Jerry Leon Johns:Serial Killer

   

   Jerry Leon Johns was a serial killer. Like many serial killers, the true scope of his crimes has yet to be known. 

   In most news reports about Jerry Leon Johns you’ll see that he lived in Cleveland, Tennessee. I thought that meant he was from Cleveland, Tennessee. He was actually from Flat Rock, Michigan. So, why did they say he was from Cleveland, Tennessee? Well, that’s where he was incarcerated for decades.

  He was born on November 16th, 1948. He grew up in Michigan near Detroit.

  Jerry Leon Johns killed Tina Marie McKenney Farmer in late 1984. She was found on January 1st, 1985. (DNA has recently linked him to the crime.) 

  She went missing from Indianapolis, Indiana and her family reported her missing and checked back with police over the years. Indiana didn’t have a law then that compelled police to share missing person’s reports across the country.   Consequently, she went unidentified for decades. Her daughter died without knowing that her mother had been murdered. She grew up thinking that maybe her Mom ran away and didn’t want to come back. The truth was that she couldn’t come back. 

   After he dumped Tina Marie McKenney Farmer off the side of Interstate 75 near Jellico, Tennessee he apparently went to Knoxville. Perhaps he had a trucking route that frequently took him to and from Knoxville. 

    He strangled a woman named Linda Schacke in Knoxville and left her in a storm drain on March 5th,1985 but she did not die. She testified against him and he was convicted. 

   Linda Schacke was having a late dinner on March 5th, 1985 with two men that she had met at the Katch One Club in Knoxville. Jerry Leon Johns approached her in the parking lot and said he was a narcotics officer. He showed her a gun. She was doubtful that he was really a police officer and kept walking to her car. He then grabbed her and overpowered her and took her away in her own car. He tore strips of cloth from her shirt and tied her up with them. He drove around for hours before taking her to a storm drain and tying strips of cloth tightly around her neck. She pretended to be dead. He kicked her to attempt to be sure and she bravely and smartly suppressed any noise or movement.  Linda Schacke went to the police with her story and a description. Johns was arrested, tried and convicted and died in jail on December 7th, 2015. 

   But, police were still trying to solve cold cases. He has recently been linked through DNA to the murder of Tina Marie McKenney Farmer. 

   I think he also killed Tracy Sue Walker. She disappeared from Lafayette, Indiana in 1978. She was found in 1985 very close to Tina Marie McKenney Farmer. Both were found near Jellico, Tennessee in an area called Elk Valley. Interstate 75 runs right past there. 

  Based on the fact that he was from Flat Rock, Michigan and traveled along I-75 frequently; I think he could also be responsible for the murder of Jane Louise Allan in 1976. She was taken from Michigan, not far from Flat Rock and found in Miamisburg. Strips of cloth torn from her shirt were used to strangle her and bind her hands and feet. It was reported that she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was found not far from I-75. 

  Jerry Leon Johns could also be responsible for the 1981 murder of Marcia Sossaman King. She was also found not far from I-75 in Troy, Ohio. She had been strangled and beaten. For decades she was known as “Buckskin Jane Doe” for the fringed buckskin pullover she had worn. 

  Another woman who disappeared from Vandalia, Ohio was Brenda Sue Black. Brenda Sue Black was born around 1955. I wasn’t able to find her date of birth or family information. 

   I became acquainted with her case because a dear family member got me a true crime calendar and Brenda’s case was featured on January first. As you know, I am very curious and I always want to know more. 

  I did find that Brenda graduated from Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio in 1972. Vandalia is located just north of Dayton, Ohio on I-75. 

  After high school she supposedly headed toward California. But she must have traveled back to Ohio because she was last seen in Vandalia, Ohio on January 1st, 1980. Perhaps she had gone home for Christmas and New Year’s and then headed out again. 

   Brenda was found along I-80 in Illinois on April 19th, 1981. She had been dead for about a year. Plants had grown up around her and mostly concealed her skeletal remains. A person who was collecting aluminum cans near I-80 and Hwy. 30 near New Lenox, Illinois for extra money found her skeletal remains. That information came from a 2022 article about her identification. I did not find an article about her discovery in 1981. There were many other women’s bodies and skeletal remains found in Illinois in 1981. But, I did not find an article about remains found in New Lenox near I-80 and Highway 30. 

   Brenda remained unidentified until 2022. Her DNA was extracted and genetic genealogy techniques were used to identify possible family members. A member of her family provided a DNA sample and a match was made. Brenda Sue Black had her name back. 

  He might also have killed Michelle Hoffman of Toledo. Toledo is not far from Flat Rock, Michigan. She was killed on September 2nd 1981 after having a late night/early morning breakfast with her boyfriend on his overnight shift lunch break. Was she followed and stalked after that like Linda Schacke was? 

   Who else did Jerry Leon Johns kill? I think that in the coming years we may see many more cases linked back to him. 

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