Saw this one again today. It's one of those that really haunts me. "Tom Johnson" was obviously a scam artist who took advantage of the good nature of a naive college student. He could've just stolen the computer and left, but instead he beat those two poor kids with a freakin' hammer.

...anyway...any updates?

check the forum search but i remember it was said that the guy who johnson hit died in 1997 in a car accident in Africa. Johnson the killer was most likely a dead culprit in another crime.

check the forum search but i remember it was said that the guy who johnson hit died in 1997 in a car accident in Africa. Johnson the killer was most likely a dead culprit in another crime.

Yeah, I saw the sad news about Jeremy...
I'll have to dig harder for the other bit you mentioned.

Thanks!

I question as to why bring 2 complete strangers to a hotel room out of all places, rob them and then bludgeon both of them, not even using the gun he held them at bay with. Was the computer that important to kill a woman and seriously harm her boyfriend over?

I am surprised that the serial numbers mentioned in the episode have never turned up anywhere. I myself looked the numbers up and came up with nothing.

Sad that Jeremy lived only to be killed in a car accident 5 years later. I hope Heather and Jeremy's assailant is dead, locked up or will be found someday and pay for his crime.

I found this case to be one of the most sickening, brutal and cowardly acts in all UM Cases.

Here are a few things that should have set alarm bells ringing. Seriously why would anybody agree to a motel room rather than an office on such a ludicrous excuse of the place being hard to find-especially when they had just driven from Nashville to Marietta which from a quick search is 230 odd miles? Business partner coming later with the money, but if you could just load the goods I haven't paid for into my car while we wait for him.

The two agreed on a price and afterwards, Tom requested that the equipment be delivered to Marietta, Georgia. At first, the equipment was set to be delivered directly to Tom's office, but Tom said that the directions were so complex that it'd be easier to meet up at the Knights Inn, a motel in town.

Tom said his business partner had the check and would be along in about half an hour.

Tom suggested they load the computer into his car while they waited.

Here are a few things that should have set alarm bells ringing. Seriously why would anybody agree to a motel room rather than an office on such a ludicrous excuse of the place being hard to find-especially when they had just driven from Nashville to Marietta which from a quick search is 230 odd miles? Business partner coming later with the money, but if you could just load the goods I haven't paid for into my car while we wait for him.

The two agreed on a price and afterwards, Tom requested that the equipment be delivered to Marietta, Georgia. At first, the equipment was set to be delivered directly to Tom's office, but Tom said that the directions were so complex that it'd be easier to meet up at the Knights Inn, a motel in town.

Tom said his business partner had the check and would be along in about half an hour.

Tom suggested they load the computer into his car while they waited.

I believe Jeremy explained that, to him, not wanting to meet in an industrial park made perfect sense as he, himself, had been lost in those places before. It makes sense to me, too. Industrial parks are typically large and sprawling, everything looks the same, the roads have weird lay-outs and are not always well-marked, and the numbers on the buildings can be difficult to see or not there at all. And it's not like "Tom Johnson" asked them to meet in a back alley. Who would think that someone would murder, or even rob, them at a motel in broad daylight?

No, they shouldn't have put the computer in his car ... but they were young and trusting. Also, it's human nature for a lot of people to want to "go along to get along". You've been sitting and amicably chatting with this apparently normal guy - do you then want things to get awkward by basically saying "I don't trust you - let's wait until the money gets here". In fact, that could have scuttled the deal, and they had driven all night to get it done. I'm just saying that I can understand why they did what they did. And, of course, it is ultimately "Tom Johnson" who is to blame for what happened!

Sure he is ultimately to blame. I believe he probably liked them for this because they were young & trusting. Maybe it is just me not trusting anybody but I sure as hell would not put anything somebody hadn't paid for into their vehicle.

It is one of those cases where it would be highly unlikely to happen even a decade later because of the amount of CCTV everywhere that just wasn't around in the early 1990's & even less likely nowadays with GPS & Google.Maps.

After seeing his fiancé killed, seeing the worst of humanity, Jeremy died while in service to the his country and the world while in the Peace Corps.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-04-17/news/9704170312_1_south-africa-lesotho-resident-of-oak-park

Very sad to read to what happen to him in over in South Africa in 1997. It a shame they never caught this so called Johnson fellow. He never sold the computer if he did it might of been bought by another shady person.

Wasn't that computer pretty high end for 1992? I know we would laugh at somebody with a hard drive of that size today but even in the early 2000's weren't most average computers still running at laughable specs by what we have now? It seems hard to see how he would have shifted this thing.

Wasn't that computer pretty high end for 1992? I know we would laugh at somebody with a hard drive of that size today but even in the early 2000's weren't most average computers still running at laughable specs by what we have now? It seems hard to see how he would have shifted this thing.


Yeah, IIRC the computer and everything with it sold for around around $20,000 in 1992. Jeremy's company had listed the computer in either a newspaper or trade publication and it was to be paid for with a certified check. All my info came from the UM segment (which I haven't seen in months). I do not pretend to be a computer genius, especially one run amok (like Kevin Poulsen) ;)

Yes, it was extremely high end at the time and set up for video editing.

I have to wonder if "Tom Johnson" wasn't involved in a other crimes, such as child pornography. It would explain why the set up never surfaced.