Bruce E. Mowday - Jailing the Johnston Gang. Bringing Serial Murderers to Justice

J ailing the Johnston Gang is a writing project that has been in the works for almost three decades. The period of time between the completion of the investigation and the publication of this book might seem long but the years allowed reflection to place the investigation into proper context. A book written immediately after the murder trials would have not been as complete.

Every member of the law enforcement community that worked on the case, along with the attorneys and judges, needs to be acknowledged. If they were mentioned in this book or not, they were part of the team and deserve recogni-tion. My special thanks goes to the more than twenty members of the law enforcement team that have in the past few years taken the time to sit down with me to be interviewed and recall, sometimes painfully, incidents connected with the investigation of the murders.

A special thank you goes to David Richter, the lead FBI agent on the case, and Thomas Cloud, one of the lead investigators of the Pennsylvania State Police. After departing their agencies, Dave and Tom eventually became partners in an investigative agency, Cloud, Feehery & Richter, Inc., based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While having a meeting with them one day, I mentioned that I thought the investigative story of the Johnston murder cases had not been adequately told. They concurred and readily agreed to actively participate in the research of this book. Besides sitting for hours of interviews, they used their contacts to set up interviews with other members of the law enforcement community and former members of the Johnston gang. They also took time to review the draft of the text.

Two other members of the team, former Chester County Assistant Attorney Dolores Troiani and former Chief of Chester County Detectives Charles Zagorskie, were generous with their time and assistance. They spent hours talking to me about the case and providing me with valuable background material. Justice William H. Lamb, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice and District Attorney of Chester County, found time during his busy schedule for an interview. Two former members of the Philadelphia branch of the United States Attorneys office, Walter Batty and Douglas Richardson, need to be acknowledged. Doug wrote the foreword to this book.

Current and former law enforcement officers sitting for interviews included Gabe Bolla, Joseph Carroll, J. R. Campbell, James MacElree, Larry Dampman, Michael Carroll, Paul Yoder, Ray Solt, and Thomas Frame. Former Chester County Commissioners Earl Baker and Robert Thompson both provided me with information and sat for interviews.

My wife, Katherine M. Harlan, is a fine proofreader and has greatly helped with the text. She is meticulous and has saved me from making many glaring errors. The organization of material for any book is critical and Christine Yurick aided in this endeavor for Jailing the Johnston Gang.

The research for this book began during the actual investigation and trials of the Johnston brothers. As a reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pennsylvania, I spent more than two years of my professional life trailing the investigative team from courtroom to courtroom and to several counties in Pennsylvania following the legal proceedings. I was out at nights when the bodies of the Johnstons murder victims were unearthed. My most memorable days as a reporter were during the reporting of these murder cases and my editor, Bill Dean, and colleagues at the Daily Local News offered support during those days. Ive included some of my personal stories in this book. All of the work had a downside as I missed a lot of time with my then young daughters, Me-lissa and Megan.

One interview I didnt get to do was with Chester County Common Pleas Court Judge Leonard Sugerman, who more than ably presided over the Johnston cases. Judge Sugerman, known for his brilliant legal mind, died before the latest round of interviews commenced.

I thank everyone who aided in the research and writing of this book.

Bruce E. Mowday
Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania
September 2007

The Murder of Robin Miller

L ate on a warm midsummers night a teenage couple returned to the girls rural farmhouse home after a date at Hersheypark. Hershey, a central Pennsylvania town, is home to Hershey Foods and known far and wide as Chocolate town.

In many ways the teenage couple was typical of most its age. The two believed they were worldly and experienced, they believed they were self-sufficient and only needed each other to be happy. In other ways they were completely opposite of their peers. They certainly werent innocents. The young man, just nineteen years old, was a criminal who had served time in prison. The fifteen-year-old girl was known for a streak of wildness. She disobeyed her mother and ran away from home to be with her boyfriend. Also, the girls relationship with her boyfriend directly led to her being raped.

And, most teenagers dont have a price on their heads.

The girls home was in East Nottingham Township in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, near the Maryland border. The driveway leading from Forge and Union Square roads to the farmhouse is a long one. The couples yellow Volkswagen Rabbit, with its headlights glowing, made the vehicle an isolated and inviting target during the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 30, 1978.

Slowly, the car traversed the cindered driveway running between the cornfields and stopped near a cluster of maple trees. Inside the car the girl began to gather her belongings, including a handbag purchased for her that day by her boyfriend of less than a year.

Robin Millers choice of a beau was not a popular one with her family, especially her mother Linda Miller. After her daughter ran away from home to be with Bruce Alfred Johnston Jr., Linda Miller decided it was futile to try to separate the young couple. Rather than alienate her daughter, Linda Miller allowed them to live together in the farmhouse along with her other children.

Miller and Johnston Jr. first met when Robin was dating a friend of Johnston Jr. Less than a year later they had plans to marry after Robins sixteenth birthday in July 1979.

JOHNSTON JR. WOULD do about anything to be with Robin. Less than two weeks earlier Johnston Jr., a convicted thief, had been incarcerated in Chester County Farms Prison. A joint federal and state investigative team was talking to Johnston Jr. concerning criminal activity involving his father, uncles, other relatives, boyhood friends, and an array of vicious criminals and petty thieves. For almost two decades the Johnston gang had terrorized and victimized citizens throughout the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania and Delaware, the eastern seaboard of the United States and beyond.

In mid-August Johnston Jr. told investigators he would cooperate and testify before a federal grand jury sitting in Philadelphia only if he could be set free and be with Robin Miller. Revenge was also on the mind of Johnston Jr. While incarcerated at Chester County Farms Prison Johnston Jr. received a letter from Miller. The letter detailed how Johnston Sr. and another gang member offered to take Miller to see Johnston Jr. in prison. Robin Miller began the trip but never made it to the prison. The two men gave Robin Miller whiskey, took her to a hotel and raped her. Johnston Jr. was out to get even with his father. He would cooperate with police and break the Johnston familys most sacred covenant: never cooperate with the police, especially against family.