Seven years ago a mother and her daughter were found dead following a house fire in Turner Valley.
Soon after it was discovered that the five-month pregnant 36-year-old and her eight-year-old daughter had been killed prior to the fire on Sept. 3, 1996.
Seven years later the family of Jane and Cathryn Johnson remains optimistic that the killer or killers of their loved ones will be brought to justice.
“I know the RCMP are doing everything they can,” said Sam Johnson, the ex-husband and father of the victims. “There is no doubt in my mind it will be solved.”
Southern Alberta RCMP spokesmen Rick Oncescu said the Johnson murder file is still being actively investigated by the Calgary major crimes unit with the assistance of the Turner Valley RCMP.
“We are still receiving and soliciting tips,” Oncescu said.
Despite the ongoing assistance of the public RCMP currently do not have a prime suspect in the case.
Johnson said the memories of the double homicide are hard to forget while the killer is on the loose.
“It’s tough, but you don’t get over it, you get used to it,” he said with pain in his voice.
Only two days before the seventh anniversary of the murder Johnson faced both the sad and pleasant memories of his ex-wife and child, while golfing at the Turner Valley Golf Club, where their house once stood.
“They were fun people who lived fun lives,” Johnson recalled.
Anyone with information on the Johnson murders is asked to call the Calgary RCMP major crimes unit or the Turner Valley RCMP detachment.
“There may be someone who knows something that they think is insignificant, but it might not be,” Johnson said.
Both Johnson and Jane’s two brothers voluntarily took polygraph tests to eliminate themselves as suspects.
Johnson’s boyfriend at the time, Mike Reichart, refused at the advice of his lawyer.
“We wanted to help the investigation,” Johnson explained. “So they wouldn’t have to go down the wrong trail.”
He said the family will remember the pair by visiting the spot where their ashes were spread at her father’s Longview ranch.