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Hernando Today

Detectives Still On The Case, Eleven Years Later

Hernando Today file photo by BOB EAST III

Detective Jim Boylan has been pounding the pavement, trying to stir up new leads in the 1998 death of Jessie Johnson.

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: January 28, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - It's been 11 years since Jessie Johnson's house went up in flames.

Investigators are certain someone set the fire; less clear is whether they meant to kill 78-year-old Johnson.

Regardless of intentions, someone was responsible. Putting a name (or names) to that "someone" was the reason for Detective Jim Boylan's visit to South Brooksville on Monday morning.

Boylan, along with eight other deputies and detectives, walked the streets for a little over an hour knocking on doors and passing out fliers. They were there to follow up the 9,500 fliers mailed out to area residents.

Their hope was to stir up new leads into the fire that broke out Jan. 26, 1998, at 904 Josephine St. According to Hernando Today's archive, Johnson was found by firefighters lying across the street with "severe" burns to his left arm and leg and back.

He told firefighters an electric heater in his house caught fire, but firefighters witnessed a "flare-up" on the front porch - indicating something was used to accelerate the fire.

Johnson died several days later from complications associated with his burns.

There were a lot of witnesses at the time, but investigators were hard-pressed to get many details, Boylan said.

Within a matter of days, most of the leads had dried up, he added.

Last year, Boylan inherited Hernando County's 20 cold cases after the previous detective retired. It's been a year sifting through seemingly endless boxes of documents to catch up; the Jennifer Odom case alone has more than 6,000 tips.

Now Boylan is pounding the pavement, re-interviewing witnesses and getting a feel for the physical locations of the crimes. While the case certainly isn't fresh by any stretch, time has a way of bringing up old memories. Sometimes, suspects feel safe after the case gets old and start to brag or slip a crucial detail.

"We're hoping something positive comes of this," he said. "It's still unsolved and it's still being worked."

Anyone with information about the Jessie Johnson case can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-866-990-TIPS (8477)

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com

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