Today, 33 years ago, Dale Johnson was shot to death by an intruder who broke into his south Everett home. His family has not only had to endure the anguish of losing Johnson to violence, they also have spent the last three decades without answers.
No one has ever been arrested for the 1978 slaying. Johnson’s killer has never been named nor faced the Everett man’s family in court.
Johnson’s sister, Leanne recently contacted me. We had spoken about her brother back in late 2008 when I was writing about Johnson’s homicide as a part of a year-long series documenting the homicides and missing persons cases featured on the county’s first deck of cold case playing cards.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, namely detective Jim Scharf and then-detective, now Sgt. Dave Heitzman, created the deck in hopes of drumming up leads for old cases that date back to the early 1970s. The decks have been handed out in the state’s prisons and jails. The detectives hoped they would get new leads so they could finally give the families the answers they’ve sought for years.
View the deck here .
Leanne Johnson sent me an e-mail this week, reminding me of the anniversary of her brother’s death. Read about the slaying here . She was just 16 when he was killed. She also asked for my help in getting the word out about the slaying.
“The reason I am e-mailing you is that I believe that the way to get this solved it to get it out in the light,” she wrote. “I do not know where to start.”
Leanne has written letters to the Herald’s opinion page. She also is planning to post fliers at local businesses and taking out a newspaper advertisement.
She wants to do everything she can for her big brother. Her aging parents deserve to know the truth.
“I have spent years waiting for someone to come forward, I need to feel like I am doing something,” she wrote.
Anyone with information about Dale Johnson’s death is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.
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