The Murders of Jose and Elena Najera
For this case I watched an episode of Diabolical. It’s season 1 episode 5, titled ‘Best of Friends.’
A hard-working couple are found dead in their home.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of Jose Sr., or Elena.
Background
The Najera’s had immigrated from Mexico, to Garden Grove, California. Jose Najera Sr., worked in construction, and worked long hours to be able to provide for his family. The couple had one son, Jose Jr., who was 19 at the time of their deaths.
The Najera family lived in a middle class neighborhood, but they were able to send their son to Mater Dei High School, a prestigious catholic school in Santa Ana. They seemed like a happy couple, and a happy family, so it was shock to the community when they were found dead.
The Murders
On December 28, 1999, a 911 call came in at 4:35am. The caller was Jose Jr., and he said “they killed my mom and dad.” He said there was a lot of blood, and that they weren’t moving or breathing.
When the Garden Grove police arrived, Jose was still inside, on the phone with dispatch. He was visibly upset, and the police escorted him from the house.
Jose Sr., and Elena were found in their bedroom. Elena was on her back with her hands up, and her eyes wide open. Jose was found on his stomach. They had both been stabbed about 20 times, with a sharp instrument. A black ski mask was also found in the room, and it had a blonde hair inside. The hair was sent in for testing.
The police were able to rule out robbery as a motive. Elena had about $4,900 in cash in her purse. It was untouched, and there was no forced entry in the home.
Jose Jr.
The police started their investigation by questioning Jose Jr. Jose blamed himself, and told the police that he had left, by sneaking out the window, and had left it open.
The police asked Jose if he got along with his parents, and he said most of the time. He also told the police that he was raised to follow his parents rules, as long as he “lived under their roof.” However, that night he didn’t follow their rules, and he snuck out at went to his friend Gerald Johnson’s home. He said that he was also with Brian and Vince, and that they drank, played pool and played video games.
Jose said that he left around 4:30am, when he realized what time it was. He was worried that his dad would wake up and find him gone. He returned home to find that his light was off in his room, which he had left on. Jose told the police he also noticed some blood on the window sill. He then called the police when he found his parents.
The Alibi
Next, the police wanted to talk to Gerald, Brian and Vince.
Gerald Johnson was Jose’s best friend. He was the son of a doctor, and lived in a very affluent Orange County community. Gerald confirmed that Jose was over at his house until about 4:30am. Brian and Vince also confirmed this.
The police also spoke to a neighbor of the Najera’s, a 17 year old named Grady. He said that he noticed a car pull up in the driveway around 3am, an hour and a half before Jose said he came home. Grady said that he called Jose when he noticed the car, and that Jose told him that it was his dad’s friend who was a mechanic, and was going to be picking up his car to be fixed.
The police were a little suspicious about this because who comes out to pick a car up at 3am. Grady also told the police that a few months before the murders, he saw a lot of money in Jose Jr.’s room. He asked Jose about it, and Jose told him that he was a FBI informant.
According to some of Jose’s classmates and friends, he liked to exaggerate and tell stories to fit in.
The Best Friend
The police called the mechanic that Jose claimed had pick up his car. He said he never went over there that morning, and that he was home asleep with his family.
The case stalled for a few days, until a friend of Gerald Johnson’s came into the police station with some information. She showed the police a $20,000 cashier check that Gerald had given her. She told the police that she asked Gerald where he got the money, and that he told her he obtained it legally, but that his parents didn’t know about it.
On December 31, three days after the murder, Gerald walked into the police station himself. He told the police that a girl he knew had been threatened, and that he believed it had something to do with the Najera case.
The police soon learned that Gerald was fishing for information about the case, and asked him about the $20,000. Gerald told them he had received it from his grandfather. They contacted his parents, and they said they didn’t know why his grandfather would have given him money.
The police were very suspicious of Gerald. They asked him if they could test his hair and DNA, and Gerald said yes. Gerald was the only blonde out of his the four people that he was with on the night of the murders. The DNA soon came back as a match to Gerald.
The police obtained a warrant for Gerald’s parents home. In the shower of Gerald’s bathroom, the police found a speck of blood. The blood came back as a match to Jose and Elena Najera.
On January 11, 2000, Gerald Johnson was arrested for the murders.
Gerald Johnson
Did he do it alone?
After Gerald was arrested, the police brought in Jose Jr., for another interview. The police knew that Gerald was friends with Jose, but they couldn’t determine what his motive to killing Jose’s parents would be.
The police also brought in Brian and Vince, and left them in the same interrogation room. There was a recording device and a hidden camera in the room, but Brian and Vince apparently knew that. The only suspicious thing the police heard one of them say was “stick to the story.”
They did just that for awhile, until Vince started to crack. Vince told the police that Gerald did leave the party for awhile that night, and that he left to go jogging.
The police confronted Jose about this as well. Jose suddenly remembered that Gerald did leave for awhile that night. Jose said that Gerald and Vince left in Brian’s car to get a Twix bar, went to Black Star Canyon, and to the bank.
The police knew that they weren’t getting the complete story from anyone. They put Jose in the same room as his friends, but they didn’t incriminate themselves. They all maintained their innocence.
The police obtained warrants for Vince and Brian’s homes and vehicles. There was blood found in Brian’s car, and it came back as a match to Jose Sr. The police believed that Gerald and whoever helped him that night had driven to the Najera’s in Brian’s car, and that it was that car that pulled in the driveway at 3am.
Gerald’s Last Chance
In March 2002, Gerald Johnson went on trial for the murders. He said he didn’t kill his best friend’s parents. The jury didn’t believe him, and he was found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After the trial, Jose cut off all contact with his former friend. He became the heir to his parent’s money and home. He spent it all on drugs, partying and going to strip clubs.
On May 10, 2002, the police came up with a new plan to get their suspects to turn on each other. They obtained arrest warrants for Brian, Vince and Jose Jr., and placed them in a holding cell together. They got a court order to place hidden recording devices in the cell. The plan didn’t work, and the criminal charges had to be dropped against all three of them.
Sadly, this case stalled quite a few times. In 2007, Gerald lost his last appeal, and he called his lawyer about possibly getting a deal if he talked about what really happened in 1999. The district attorney didn’t want to give him a deal, but they decided to hear what he had to say.
Another Look at the Case
The police and the DA weren’t going to convict Jose Jr., just based on Gerald’s story, so they wanted to take another look at the case.
They looked at the original 911 call, and found it odd that Jose stayed in the house after his parents were killed. The police determined that Jose stayed in the house because he either planned it or knew the killer was Gerald.
The police also found Jose’s original statement odd. When Jose told them about leaving to go to the party, he said he coasted down his driveway, so that he didn’t wake his parents up. He never said that he was quiet about returning to the home, and the police believed it was because his parents were already dead.
The last piece of evidence that the police looked at was Grady’s story. He told the police that he saw a car in the driveway at 3am, and when he called Jose, he said that it wasn’t a big deal. The police said that anyone else would be suspicious about a car being in the driveway at that time of the morning.
The police did a little further digging into Jose, and discovered that he was failing school. He was supposed to graduate from high school, but couldn’t because of his grades. He was also taking some classes at a local community college, and had to drop three out of four classes. Jose had convinced his parents to take out about $70,000 for Y2K. Jose had stolen about $18,000 of that to sell drugs, party and go to strip clubs. Jose Sr., and Elena found out just a few months before the murders.
In May 2007, an arrest warrant was obtained for Jose Jr. However, he was nowhere to be found. The police tricked him into coming back, by calling his aunt, and telling her that they had some property for Jose. He was arrested for murder.
Justice for the Najera’s
Before Jose’s trial, Gerald told the DA that he was supposed to just kill Jose Sr., that night. He said that Jose fought back, and that he had to kill Elena so he couldn’t be identified. Gerald said that he invited Brian and Vince over that night, so that they could be their alibi.
The DA decided to present the case without Gerald’s testimony. Gerald didn’t get a deal, and he committed suicide in prison.
On May 17, 2010, Jose went on trial. He pleaded not guilty. On June 1, 2010, he was convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
All charges against Brian and Vince were dropped.
Jose Najera Jr.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Jose was just greedy, and he was afraid of getting caught of all the horrible decisions he decided to make. I can’t believe he was able to talk his friend into committing the murder of his parents. I believe Gerald was manipulated, but he still decided to kill two people. Jose didn’t care about his parents or about his friendship with Gerald. He’s exactly where he needs to be, and will hopefully remain there forever.
Sources
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-13-mn-53665-story.html
https://www.ocregister.com/2010/08/06/man-gets-life-for-plot-to-murder-parents/
