in the restorative justice programs available behind prison walls. He's now a mentor, facilitator, and role model, and to all accounts, a model prison inmate. In his own words, Gerald says he owes society more than just a sorry, and he's genuinely striving to make a positive impact on his fellow inmates. The contrast between this man and who he was at 22 is stark. Prison has given him the time to realize the potential he once threw away in pursuit of gang life.
Though he still has many years left to serve, Gerald hopes that when his time for parole comes, he'll be judged not only by the mistakes of his youth, but by the man he's worked hard to become. But is Gerald also a victim of a wrongful conviction caught up in a miscarriage of justice? On the next episode of Voices of a Killer, we dig deeper into Gerald's allegations of injustice.
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I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.
Ep 71 | Gerald Johnson Part 2
Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome back to the second installment of Gerald Johnson's story. When we last talked to Gerald, we heard how he accidentally killed 45 year old Ida Taylor while being pursued by police. But while Gerald takes full accountability for Ida's death, he insists that he was unarmed. A fact that had legal ramifications.
So what's the truth? Today, we unpick Gerald's claims and take a close look at the evidence on this episode of Voices of a Killer. So, I do have a question for you. This is a little bit off subject, but your crime happened quite some time ago. And what happened was, is whenever the cops lit them up behind you, you took off.
Now, the thing is, dude, is that's very common for the black community to run from the police officers, especially a black male. And also for you guys to fight back whenever you get pulled over and really put up a fight. Like you just, you feel like you, you shouldn't have to stop for police officers and you shouldn't obey what they say.
If you ever get out again and the cops light them up again, are you going to run from, or are you going to fight back? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But I'll tell you what I will. I will get the technology they had today. I have everything being recorded on me. I have my recording system on in, in my car.
Cause I am going to have cameras and everything in my car. I talked to my wife about it all the time. And I tell her, I said, man, I'm putting cameras all around my car every time I'm in traffic, going anywhere. I'm gonna have my cameras on and I'm in the house by seven o'clock at night. It ain't no, there won't be no more late night riding or none of that.
No, I'm cool on all that, man. I done sacrifice too much man. And I done changed my life around man. And I don't have no problem with the police. You got some good officers out there, you got some bad officers out there. Me, I like fairness. me, if I did something wrong, I'm, gonna own it.
if they do something wrong, they gotta own theirs. But don't come and don't lie on a person just because the prosecution want to be big and want to look better for they self or whatever they trying to do. Because that's how I looked at it now, because back then I was young, I didn't even, I didn't understand the system.
But as I got older and changed my life around in here, I see exactly what the system is, I see exactly what the system do, and that's why I work for restorative justice. And let me back up a little bit. I know a lot of people that are law abiding citizens that do no crimes whatsoever, and they don't like police at all, but when they get pulled over, they pull right over as soon as they light them up, they go through the whole spill, even though they don't like them.
They don't like cops. They go through the whole struggle. They don't fight back. Why does the black community do that so much? Well, I can't speak for everybody. I can speak for myself. Like, where I come from, a neighborhood where it was, a lot of dr*gs, a lot of single parent mothers. And Every time the police came, it was always more of an aggressive towards us, you know what I'm saying?
Even when we was kids, the police would come to the house for a call, whether if it was about some kids fighting on the block, and then it turned into, why y'all weapons drawing on us? Why you draw your gun on us? The fight ain't even going on no more, but you're still drawing your guns. Why?
Because there's seven or eight of us standing out there, and they feel intimidated. You know what I'm saying, but y'all pulling up to us, then we call y'all to come and help us. But y'all pulling guns on the ones that want the help, so it's more of a who's who. You know what I'm saying, who's who in that circle.
Now, was it police officers that pulled up? Did they, 100 percent respect? Absolutely! Absolutely it was. But the majority of the time, man, it was police, they was just pulling up tripping. I'm talking about literally pulling up the car, have nice paint on it, and the sedan just take that billy club and just hit the paint, just to put a dent in the paint.
What you just do that for? That car didn't do nothing to you. The car didn't do nothing to you. Because they see something nice sitting out there, Lexus, or a Jaguar, or a Benz, they think, I'm going to destroy this, tear the car up for nothing, and we just never understood that, man. "Oh, you a dr*g dealer?" Nah, he wasn't a dr*g dealer, this man getting a disability check every month, this man working everything, but because his car nice, or he driving a Benz, you want to tear it up, and that was just crazy to us, man.
And it was scary too though. It was scary too. So you think you can handle, if let's say that you didn't get the video recorders in time and you got pulled over and the cop was a complete *sshole, maybe he even said, something, a racial slur to you and all this sh*t. I mean, you just gotta walk away and not deal with all the, legal sh*t.
It's called eating a sh*t sandwich. You just do it and you just on, you know what I mean? Because I know that if I battle the cops, I'm gonna f*cking lose man. Exactly. You have to understand, man, I promise you, man, if you just eat that sh*t sandwich and let them do their thing, write you the ticket, let them f*cking treat you like sh*t, you're gonna walk away without another criminal record against you, you're gonna walk away without being shot or beat.
You just gotta f*cking eat the sh*t sandwich, man. It's gonna work out, I promise you. There's a lot of people that don't like the system and the cops, even people that don't commit crimes, but they just, they deal with it and they move on. You know what I mean? Because if you start fighting them and running all that sh*t, it's only gonna cause problems, man.
They're never gonna... oh yeah, I ain't doing that no more. Yeah, I'm gonna eat the sh*t sandwich. If they pull me over, if I ever get out, they pull me over again, I'm gonna eat the sh*t sandwich, big dog. I promise you that. Police brutality against black communities is a deeply rooted issue in the United States, and Gerald acknowledges that his own distrust of the law played a role in his actions that day, escalating the situation.
He speaks candidly about the deep seated resentment the black community feels toward law enforcement, especially in neighborhoods where police are disrespectful and downright hostile. And on the day of the crime, Gerald's choice to run away was an instinctive and defensive response shaped by years of seeing how interactions with law enforcement could go wrong.
During our conversation, I assured Gerald that cooperating with the police is the best way to de escalate a volatile situation. Even in a biased system, showing defiance is only asking for trouble. Gerald agrees, saying that his outlook has changed over the years. He now understands that survival sometimes means choosing to walk away from a confrontation, rather than engaging in one.
But Gerald also has a personal reason to be distrustful of the police. He believes that the police officer who testified against him lied when he took the stand, falsely claiming that Gerald was armed to secure a harsher conviction. It was this act of perjury that sealed Gerald's fate. But, but you know, on my trial, that you talking about people that serve of the law.
You talking about people that's up under oath, that's sworn in as police officers, right? Yeah. So you're talking about people that protect and serve. That's what we talking about. What bothers me with it, is this is one thing about my case that bothers me too. The police officer on the day that it happened, all my statements I got, see I got videotaped statements, I got all the police statements, I got the police field reports and everything.
Never one time did the police speak of a gun. Why did that police officer come back a year later and say I had a gun in my hand? Yeah. Look at the crookedness in that. Look at the crookedness in that. You mean to tell me a servant of the law, he even said on the stand, he said "the thing that we watch for when a crime is being committed is we watch for hands and body language.
We pay attention to hands." And she asked him a question, "and what did you see the defendant?" "Well, initially when he took off running I seen his hands and then I seen a gun cuffed in the palm of his hand." Now, Mr toby, black community where I come from, why didn't he say that on the day that it happened? Why wasn't that anywhere in anybody's paperwork?
But a year later in trial, he got on the stand and said, "Mr johnson had a gun cuffed to the palm of his hand." That's a lie. Can't nobody see that lie? It's definitely a problem in the justice system. And all the lawyers that I had, Keith Gibson, I had Annette Wallace from a Hastings law firm in Kansas City, Missouri.
Did none of them want to look at that. When I brought that up, I said, "I paid over $20 000 to you," Both of them. I said, "can y'all look at that?" You know what they said? "Oh, that won't really make a difference." What do you mean it won't make a difference? That's what got me my time! This is paying lawyers! But you know what?
God told me, man. God told me this. He told me this one morning. I looked in the mirror after I got through praying and he said, "hey, things are going to change for you, you just got to have patience and obedience." And that patience and obedience paid off, and that's what God led me to you, bro. And you doing what you're doing, I'm going to tell you something, man.
God is going to bless you in ways that you would never imagine. And I'm pretty sure you're already getting blessed, but you listen, man. It's going to be beautiful for you. Because I'm going to find you as well as I got you, I'm going to find somebody else that's going to say you know what Johnson, I'm going to take this case and I'm going to eat them alive with this case.
And then everybody's going to have to come and explain and they ain't going to want to explain. You know why? Because everybody's going to play like they retired. It was so long ago. Yeah. What was the name of the police officer again that a year later, what was his name? His name was Eric. Everhart.
Everhart? Okay. Yeah, Everhart. That's his name. Okay. That man came back a year later on the stand for the prosecution and said Man, when he said it on the stand, my heart, my A tear ran down my eye. I said, "I'll be damned, man." Did your defense attorney not counter with why a year later? Nah, he didn't. And I'm gonna tell you something else about him.
a year and a half later, he got disbarred. And not only that, his name was John E. Price. And a year and a half later, he got disbarred from being a lawyer for him being incompetent with people's murder cases and stuff. And then, not only that, he was sending a lawyer to see me named Vincent Lee.
And Vincent Lee got charged with false impersonation. He was coming to the county jail to see me and guess what Mr toby, he was never even a lawyer. He was coming up there to see me on my case and was never even a lawyer and got charged with false impersonation. He got a charge, he got barred from coming to the county jail.
It's crazy, my case is, listen man, listen, it's so crazy that if a person really sit down and took the whole case and looked through it, That'd be like, "wow, man, they did this man like that." I am guilty of the running from the police and killing Ms taylor when I ran from the police. I'm, I hold that. And then the day I don't get up and reflect back on that, Mr
Toby, and I came here and changed my life around. I got over 70 letters written from staff members here that said, "man, this man deserve to be at home." I ain't never caught a major violation in prison, never. Whoever, I came here, got my GED, I got business degrees, I mean, I got so many certifications. Listen, man, I came here and changed my whole life around for me.
I did this for me, because I knew I had to be better. I know that what I did was a mistake. I didn't mean to cause that accident, man. I didn't mean, I wasn't my intent to get up in the morning and run from her and kill her, and have her car wrecked and kill that innocent woman. If them giving me that gun charge, they knew if they give me that gun charge, that would enhance all my charges.
Because without that gun charge, if they don't give me the gun charge, they got to give me a voluntary manslaughter. What the gun charge comes with, they get to charge me with robbery, armed criminal action, and all that stuff is false, man. All that stuff is false. All somebody got to do is raise their hand and look at my case, then see it they self.
It ain't even hard to do. Yeah. But you know, people, people, everybody was about a dollar, Ken Gibson, I'mma say it again, Ken, was that lawyer Ken Gibson? And then the lawyer, Ned Wallace from Hastings Law Firm, man, they scammed me. They, scammed me. I'm telling you they scammed me. I got receipts and everything, all the money I paid them and everything.
And them people, they never couldn't, "oh, Mr johnson, we don't need to look at the, gun charge, because that's not gonna, the, them about the gun, it's not gonna change anything," what you mean it won't change something? Go talk to the witnesses. Go talk to that man. Go subpoena that man and talk to him.
Go do a deposition. "Oh, that won't matter." "Okay, you know what? You right. You right." And that's how that went, Mr Toby. And here I sit, and here I sit 20 plus years later. Gerald makes some damning claims about the integrity of his trial. One of his major gripes is with the testimony of Officer Eric Everhart.
According to Gerald, Everhart falsely claimed that Gerald was carrying a gun, a detailed that had major implications for his sentencing. Let's break down this allegation to see if there's any truth to it. Right after the incident, both officers involved gave official statements. In these statements, neither of them mentioned Gerald having a gun. Could they have simply forgotten about it? That's unlikely, considering how police are trained to be vigilant around armed suspects.
In high risk situations, police officers look for any indication that the suspect is armed, and they'll announce this fact on the police radio immediately. So if either officer had seen a gun, it's strange that they wouldn't mention this in their initial report. It took a year for Gerald's trial to come around, and when it did, Eric Everhart had changed his tune.
On the stand, Everhart told the courtroom that he distinctly saw a gun cuffed in the palm of Gerald's hand as he ran away. Notably, the other officer, James Regula, who was closer to Gerald during the chase, wasn't called to testify at all. Gerald believes that Everhart's testimony was manufactured by the prosecution to secure a harsher conviction.
He sees this as part of a larger pattern of misconduct and incompetence, both by the prosecutors and his own defense attorneys. He describes a series of issues that left Gerald feeling betrayed by the system, including a man impersonating a lawyer while supposedly representing him. To Gerald,
these failures denied him a fair trial. Today, however, Gerald remains hopeful that his case will be reopened and his claims investigated. Perhaps I can play a small part in Gerald's fight for Justice all these years later. After the break, I tell Gerald I'll do my part to let his story be heard.
Gerald, this is what I'm gonna do. Here's my deal. I'm almost like a hundred percent sure that you probably didn't have a gun because usually whenever you're guilty of other stuff, it's so easy just to add a bunch of other crap on there and they can easily get away with it. And it just took that guy saying that, but the inconsistencies and his wife not saying it and the cop not saying it, that's some, it's pretty big stuff.
So I'm going to try to track down Daniel or Shauna and then also James Regula, the police, the cop, I'll even try to search for him. But you know how the system is, even if I got somebody to say, yeah, that's not true. The system just, it's so marked against you, it may not even help, you know what I mean, but I'll still do it, you know
what, Toby, you know what, I've been there 25 years, man, I'll go see them in a couple years, man, I'm gonna tell you something. The prison system today, I've seen it change dramatically, and I've seen it change for the worse, there's guys in here, there's some of them in here that's in it.
But there's guys in here, man, that done changed their life around, Toby. Man, we, don't, we didn't came in here, man. It, they kids is coming in here. We helping they kids. Dudes is coming in. I came to prison, I didn't even know how to read, Toby. I couldn't even read, bro. I didn't know how to do math. I'm like, I got my GED. I got business degrees now, man. I got over 700 certificates. I got over 7 000 hours of restorative justice hours. I help kids. I've built blankets for kids with autism, fitted blankets, weighted blankets. I work with kids with Alzheimer's and families with Alzheimer's and dementia. I've made fitted weighted blankets.
I've made standard quilts. I work with Department of Mental Health, Central Connections, MU Psychiatrists. I work with Honor Flight, the veterans. These are things that I do in restorative justice. These are things that we do to give back to the community. And that platform is there and it changed my life around for the better.
I'm better today than I was yesterday. And it ain't never gonna be a time, Mr toby, that I'm gonna give up. And every morning that I wake up and look in that mirror, I thank God, and I ask him to forgive me for all the things that I did. I repent them. And I take responsibility for running from the police, Toby, I do.
I take responsibility for having that car wreck, killing Ms taylor. She was an innocent woman that didn't deserve to die, man. I take that, and I humbly apologize for that. But listen, Toby, as a man who walked this earth, I never had a gun, and I'm never gonna stop fighting. Whether somebody believe me or not, I'm going to fight to the death of me to show people I never had a gun.
And one day, one day Mr toby, it's going to come out, "that man never had a gun." It's not even anger. I don't have anger no more. It's not even anger that I'm mad. I wouldn't even be mad. But the thing is, it'll be a relief for me because I just want to show society, I came in here and changed my life for the better.
And I'm not gonna stop. But I didn't have a gun. For those who listen to your podcast, I promise you, I'll take it long, I take it fast, I do anything I need to do. I just want to prove that I never had a gun. That's it. I didn't need the time. The time is done, Mr toby. Alright man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get back at you, okay?
I'll follow up with you and let you know what happens, okay? Alright man, I appreciate you man, and God bless you. Alright man, take it easy. Yo, one. Yo, thanks. Alright, bye bye. Gerald's case is riddled with misconduct and negligence, and I promised Gerald that I'll do my best to investigate his claiMs over the weeks that follow, I plan to track down all the individuals involved in this case.
That's Daniel and Shauna Cates. The married couple driving the car Gerald stole. That's also the two police officers who pursued Gerald on Troost Avenue. Unless my conversations with these witnesses can uncover some new evidence, it will be an uphill battle for Gerald to reopen his case. But getting these witnesses to talk won't be easy.
This case is nearly two decades old and they may be reluctant to revisit it. The first name on my list is James Regula, the police officer who chased Gerald on foot. Back at the trial, Regula's partner, Eric Everhart, testified against Gerald, but Regula was curiously absent from the witness stand. I want to find out why.
Could James Regula be the missing link Gerald needs, someone who might contradict Everhart's account and confirm that there was no gun involved? I sit down, dial Regula's number, and listen as the phone rings.
Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. The person you're trying to reach is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up. Hey, this message is for Mr james Regula. My name is Toby. I live in Springfield, Missouri. It's not a sales call or anything like that.
I actually interview, Serial killers and convicted murderers on my podcast, Voices of a Killer, and I've been speaking to someone that you were around in 2001, and I was really hoping that I could just ask you a few questions, no pressure whatsoever. I've actually had detectives on my show, witnesses, things like that.
And I was really hoping that you and I can just exchange a couple of words. Have a good day. Okay. Bye bye.
So what's up Gerald? What's up man? Ah man, it's been one heck of a long *ss week. Yeah. So I called James Regula and I left a voicemail, a pretty good long voicemail, and then I waited a little while, I texted him, I didn't know if it was a cell phone or not, but I texted him, and I didn't get any response from either one yet, so... yeah, he'll,\ respond, he'll be working, he'll be working on the midnight shift, he's a sergeant, so he'll be out in the, field.
But you're Yeah, so he's like a Who got a hold of him? My wife, Sharron, my wife, Sharron Johnson, the one you was emailing at the very beginning. Yeah, and how long did she, she had a lengthy discussion with him or what? yeah, she had a lengthy discussion with him. Absolutely. Absolutely. Like I told you, Toby, I ain't gonna waste your time.
Absolutely. And he had, she asked him directly if you had a gun that day that he chased you on foot. What happened was, he called her back. She never mentioned it like he just did. He called back. And she didn't let her know who he was referring to. Did she? He called back. Did she mention me, what I'm doing?
No, she just said I had an investigator. He said, "well, I'm willing to talk to an investigator or whoever I need to talk to about Johnson." And he specifically said, "Jerry Johnson, I'm proud of him." He said, "Jerry Johnson, good luck on everything that he's doing, because so much that I heard about it from you."
Well, I plan on telling him that you've taken responsibility when I open up, when I first start talking to him, if he calls me, I'll tell him that you take responsibility for what happened, you're not trying to get out of that. You just want the record straight for, the other stuff, but.
Right. Hopefully he calls me back and then I'll be able to have some information for you. But that's what I got right now. Right. Yeah, he told her, she asked, she said, Mr regula, I just want to ask, first, he said, "oh, he's guilty of that car wreck." And she said, "no, he takes full responsibility of that." And then he was like, "well, what's this concerning?"
She, he said, my wife said, "what it's concerning is the gun." He said, "gun?" He said, "this is the first time I'm hearing about a gun." She was like, yeah, he was convicted of a gun got his life plus 15, and he was like, oh my god. And she was like, tell me what happened, and she told me, and she said, "Mr regula, did the prosecution ever ask you to testify against him?" He said, "no they did not." So besides Daniel Keaton or whatever his name is, was there anybody else that took the stand and said you had a gun? No. The, woman who caught in on her side, Shauna even took the stand and said, "Mr johnson never had a gun." from day one she said I never had a gun. The both police officer Regula and Everhart never gave a statement saying that I had a gun. They gave few reports, they got video. I got the video transcripts, I got the Regula transcripts. They never spoke of a gun. Everhart came back a year later and say I had a gun cuffed in the palm of my hand.
Unfortunately, my attempt to contact James Regula yielded no results. And though I left a voicemail on his phone, James has failed to return my call since then. But when I report back to Gerald, he surprises me with some news of his own. He reveals that his wife managed to talk directly to James Regula, and he's encouraged by what emerged from their conversation.
On the phone with Gerald's wife, Regula reaffirmed his initial statement, that he hadn't seen a gun on Gerald. In fact, he was surprised to hear any mention of a weapon at all. What's more, James also revealed that he was never summoned to testify at Gerald's trial at all. This could be a critical revelation.
Why would the prosecution omit Regula's testimony, unless his version of events didn't align with their narrative? It's possible that Regula's silenced testimony could be key to proving Gerald's innocence on the question of a gun. It feels like we're inching closer to the truth, but we still face the issue of Daniel Cates's statement.
Cates was the only witness who claimed to have seen a gun from the beginning. And the prosecution's case hinged almost entirely on his testimony. If Daniel were to come forward now and amend his statement, it could potentially exonerate Gerald. It takes a bit of persistence, but I eventually tracked Daniel down, and he graciously agrees to a phone call.
As I hear the dial tone ring, I get ready to confront Daniel, and hear what he has to say. Join us on the next episode of Voices of a Killer to hear Daniel Cates tell his side of the story.
If you wanna find out what happens next, right now, you can sign up at patreon.com/voicesofakiller. There you can find bonus content, early access, ad free listening, and access to our chat community. So go to patreon.com/voicesofaKiller to sign up now. Your support is what keeps us passionate about bringing these stories to you.
That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at VoicesOfAKiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast.
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I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.
Ep 71 | Gerald Johnson Part 3
Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome back to the third and final part of Gerald Johnson's story. Last time I began my own investigations into Gerald's case, talking to several key witnesses. Was Gerald carrying a gun on the day of his crime? Officer James Regula denies it, but there's another witness left to talk to. Next, I call up Daniel Cates to confront him about what really happened.
That's the conversation you'll hear next on this episode of Voices of a Killer. Hello. Hey, Daniel. Yes. I'm sorry to bother you. I know it's kind of random. I have a podcast and I interview people that are in prison for murder and yeah, and I interested in this case here because I'm just looking at the witnesses and everything like that.
And I know everything that happened that day, I've been speaking to Gerald Johnson, who is the guy that carjacked you guys, and he's very adamant that he didn't have a gun that day, and I just watched the whole video, the police officer said he didn't have a gun, your wife, said he didn't have a gun, what kind of gun was it that you saw?
Well, I told the officers, and what I seen was him jump, He was getting jumped, he came out the window, fell on the ground, grabbed the, I couldn't identify exactly what kind of gun it was. I seen him grab it. I wanted to believe, honestly, brother, that it wasn't, down the road, that wasn't what it was.
Do you think that maybe it wasn't because it's kind of a serious matter because here's what I'll tell you. He is, he's a changed man now and he's, he takes responsibility for what happened with the car wreck, but he just swears that he didn't have a gun and that actually put him a whole lot more time in prison than it actually would if he didn't have the gun.
So we're just trying to clarify, you know what I mean? Because there's a police officer and your wife that said that he didn't have a weapon. Yeah, well the police officer wasn't, he wasn't even there. The police officer wasn't even on the scene yet, he was chasing the guy. He didn't even get there in time.
Is it possible maybe that he didn't and you just thought maybe something was like that or what? No, I, brother, I'm going to tell you right now, I know what I saw. And I swear to God, I, when he jumped in my car, I thought, I, Told him, I said, you can take the car, just let us out. He looked over at me crazy and I just knew then, I was like, no, I'm not going with this dude.
Sure, pulled the handle, jumped out, and I really thought in the back of my head, that was it. I was shocked. I know that you had a podcast and you tried to reach out to me one time before, I think, and I sent you an email and said I appreciate you doing that, but that is not the case here. That is not the case here at all.
He jumped out, ran over towards the, this, like the, this drain in the street, I want to say, whatever that is, the sewer drain. I don't know if he did something then at that point in time, but yeah, I know it was very adamant that he didn't want to be caught with any kind of firearm. The point of the fact is that I know what I saw, and I know what the guy was doing.
You used the word I thought, so are you 100 percent sure that was a gun in his hand? I know it, when I said that, yes, I believe that in my heart that's what he did, yes. I mean, I want to believe, be honest with you, what'd you say your name was? Toby. Toby. So I wanna, I mean, I wanna believe that, that he didn't man intentionally wanna do any of the sh*t he did, Yeah. Honestly, I mean, I, at the time, I mean, at the time, hell, I was a dr*g dealer. I did not wanna testify against this guy. I was like, I'm, I just wasn't gonna do it. But my mom had told me, what he did was wrong. You need to step up. What he did was wrong. And he admits to all that. But he's just so adamant that there was no gun involved, and your wife was, literally touching him, and says that he didn't, I just watched the video, so I just thought it was, strange, maybe in the heat of the moment, is it possible, that you kind of could have got it mixed up?
And we're talking about somebody's life here, that he's done the time for somebody that's, been in vehicular manslaughter or whatever, so. We like the truth. You know what I mean? That's all. And we're not saying you're, we're not saying you're a liar. We're just saying that maybe in the heat of the moment, there's a lot of sh*t going on.
That's a serious matter, Exactly. And I know what I saw. I know what I saw and I know what I felt. I know that at the end of the day, he didn't want to do that stuff. I'm sure, but I've never heard anything from him. And I know when we went to court, it was the, reason he got slammed so hard was because he was blaming
the poor lady he killed, he's blaming the police, he's blaming me and my wife and all this other stuff and the judge got mad at him because he was taking no responsibility on himself. Well since then he's definitely, you can go listen to the podcast, since then he's completely, I mean, he's, "dude, I did wrong, I've, I was in gangs then I was a mess."
He goes, "the only problem I have is I just really didn't have a gun and I just," he hates that because it's just tacked on so much more time for him. And sometimes when I hear people talk, it's just I feel like there's times when I feel like I believe them, Hey man, I did my own time. Listen, I've done my own time in between now and then.
Like I told you, I was a dr*g dealer. I've turned my life around. I spent a lot of time with a lot of these cats that yeah, there was no evidence on file, and they believe that. They truly believe that's input. Bro, I know what the f*ck I saw. All right? Yeah. I'm sorry to tell you that, but that's the truth.
Okay. I would tell you again today. I know exactly what it was, and he was probably, and in all fairness, the more I replay it, he probably, when he jumped out of the car on his back and picked up the gun and ran up the street, I guarantee you he's probably trying to get rid of that and the dr*gs or whatever else he had on him. Daniel simply isn't budging.
He stands by his court testimony and insists that Gerald was visibly carrying a gun during the incident. Even when I pepper him with questions, Daniel sticks resolutely to this story. He also introduces a new detail. After the car wreck, Daniel claims to have seen Gerald jump out of his car and head towards a sewer grate, possibly to dispose of this gun.
This adds a new spin to his story, but I'm not yet ready to accept it at face value. I plan to challenge Daniel about the discrepancy between his claims and his wife's witness statement. Why do you think your wife would say that she didn't see it? She wouldn't testify to anything. She's I just watched the video of Her giving a witness statement.
So, I don't know. I wouldn't, my ex-wife wouldn't say sh*t anymore. Yeah. Y'all aren't together anymore? No.
I wonder why. No, and I, get it, man. I'm, I'll be honest with you, I still, I see a therapist regularly and this is one of my topics that I deal with, is that as soon as I hear it, I'm like, man. I wish him and I could make some peace together. What do you mean? Well, I'd like for him to apologize. He forever changed my f*cking life, man.
Would you give me permission to let him reach out to You? I don't care, that's fine. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I just want to do the same thing. Listen, I go to an institute, a correctional institution twice a month. I take Narcotics Anonymous in there. I've changed my life as well. And I'm into this, but at that point in time, I know exactly what I saw.
I testified to what I saw. I mean, whatever was going on with him at that particular time, I understand, I get it. I want to forgive him for that. Yeah. Because I get it. I've been there. Yeah. The only thing he wanted to do was get away from the cop and killed the woman in the process because and the reason he's trying to get away from the cops because he was doing something he shouldn't have.
Having something you shouldn't have, and I get it, I've been there, and I could have been in the same position he's in. I just grew under a decade myself. Surprise, we didn't run into each other in there. No, I get it. And I appreciate what you do, and I really do, man, but I'm telling you, I believe that in my heart, I wasn't really happy with the way the prosecution was having me word things, so to say, because they were kind of, they felt, I felt like they were trying to bully me at the time.
Do you feel like they were trying to say that he had a gun, didn't he, and trying to coerce you? Well, I mean, here's what it is. I told them what I want. They said, well, you got to say it like this. You got to say it like that. And I said, at the end of the day, this is what I saw. And this is how it went down.
Yeah. but yeah, I remember it was my first dealing with the police back then. I was like, and plus, Yeah. You know what I mean? They kind of blackmailed me into, not blackmailed me, but blackballed me into getting in there. Yeah. Well, talking to him now, you can about imagine years and years later, he's not that person he was.
That's good, man. I hope it is. I mean, how much more time are they giving you? He has no foreseeable future right now of getting out, except for maybe 10 years from now, which has been quite a while. So, and it's because of the gun thing and that's where he's kind of hanging up because he's, like I said, he's, I did wrong.
I'm the responsible for her death and all that. He just, he's hung up on the gun there. But I remember the judge slammed him, gave him all consecutive time too for, 'cause he was, uh, pretty rogue in the jail. Sure. In the courtroom he was, yeah. He was uh, very disrespectful to the family. To judge everyone.
Yeah. And I know the judge, but I figured, you know, he go down and get some time. 'cause I thought they gave him a murder second degree or something. They may have because of the circumstances surrounding it. I can't remember 'cause it's been quite a while since I actually did the interview. I've still been doing this search and thing, but.
I've actually tried to reach out to one of the detectives that now lives in Florida, but he's really hard to get a hold of. And I just got this audio or video that I screenshotted and sent to you of the whole thing and watched her interview and all that stuff. I appreciate you talking to me, man. I really do.
Yeah, absolutely. Hey, regardless of what I, what comes of this, you know what I mean, man? Keep doing what you're doing, alright? Okay. Because, yeah, I believe that. I believe in my heart that, these, the guys in there need a voice. They need to be heard. But this is, I'm telling you, bro, I know it in my heart.
I know he didn't want to have that, didn't want to get caught with it. That's exactly what the f*ck it was. Okay. Well, Daniel, I appreciate it again and wish the best for you. Okay. All right. Thank you, buddy. All right. Bye bye. Bye bye. My conversation with Daniel didn't turn up the big revelations I was hoping for.
But it did raise more questions. Over the years, Daniel's statements have been suspiciously inconsistent. Initially, Daniel's witness statement was vague about the gun, but by the trial, his description had become precise and detailed. It's possible that Daniel was mistaken in the heat of the moment, and then felt pressured to stick to his original statement.
It's also possible that Daniel could have added a gun to his story to paint him in a better light. Making him seem less like a coward who abandoned his wife when he leaped out of the vehicle. It's also telling that Daniel admits to feeling bullied by the prosecutors. He doesn't give any specifics, but he implies that he was pressured to give certain answers and state the facts against Gerald in a more incriminating way than he'd have liked.
That gives credence to the idea that the prosecuting team could have coerced Daniel in some way and exerted undue influence to secure Gerald's conviction. I called Gerald again to update him on these developments. After the break, we hear his unfiltered reaction to the recording of Daniel's call.
Did you hear when he said the prosecutor? I felt like the prosecutor was blackballing me. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And it's almost, I do know what you're talking about. The way he words things is a little bit questionable. Yeah, if somebody had been to prison and did a decade, he could have just said, listen, man, I'm going to keep it 100 with you, Mr
Toby, he had a gun, and that's just what it is. And I would have respected that more. But him going in and saying, man, my heart is telling me that he had a gun, and the prosecutor blackballed me, was saying, the prosecutor wanted me to say this and say, that's enough right there. Yeah, I think... that's enough right there to tell me that he was coerced.
I think that is kind of a big deal for saying that "a prosecutor wants me to say these words" and things like that. That's not a good officer of the court, you know what I mean? That's, you shouldn't do that sh*t. Right. Well, not, a prosecutor is not allowed to tell somebody what to say and how to say it.
Yeah, no, I agree. If a person's giving a testimony, get up out of, you're under oath. You're supposed to tell nothing but the truth, so help you God. You're under oath. You're supposed to say exactly what you saw, exactly what it was, to the best of your ability. The prosecutor came right down, something, like she's writing a book for him, said, "say it just like this."
Yeah, no, I think that right there, and I've got that on recording for you. I went and ran and hooked my phone up real quick and recorded it. Yeah, I think he, I really think he killed himself right there with the blade. When he said I, "the prosecutor was blackballing me because they wanted me to say this and wanted me to say that."
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It was piss, he even said, pissing him off. Well, yeah, think about this, Gerald, what is there extra to say, if a witness saw you with a gun, why would you be coached? I mean, it's either you got the thing in your hand or you don't. What is there to be coached upon that? There's really nothing that I can think of.
So I don't know if it's a good idea for you to reach out to him, it's a recorded line where you're at. I'm not going to reach out to him yet. I'm not. I'm very smart. Yeah. Don't reach. I'm not going to bother because I don't want him to say that, "Oh, he's tampering. He's tampering with me." He's Bob. Yeah, no, that's like, that's good enough.
So I don't know if I told you, but I reached out to him on messenger and he actually threatened to call the police on me because I was going off on him in messenger, I went to bat for you, bro. I called him out and he kind of went off on me and I went back off on him and he's I'm going to call the police on you.
And that's whenever I just stopped. But now he's talking now that I'm all got him on the phone. He didn't. He didn't talk about that much, but... hey, I'm gonna tell you something. I'm gonna tell you something, Toby, as long as I've been in life, and you know about this prison sh*t, when a person has done time, they see this stuff different, right?
So him isn't saying that, it's eating at him. It is. Because you know what he said? He said, I'm seeing a therapist for anonymous something, right? For dr*g anonymous, right? And he said that him and his wife is divorced, is separated, when you ask that question. And then he said, And then he said, "ah, she's not going to testify to anything."
She already testified to something. She said I didn't have no gun from day one. Well, I was going to say, I tried to reach out to her. I want to get her on recording saying, that she didn't see it. Because I think she might say that he was coerced or he was told to say I had a gun. Yes. And I fully believe that.
And I'm trying to, and I texted one number that I found and the girl said, "no, it's not me." But sometimes they lie because they don't know who the hell's texting them. You know what I mean? So I'm trying for you, man. I'm trying. I want to make sure you had that video. But one person I want you to look at.
I know you're gonna look at the police officers, but the last person on there is Peter Christine. That was somebody that didn't testify either. And I want you to listen to what he said at the end of his testimony because he, my wife had put me on point because I didn't even remember this. He said they were scared to say anything because they were saying their car was a color sar Chevy.
If they were saying their own Escort was a color sar Chevy, and a man that was a good Samaritan tried to block me, I was like, no, your car is an Escort. And she was like, well, we were scared because we don't have insurance. That's why we didn't want to get out the car.
So that was kind of weird. They're sitting there at the scene line. They're making up a lot together at the scene. And that man contested to that. So if the jury would have heard all that, they would have put a lot of stuff in question, like, how did all these people, and they asked him, "did you see a gun?" And he said "absolutely not."
And I was right there. I followed the whole thing. And he did. He followed the whole rec. But they didn't let him testify either. So it's just really weird. So that James Regula, just so you know Toby, he works the midnight shift. He works the midnight shift. The graveyard shift. Down in Florida? So if you ever try to get Yes, sir.
So if you ever try to get in touch with him, that's what you got to, that's when you got to call. And then I'm going to tell you something else about Daniel. He incriminated himself right there when he said, remember, you got it on record when he said I ran over to the sewer and like I was trying to ditch the gun in the sewer.
Remember he said that? Yeah. I never ran nowhere near a sewer. Well, I was running in the middle of the street, right at the middle. And most of the time cops know that they're going to track from the time you got out of that car to where they caught you. They're going to go track all the spots to see if you threw something.
You know what I mean? That they're not stupid. Exactly. Gerald takes my news with a mix of frustration and disbelief. He's outraged by Daniel's admission that the prosecutors influenced his testimony. which he believes compromised the trial's integrity. He feels strongly that the prosecution deliberately fabricated a story about a gun to charge him with felony murder.
They suppressed the testimony of James Regula, coached Daniel to insist that he saw a non-existent gun, and encouraged Eric Everhart to change his story to support Daniel's testimony. To Gerald, this shows a grave disregard for truth and justice by those sworn to uphold the law. Although Gerald freely admits to recklessly killing Ida Taylor, he continues to fight for the record to be set straight.
Along with his wife, he's now focused on reaching out to other potential witnesses, hoping that new testimony might provide the breakthrough he needs. It's an ongoing struggle, and although I've hit a dead end, Gerald and his wife have no intention of giving up the fight anytime soon. Well, I mean, where are you going to go from here with this?
Well, what I'm doing now, I got a contract. is a professor at UMKC School of Law, right? And his name is Sean O'Brian. And he used to be a top notch lawyer, but he's a professor at UMKC. I contacted my judge at Senate's, Judge Jon R. Gray, and he got a direct line where you can call him too. So you can call my judge yourself too and let him hear.
Well, Daniel, can't say, but let me tell you what he told me and my wife, yesterday. Was it yesterday, baby? The judge? Friday. Friday. It was Friday. Yeah, the judge. Yeah. He actually talked to you on the phone? He's a lawyer now. Wow. Yeah. What's his name? His name is Jon, J O N. R, middle initial R, last name Gray, G R A Y.
That's crazy that a judge, you got his judge's number, but he's, of course, he's not a judge anymore, but. Well, what, let me tell you what he said, it's going to blow your mind. So I tell him, I say, Judge Gray, I say, he said, well, he, when he was going to start talking about me and Petey's Regula head prosecutor, I said, I don't want to talk about her, Judge Gray, I got something else better for you.
I said, my wife went and picked up my file from the prosecutor attorney's office. I said, "Judge Gray, y'all know y'all did me wrong." I said, "man, I didn't have no gun. I've got the whole video. So the police officers never state that I had a gun in the video. How can he come back a year later and say I had a gun?"
He said, "you got that on tape?" Didn't he say that, baby? No, he said, "you got that device?" He said, "you got that device?" I said, yeah, I got it on the chip from the prosecutor's attorney's office. And he said, "if you got that, Gerald, then you, that armed criminal action," He said "that ACA and that robbery has to come off of you."
That's just what he said. He said, "this is what I want you to do. I want you to contact Sean O'Brian at the Innocence Project at the, he's a professor at UMKC. Tell him I referred you, tell him I told you to get in touch with him, and if he have any problems, tell him to call me and I'll help him with anything he need help with."
That's exactly what he told me and my wife. Well, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to, I'm going to call the judge and tell him that I've got a witness on, recording saying that he was coerced by the prosecutors. That's going to be big. I want the video out there in the public side. I want it to go to the ball.
Not only for me and my sanity on public, because I didn't have no gun, but I wanted to make that clear. Also, what you're doing, man, it's a blessing, but Lord, I think you should get the recognition. Something like this needs to be put out there and pushed so that the world can see that this is ridiculous.
Because there ain't no way that four people can say I didn't have no gun, including two police officers. When a police officer can come back a year later and say, I had a gun, and the only, he only coercion it because of what Daniel Cates is saying about me having a gun. But then this dude can change all his stuff up.
A sewer? You never even said nothing like that. That's insane. So, and then you saying, you feel like you was being blackballed, bullied by the prosecutor to say this and say that, and that's not what happened. That's newly discovered evidence right there. I want you to do me a favor. What I would like for you to do, if you can, I want you to contact Judge R gray. And I want you to give it to him just how you're supposed to be giving it to him, Mr toby. I want you to say, "listen, I contacted Daniel Cates of Gerald Johnson's Case, and I got that video, Mr gray, and I'm putting it out there to the public," and I guarantee you, you know what that judge gonna, you know what he gonna say?
"Man, what do I need to do to help this man?" I'm telling you, because he just told me and my wife the same thing. You know what he told me too? I'm gonna tell you what he told me. Baby, correct me if I'm wrong. I said, "yeah, cause me and my wife finna do a video on YouTube and put this out." He said, "hold on, before you do that video or anything, Contact this guy."
Didn't he say that, baby? Yep, he sure did. And that's the only reason why I did the video. I'll put it out there in the public eye, so. Okay. Well, I'm gonna, I'll do that. I'm gonna call him and I'm gonna, but yeah, I'm going to work for you. Yeah, I appreciate it. I got you, bro. I'll give you my word.
Yeah, I'll give you my word. I'm the same way you helping me, bro. Absolutely. All right. Sounds good, man. We got you, man. God bless you. The best, bro. Take it easy. All right. Thank you. Yep. Bye bye. Yep.
On the next episode of Voices of a Killer. So, did he ever tell you that he had fetishes about, like, killing anybody? Oh, to an extent, I guess. He was just into that, like, bondage and. Yeah, but he wanted to see, but he liked to see somebody suffer and maybe all the way? I mean, I mean, obviously there's somebody dead in your case and you're saying it's not you.
So, I mean, you can say that he thought like that, did he, or did he, want to see somebody die? He did. I mean, I just, he was just a sick person. He actually put her in my freezer downstairs. Your freezer? For how long? I had a, just till the next morning. So I was there at home. You had a, so you were there all high with a dead body in your freezer?
Yeah, I was. Your daughter is the victim? Yes. Holy f k. The news didn't say anything about that. I want to thank Gerald for sharing his story with us today. His ability to be open and honest is what makes this podcast so special. That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast.
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Your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support, and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in. I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.