Murdered While Sleeping:
The Unsolved Murder of Japanese Born Kyoko Johnson; Plus, an Acquitted Murderer Turned Bank Robber.
(NOTE: more images will be added tomorrow, March 9, 2022)
- Kyoko Kuwako Johnson
Born: April 20, 1937
Died: November 23, 1990
Born in Japan, Kyoko married a U.S. military man while she was living in San Francisco. The couple moved to Harbor City, California (southern California), where, after raising a family, she was brutally killed on a late November morning as she slept. Her husband was put on trial, but found not guilty.
Kyoko’s home in San Francisco in the 1960’s. It was at 1340 Turk Street. Kyoko was a waitress, and her home was near Japan Town, San Fransisco. So I’m guessing she worked at a Japanese restaurant in Japan Town.
The Kyoko and Chester Johnson home in Harbor City, where they had lived and raised children, but also where Kyoko was murdered while she slept in the early morning of November 15, 1990.
Chester Johnson after acquitted of murder. He complained that he was left in jail for 20 months during the investigation.
Kyoko Johnson’s memorial plaque. I find it odd that her plaque lacks the complete date of birth and death, as well as “mother and wife.”
Very generic.
RIP Kyoko.
- Wells Benner van Steenbergh Jr.
Born: March 29, 1935
Died: June 19, 2012
In an attempt to steal some cash from a home, Wells Jr. burned down a home where a husband and wife lived, who had been friends with Wells Jr. for a few years. Unknown to Wells Jr., the wife was at home sleeping. Wells Jr. later moved to Seattle where he almost pulled off another perfect crime.
Wells Steenbergh family home in Rhinebeck, NY. 23 Violet Place.
Mary Beresford
Burned Beresford home the morning after the fire.
Wells (Ben) after arrest in 1955.
Lloyd Beresford (Mary’s husband) and the district attorney just after Mary’s death.
Wells Jr. taken in for questioning in Hawthorne, NY for arson and murder. He changed his story three times (1955).
A sample of the Kango Hammer and drill bits that Wells used in the concrete digging.
Wells after his arrest in 1961. He would have escaped arrest, but he made a mistake by paying $1,000 cash in $20’s for a brand new VW bus. The serial numbers on the 20’s were quickly traced back to the VW sale.
Investigators at the People’s National Bank in Seattle, looking for clues at the blast site. They found none.
The site of the tunnel in the embankment below the drive-up window. People’s National Bank, Seattle, Washington (1961). Keep in mind, Wells was doing this digging in the evening, in the winter. Well, I guess that’s why he started in early October. By the time he got deeper, it was January.
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