Doctor's Son Kills Best Friends Parents
Maggie
Accused killer, victims' son were inseparable
January 13, 2000
By BILL RAMS, TONY SAAVEDRA and ANH DO
The Orange County Register
They were unlikely friends, the slim doctor's son from Villa Park and the husky
kid from Garden Grove whose father installed portable classrooms.
They were inseparable, locked in an ill-fated relationship that began at Mater
Dei High School. Gerald Johnson was lanky, quiet and shy, working behind the
scenes at the campus TV station. Jose "Joe" Najera Jr., nicknamed "Porky," was
gregarious and embraced the spotlight, playing a disciple last year in the
school's production of "Godspell."
Both 1999 graduates were remembered by school administrators as "good kids."
Their friendship is center stage in a tale of murder and mystery that has
shaken the quiet of two Orange County neighborhoods.
Johnson, 19, is accused of slashing Najera's parents to death at their Garden
Grove home in the predawn darkness of Dec. 28 after climbing through Najera's
open bedroom window. Both teen-agers had spent the
early morning with at least two other friends shooting pool and drinking at the
$400,000 home of Johnson's parents in Villa Park.
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Johnson with two counts of murder with special
circumstances of burglary that could qualify him for the death penalty if he's
convicted. He is expected to be arraigned today.
Detectives said Najera and the other two boys with him that night remain
potential suspects. Authorities are still trying to untangle what led to the
deaths of Jose and Elena Najera, who friends say doted on their only son.
"It's hard to say exactly what happened," said Garden Grove police Capt. Dave
Abrecht. "Somehow, we'll get to the bottom of it."
Johnson's arrest stunned neighbors on the Villa Park cul-de-sac where he grew
up, riding his bicycle and playing baseball in the street. It's a neighborhood
of multistory homes owned by doctors, lawyers, a school superintendent and
other white-collar professionals in a bedroom community part Mayberry, part
Beverly Hills.
"When you hear of this happening next door, it kind of jars your senses. It's a
wake-up call to reality," said neighbor Juliana Ditty.
Gerald Johnson's father, Ronald, was a Boy Scout troop leader, still remembered
by neighborhood teens for handing out trophies at Scouting award ceremonies.
Gerald's mother, Bonnie, is a doctor with Kaiser Permanente in Downey. Friends
said Gerald Johnson, the youngest of three children, always made the honor
holl.
At Mater Dei, Johnson worked for the school's television production studio,
MDTV, returning this year to work part time. From behind the camera, he
recorded athletic events, student musicals and plays, as well as a student
cable news show.
His friend, Joe Najera, was the kind of kid who bloomed in front of the camera.
Friends called him a boisterous backslapper with a deep, soaring voice that
belted out the national anthem at Mater Dei sporting events.
Among the school's five choirs, he shone as a chamber singer, winning an award
at his senior year's musical production. Some of the kids he sang with later
performed at his parents' funeral.
"He was one of the nicer people I knew in school," said sophomore Jon Pugh of
Tustin Ranch, who took a beginning Latin class with Najera last year. "If you
were really mad at someone, he would try to help you figure out why. He was
always doing things like that. He's such a good person."
Both Johnson and Najera appeared to be close to their parents, who placed ads
congratulating the boys in their 1999 yearbook. On one page, Joe Najera hugs
his mother, beaming at a mother-son breakfast. On another, Johnson's parents
and siblings write a poignant graduation message: "You made it. We are proud of
you and your achievements. Look to the future and follow your dream."
His future now is uncertain.
"I really don't know what's going on, and I don't want to pass off any
misinformation," said Bonnie Johnson, the boy's mother. "He's always been a
good boy."
But his life, and that of Najera, would change three days after Christmas, when
Joe Najera sneaked out of his bedroom window at midnight to party with Johnson.
It was through that same window that police say the killer later entered.
Jose Najera Sr. was too tired to get undressed. He fell asleep that night in
his blue shirt, gray pants and socks. He never awoke.
Police believe he was the first to die, slashed along the left side of his
face, his ear and his left arm. Detectives theorize that Elena Najera, sleeping
in another room, heard the noise and rushed in. She was stabbed repeatedly in
the chest and died wearing pink striped pajamas.
The killer tucked a black ski mask behind the bed in the room where the murders
occurred, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Detectives took a cleaver and a nine-piece knife set from the home to examine
as possible murder weapons.
Elena Najera's purse was found in a closet with $4,905 inside.
Her son, Joe Najera, told police he stumbled upon the bodies about 4 a.m. after
climbing back through the now-bloodied window sill. He called police at 4:36
a.m.
A neighbor told investigators that he saw an unfamiliar car, a gray Nissan,
parked in the Najeras' driveway about the time that police believe the killings
occurred.
The neighbor, Grady Owen, 17, said Wednesday that he called Joe Najera's cell
phone about 3 a.m. to see if everything was all right. Owen said Najera
explained that the car belonged to a friend of his father's who was there to
pick him up for work.
When Owen went outside after police arrived, the gray car was gone.
Nearly two weeks later, Owen said, Najera changed his story. He said the gray
Nissan was there because his own Toyota had broken down.
Abrecht said Owen's account, and the discrepancies in Najera's story, is
credible evidence in the case. Police say they have searched a car similar to
the one Owen described, which Johnson may have driven that night.
Owen added that Najera told him another time that Johnson had chased his calico
cat Oscar with a knife.
"I've been saying from the day it happened that I thought (Johnson) did it,"
Owen said. "But why would anyone just up and whack their best friend's
parents?"
A couple days after the killings, Johnson disappeared from his family home.
When he returned, sheriff's deputies were called to the house on a report of a
suicide attempt. Johnson was later admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Costa
Mesa, where he was arrested Tuesday. Johnson invoked his right to silence and
asked for an attorney.
Detectives also swarmed on his house and the Huntington Beach homes of the
other two teens who were with Najera and Johnson that night, seizing knifes,
two cars and clothes that could be examined for blood. Police said more arrests
could be pending.
Owen said he and neighbor Michael Nguyen, 17, last spoke with Najera on
Saturday, when several of Najera's family members came to the house to clean it
up.
"He said he thought Gerald did it," Owen said.
He "seemed emotionless," added Nguyen.
Najera told them that Johnson was admitted to the hospital after his mother
found a suicide note, Owen said. Obviously, Najera told them, if he wanted to
kill himself, he must be the killer.
Johnson's ex-girlfriend, Jacqueline Gonzalez, 18, said in an earlier interview
that he had emotional problems and had been taking Prozac. Gonzalez is Najera's
cousin.
On Wednesday, Joe Najera Jr. answered the door at his uncle's home, wearing a
baggy sweatshirt and fuzzy slippers adorned with teddy bear faces.
"I really have no comment at this time," he said. "Sorry, man."
Maggie
"Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly."
-Batman Costume warning label
Sonnete
Another of the son's friends seems to be under suspicion. After several
detailed newspapers stories it has disappeared from the papers. The last
article stated that the parents had withdrawn $66,000 from the bank because of
Y2K fears and Gerald Johnson had cashed a cashiers check for $20,000 after the
murders.
Anyone have newer information?
Karen