Soldier Details Grisly Killing and Dismemberment of Pregnant Wife Before Sentencing

Initially charged with murder, Johnson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice, and providing false official statements. Additionally, per an Army press release, charges of possession of child pornography and the production and distribution of child pornography were dismissed.

He was given 23 years, the maximum sentence possible for the charges. His rank was also reduced private, will forfeit pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged.

His wife, 19-year-old Mischa Johnson, went missing while six months pregnant back in July 2024. Her body still has not been found and presumed incinerated.

Per the Army press release, Johnson and his wife were at their home at the Schofield Barracks on Oahu “when they began arguing and then things escalated to violence.”

In court this week, according to Island News, Johnson said Mischa accused him of cheating. He reportedly said he then picked up a machete, as she told him their child would never know he existed.

“I just snapped. I hit her and she fell straight down. I couldn’t believe what I just did. I killed the love of my life and my baby,” he said, revealing the machete got stuck in her temple. “I was overwhelmed with rage. I couldn’t picture my life without my child. I don’t know why I got so mad. I shouldn’t have did it.”

Hawaii News Now reports he said he tried to dismember her body with the machete, but couldn’t — so he then bought a chainsaw. He reportedly admitted to cutting off her arms and legs, keeping her head and torso intact, before placing them in three separate trash bags and tossing them all into a dumpster. He said he knew the trash would be incinerated.

“My wife didn’t deserve that. She wasn’t trash,” he said. “I hate myself for what I did, every day.”

He didn’t report her missing for another two weeks, on July 31, 2024, and, per the Army, “even participated with community search parties that spanned the island to look for her.” He also reportedly used her phone in that time, impersonating her to family members. A search of their home, however, later found “blood, DNA and other forensic evidence” which led to his arrest on August 27.

A special agent claimed Johnson also messaged 18 different women on a dating app after his wife was killed, while a search of his phone came back with photos of him in sexual situations with another woman, as well as alleged child pornography. He and that woman, the agent testified, were allegedly talking about getting married and having a life together.

“He had been on a dating app and reached out to 18 women while my sister’s blood was still wet under their floors,” Mischa’s sister, Marianna Tapiz, told Hawaii News Now. “That was disgusting.”

On the stand, Johnson apologized to her family, saying, “They both deserved so much more … I failed as a husband. I failed as a father and I failed as a man … I’ll forever be sorry.”

He’ll serve his sentence at a Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison.