Former sheriff prohibited from testifying about victim’s alleged abuse, use of child porn
By Vicky Wedig
SLN staff
On the third day of testimony in a Whitewater homicide case – still calling witnesses for the prosecution – the father of the accused murderer took the stand.
Former Racine County Sheriff Eric Johnson made his way slowly to the witness stand using a cane Wednesday.
Johnson said he moves slowly and takes time to process his thoughts into words since a 2014 fall that fractured his skull and five subsequent concussions – the most recent 2 ½ weeks ago.
Johnson’s son, Alan Johnson, 32, is on trial for the murder of Johnson’s son-in-law Kenneth Myszkewicz.
Johnson told jurors Alan Johnson took over caring for him, his wife, their household and their affairs after the elder Johnson fell from a tree in 2014 and suffered a traumatic brain injury and his wife, Catherine Johnson, underwent hip-replacement surgery. He said Alan Johnson also took responsibility for his sister, Christine, and her household after her husband, Titus, was killed in an automobile accident.
Alan Johnson’s attorney contended in his opening statements Monday that Johnson felt the mounting responsibility of caring for his family – he’d moved back to Wisconsin from Manhattan to do so – and wanted to take something off his plate – his abusive, porn-viewing brother-in-law. Stephen Hurley said Alan Johnson didn’t intend to murder Myszkewicz but planned to take the problem off his plate by gathering evidence of child pornography so that police would apprehend Myszkewicz.
With the jury absent from the courtroom, Judge Kristine Drettwan instructed Eric Johnson that he was prohibited from testifying about child pornography, pedophilia, sexual assault, anything “Ken did to people,” or anything Alan Johnson told him about the night Myszkewicz was killed.
With the jury present, Eric Johnson testified that his daughter, Kim, had dated Myszkewicz since high school before marrying him, and, at one point, Eric Johnson had a falling out with Myszkewicz and asked him not to come around the family.
Whitewater Police Department Det. Lt. Neal Kold, who was in charge of the crime scene the day Myszkewicz was killed, also testified Wednesday.
See mywalworthcounty.com for further updates as the trial progresses, and see Southern Lakes Newspapers’ editions next week for the full story.
