After Midnight ////// 781 | Forensic Files

[Music] building a business may feel like a big jump but on Deck small business loans
can help keep you afloat with lines of credit up to $100,000 and term loans up to $250,000 onc lets you choose the loan
that's right for your business as a toprated online small business lender onex's team of loan advisers can help
you find the right business loan to fit your needs visit on.com for more information depending on certain loan
attributes your business loan may be issued by onc or selty Bank onc does not lend in North Dakota all loans and
amount subject to lender approval hey green gobler here so you've got a clog drain in your bathroom water in the
sinks overstaying it's welcome you're spitting today's toothpaste on top of yesterday's toothpaste you hope did it
go away yeah clogs don't just go away I make them go away I'm green gobler the only Clogg disola you need I'm bleach
free safe for your pipes and I work guaranteed or your money back cuz I never met a claw that was going to
unclog itself green gobler let the gobler get it [Music] [Music] welcome to True Crime garage wherever
you are whatever you're doing thanks for listening I'm your host Nick and with me
as always is a man whose stolen bike is rumored to be in the basement of the Alamo here is the captain well I guess I
have to walk everywhere now it's good to be seen and good to see you thank thanks
for listening thanks for telling a [Music] print this week we are very happy to be
featuring Lone Star original Lone Star beer uses the finest hops with hearty grains from the Central and Northern
Plains added with molted barley and corn give this beer its full natural flavor Choice hops lend complexity and Aroma to
the solid balance of alcohol body and character this is the National Beer of Texas ABV 4.7% garage grade 3 and a
quarter bottle caps out of five and how about a cheers to our extended garage Family First up a shout out to Shannon
Hower in Springfield Ohio and a big we like you jib to Matthew in New Britain Pennsylvania next we got a shout out to
Jen in Middleboro Massachusetts and a big shout out to another Jen in Blues Creek North Carolina here's a long
distance cheers to Brian in Phoenix Arizona I love Arizona I'll be in Phoenix in October and last but
certainly not least we have a double fisted cheers to Aon and Carrie in Port St Lucy Florida that's our good buddy an
awesome wife from crimecon cheers and thank you to everyone who contributed to the Beer fund yeah BW R in beer run go
to True Crime garage sign up on the mailing list and will love you forever and Colonel that's enough of the be
Nails all right everybody gather around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some
true [Music] crime right now at this particular time everybody's hurting we all hurting and
uh you know we're all concerned Rodney Johnson says he's trying to stay strong and I spent the day with on Wednesday
and I never thought that that would be my last day that I would see my niece on Thursday night 21-year-old qara Johnson
was found dead inside her home she lived there alone her body discovered lying in
the hallway her family says they found no blood or obvious signs of a violent struggle why you know Qatar was a very
uh beautiful person she loved everybody everybody loved her I mean I tell T everything that was my girl for real I
mean that was my only friend that I had really Tisha Brenson worked with qara at
this nearby Taco Bell that's where qara was last seen driving home from her job as a manager on Wednesday night but
neighbors say her car disappeared outside her house only hours after she got home presumed stolen by her killer
it was eventually found by detectives late Thursday but investigators are not saying where Taylor's been good to I
mean for this to happen here in tayor it's unbelievable it seems like a nightmare a bad dream investigators must
now piece together who is responsible family and friends say they have no idea who would want to do her harm you know
my mother's on one side of her and I'm on the other side of her and she's right in the middle I mean if you know if that
have been some noise or something like you know we would have heard she was the type of person that kept us going and
kept us happy like I said she was special and and she's going to be missed she's definitely going to be missed this
week we bring to you A True Crime Story that is what many would call a small town murder unfortunately not many
people outside of that town of about 15,000 have had much awareness of the murder of qara Johnson qara was a
hard-working young woman many would say that she had her whole life ahead of her
I say that she had her whole life right in front of her she was a decisive individual she knew what she wanted and
she was willing to work hard for it she set goal goals made a plan did her darnest to make it
happen so what happened to Qatar who killed her and just how many people in and around that town know the truth
today multiple agencies are working together to get those answers the Taylor Police along with the Texas Rangers and
the Department of Public Safety are investigating this homicide and now many of you will be hearing it for the first
time this is true crime garage and this is the still unsolved homicide case of qar
[Music] Johnson this week we are heading down to the great state of Texas we wish we were
here for happier reasons but we promised to try to do some good while we're here
if we can this week we explore a still unsolved homicide case out of Taylor Texas Taylor is near Austin about 45
minutes Northeast of Austin Taylor is in Williamson County today the population of Taylor is about 16,000 and at the
time of our case we are looking at close to 14,000 people we are taking everyone
back to August of 2004 I think we should start the timeline off for today today's
case on Saturday this is Saturday August 21st we have 21-year-old qara Johnson she is living
out on her own and on this Saturday this is where we get the first part that's a
little bit difficult to report in our coverage here on this unsolved case well that's because the details from
everybody are a little wonky donkey on the Saturday August 21st it's been reported a few different ways that there
was either a party an event a gathering and you can look and Define those words any way that you please but the general
statement is that she was at an event or gathering that took place at a park down
the street from her house some of the reports state that Qatar was the host of this get together I am honing in on this
part of our timeline because it seems to have some relevance or at least law enforcement believe that this could have
some big time relevance to the case well it's strange because people don't know if she was the host or if she was just
there and some people at the party don't even know why the party was happening was it somebody's birthday was it an
engagement party was it a baby shower nobody knows so she attended or maybe she hosted this party on Saturday but
let's go to the following Wednesday the day of the crime yeah we are going to go
to Wednesday August 25th 2004 at midnight that night this is when the report is that she is last seen she's
alive well and fine at midnight on August 25th qara was working the late shift at
the Taco Bell in Taylor Texas she was incredibly athletic at one time was even offered a basketball scholarship but the
school was too far away for guar she didn't want to be that far away from her parents so she turned down the
basketball scholarship sh she goes on to have her own place she's living in a trailer home but it's not like last
week's case where we're talking about a trailer park this seems a lot more rural
to me and we'll get into that here in a minute but back to her working life so she's doing her thing she's a manager at
this Taco Bell she's closing down the shift for the evening and she's last seen getting into her vehicle leaving
the Taco Bell parking lot at approxim imately midnight that night the following day on Thursday is when the
alarm Bell is rung multiple times family was having some issues because they say
that they drove by her home and her vehicle wasn't outside now we want to point out here that her grandmother
lives on one side of her and her uncle lives on the other side of her but again it's not a park like setting these are
more spaced out based off of what I've seen the videos I have seen Yeah so basically the family owned a plot of
land and they had three different trailers on that plot of land she was living alone in the middle one her
family becomes concerned because they are used to seeing her car parked out front her car is nowhere to be seen and
people have tried calling her cell phone she's not answering it's around 700 p.m.
that night when they get in increasingly concerned this is because by this point
she's not shown up for her shift at the Taco Bell again she's a manager she's quite responsible it's unlike her to not
show up for work at 8:40 p.m. that night qatar's family is so concerned because that they have not heard from her she's
not answering her phone she didn't show up for the evening shift at Taco Bell her 73-year-old grandmother this is
Helen rants she lives next door she and a six-year-old go over to qatar's home knock on the door the front door is
locked so the grandmother decides to open up a window and send the little one in to unlock the front door and this is
where things go from bad to worse grandmother Helen goes into the trailer home and finds
qara lying there lifeless and she calls the police and now we have Taylor Tex PD on the scene well not only do we have
a murder victim but we have her car missing this is where the evidence gets a little strange okay so we have the car
missing like the captain had said and with that we got the car keys missing and qatar's cell phone is missing as
well now her family is on record later saying that other than that they didn't find anything else to be missing from
the home again reported a few different ways here it's it's stated in some reports that guitar was found in a hall
way leading to the bedroom other reports it seems like the most reliable reports
here Captain are saying that she was found in the bedroom which would make sense based off of the description we
get from Grandmother with sending in the the little kid thankfully he didn't see
her if she was in the bedroom before unlocking the front door and allowing Helen to come in the police immediately
call in other agents they do their due diligence by calling in other agencies here this keep in mind
we are at August August 26th of 2004 this is their first reported homicide in tailor of that year the last
time that they had had a homicide in Taylor Texas was around Thanksgiving the year prior so murder is not a
commonality here in this city they call in other agencies and one thing that they decide to do is we are going to
keep the way that she was killed close to the vest we're not going to give out those details until a later date
eventually what we learn is that she was shot and unfortunately was killed with a
large caliber handgun we don't have any better of a description than large caliber handgun and it's been reported
that it may have been one shot there there are some reports out there that say shot multiple times with large
caliber handgun again with this being a detail that law enforcement doesn't want
to go into great detail about we do not know the exact specifics at this time in
those reports we also learn that when she was found that she was there was blood on her face neck and hands and a
blue and white night gown Laying across her body so the speculation here by her family is that she would have been in
the process of getting ready to go to bed which makes sense it's late at night she's done working for the day she's
back at home her Mitsubishi Lancer is missing this is a maroon vehicle at the home again Keys missing
cell phone missing car missing there's no weapon found the murder weapon is not found inside the home yeah no gun found
at the scene of the crime but I think a a big thing for law enforcement is where
did her car go if we know know that she worked that night well let's just talk to people at her work did she drive home
and once they find out oh well she left the shift and she was driving her car then you go well now this car becomes
our best lead and what have we said a million times on this show lot easier to find a vehicle than it is a person and
the thing here too Captain is this is going to be something that wipes away a big
question mark for her family think about this in the moment on that Thursday in the early goings of that Thursday when
qara is missing an action vehicle can't be it's not seen at her home as family would expect she's not answering her
cell phone as a parent as a grandparent as a her uncle anybody involved in this situation their worry is going to be
that oh she's working late she never made it home that night well we unfortunately now know that she did in
fact make it home that night so it stands to reason that her car made it home that night as well but now she is
having been murdered in her own home and the vehicle is gone Keys gone cell phone
gone so of course police are going to want to look for and find that vehicle and see what the missing vehicle has to
do in relationship with our homicide victim here they do locate the the ve vehicle it's eventually found
at a public pool so this would be one of those community pools that you could pay
to have a day pass maybe you have a season pass to go into is found in the parking lot for this community pool in
another town yeah it's about 12 miles away from her house and this town I believe it was Thornville I've been told
that it's it's located between Round Rock and Taylor where she lived and so Round Rock would be like the closest Big
City right about 100,000 people live there this vehicle is found there now here's the problem cell phone never
located I'm curious what did they find in the car what didn't they find in the car and we know that they're going to
keep a lot of that close to the vest they're going to keep that Under Wraps because of what we saw with how she was
killed they kept that detail away from the public for a good period of time they wanted to interview people sit down
and interview people and talk to people and figure out who knew what before they
started releasing details well if you're law enforcement you're going how how is
this victim connected to this pool if she is or is there somebody in the victim's family or Inner Circle that's
connected to this pool or connected to that town I don't believe law enforcement found a connection to
anybody that she knew to that town if they did they're not saying so and here's the thing too that you have to
wonder with this type of setup and and where the vehicle is found could this just simply be a convenience spot to
drop a car that you want to get rid of well here's what we don't know did she pick somebody up the the person commits
a crime then takes her vehicle to escape or did somebody follow her back home did
she meet somebody at home was she expecting someone you have this car being placed 12 miles away how did this
person get home did they H call somebody to get a ride was this close enough of a
location that they could walk home well I love the tree that you're barking up here Captain
because one of the statements here with this situation is that there was no signs of forced entry into her home
there are some reports that state that the back door to her home was found unlocked which seems a little odd
knowing that grandmother had to go to the L that she did to get in to get access to that home herself but it may
just be a situation where she didn't think to check the back door however what we do know from her sending the the
little boy in through the window that window was unlocked as well yeah now you have to question the crime scene and
you're looking at the crime scene and you're going okay did qara let somebody into her home did was she expecting
someone did somebody just show up on a drop in and she' chose to let them in or did somebody somehow gain access to her
home and it was somebody that she wasn't expecting at all that speculation has not been
expanded upon by law enforcement now another very strange detail so that I find the vehicle to be a strange detail
in this case absolutely parked at the community pool but now this is one of those details that you you don't forget
right unfortunately there's there's a thousand unsolved cases and we've covered as many of them as we can to
date but this is one of those details in a case that you just don't forget because it's a
rarity at some point qatar's mother calls her cell phone and somebody answers the cell
phone and all we have to go on is a description provided to us by her mother which says that when I called her phone
someone answered in an unfamiliar high-pitched voice saying this is qara and obviously mom knows it's not her
daughter yeah it makes me wonder is this a female voice or is this somebody trying to
disguise their voice to to make it sound like a female voice and unfortunately qatar's mother this is case is coming up
on the 20th anniversary okay 20th anniversary of the sad day of when this young woman was killed no one's been
arrested and unfortunately her mother has passed away since and what I would love to know is some more detailed
information we know the police have this but exactly what the captain wants to know was this a male voice pretending to
you know doing some absurd high-pitch voice uh weepy voice killer we covered that case was it did the voice sound
female and just putting on a put on voice for for to disguise their voice here's the thing though mom also says
that she heard laughing in the background before before the phone hung up does that mean that this person
answered the phone in the presence of others and these other people in their presence are laughing giggling at the
person answering the phone hello it's aqara the phone hangs up Mom tries back now she's getting voicemail phone
doesn't get answered again going to voicemail I do want to point out something something here that is of
interest to me and of the the investigation at large police do say while we've never recovered that cell
phone we do have her cell phone records we do have detailed information about that cell phone I'm assuming since we
have some information about that cell phone and we have records do we also have voice mails or those lost with the
phone the problem is we're going all the way back to 2004 uhhuh right the the phone information and what they could
pull back then is certainly different than it is today so I can't tell you how extensive the information is that they
have but they are on record saying that we do have that cell phone information so think about this for a minute here we
have a young woman who we're told doesn't have enemies she didn't have be with anybody that anybody knew of she's
murdered in her home which is located between her uncle's place and her grandmother's place in the middle of the
night we have to assume in the middle of the night right because the car's gone by Thursday and none of the family see
it so it would stand a reason that she's killed before the car disappears grandma and Uncle both say we
didn't hear anything we didn't hear a scuffle we didn't hear an argument we didn't hear a scream we didn't hear a
gunshot which the uncle's on record saying that you know he thinks that if there was something crazy going on that
they would have heard something again it it looks to me the spacing of these trailers would have been great enough
that potentially if whatever went down all occurred inside qatar's home that they may not have heard anything here's
the other thing too unfortunately while a gunshot might be loud if it's just one
or two unfortunately they're quick yeah they're quick and if they happen at an hour when everyone's sleeping it might
not even wake you up if you're a neighbor it might not and if it were to wake you up you may not know what woke
you up it's too fast too quick so we have Grandma and we have uncle on record saying they didn't hear anything that
night but what we learned months later is that she was in fact killed with a large caliber gun
are you the type of person constantly thinking about the safety of people and things you value most trust Simply Safe
to protect your home you'll sleep better every night knowing that Simply Safe 24/7 monitor agents are standing by to
protect you and if someone tries to break in they can send emergency help when you need it most the best part is
the exclusive liveu protection Simply Safe agents can act within 5 Seconds of receiving your alarm and can even see
and speak to Intruders inside your home warning them the police are on their way
it's no surprise that Simply Safe has been named best home security systems by US News and world report for 5 years
running and the best customer service and home security by Newsweek build a force field around your home or your
business with Simply Safe you get 24/7 monitoring agents are standing by to protect you you get peace of mind and
you know that your home your family your business your pets are Simply Safe protect your home this summer with 20%
off any new Simply Safe system when you sign up for fast protect monitoring just
visit simplysafe docomo that's simplysafe docomo there's no safe like Simply Safe this show is sponsored by better
help do you have self-care non-negotiables I didn't it's something that I struggle with something that I'm
working on every day every week and every month and it's getting better with better help when your schedule is packed
with kid activities big work projects and more it's easy to let your priorities slip even when you know what
makes us happy it's hard to make time for it but when you feel like you have no time for yourself non-negotiables
like therapy are more important than ever if you're thinking about starting therapy give better help a try it's
entirely online it's designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just fill out a brief
questionnaire to get match with the licensed therapist and switch therapist at any time for no additional charge
never skip therapy day with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com garage today to get 10% off your first month that's better
help hp.com this show is proudly sponsored by better help if you've heard of OIC or
wovi you've probably heard three things they're effective but they're expensive and they're hard to get that's where row
comes in through row you can access prescription compounded glp 1s with the same weight loss ingredient as brand
name glp ones at a fraction of the cost row has compounded glp 1es in stock now and if you qualify your medication ships
in just one to four days don't have time to schedule a doctor's appointment no problem with row you can see if you
qualify from the comfort of your own home go to r.co garage memberships start at $99 for
your first month medication cost are separate that's r.co garage go to r.co garage for blackbox warning and
full safety information compounded medication is not required to and does not receive FDA review or approval RX
only the medication must be paired with diet and exercise modifications in order
to achieve the stated [Music] results all right we are back cheers mates cheers to you Colonel cheers to
you Captain cheers to people on the other side of the pond we will be hopefully seeing some of your beautiful
faces soon crime con UK we're going to drink as if we have no livers yeah we're going
to drink like the United States lost the War uh that we are still under the King's Command and paying uh tax taxes
without representation yeah so this case man a lot of questions and I I thought initially looking at this
case it's simple right we just figure out who picked up this individual at the pool and case solved oh yeah but then I
was like wait a second dum dum head it's possible that they just drop the car off
there and it's it doesn't have to be two killers the person could have again lived close enough or doesn't have to
get picked up at that pool could have walked down to the nearest gas station got a ride there so it's it's not as
simple now I I think it's probably likely that somebody did pick them up and whoever picked them up knows or has
some suspicion that there's something weird that went down and probably just hasn't come forward to law enforcement
maybe they're scared themselves but there is a possibility that this this killer just disposed of the car in this
location without having anybody else know about it well these community pools I'm glad you brought that up because
these community pools this complicates your investigation because I guarantee you law enforcement was looking at that
same angle early on so you can call yourself dumb Dum if you want but I think I was and everybody else would
have been looking at that same angle it's still very much a possibility and I think actually that's the right road to
go down but to explore the other option here is these community pools they're in
a community you can park in the parking lot and be in the community on foot rather quickly and in your own
neighborhood fairly quickly as well so it's not inconceivable that the killer didn't drop the vehicle and just simply
walk away my big question for detectives would be did did you find the keys what
did the vehicle look like when you're when you're there tearing that thing apart and you are processing the vehicle
cuz you know they're dusting it for prints if they didn't dust it for Prince they didn't do their job all right so
when you process this vehicle what did it look like to you nobody knows what a boosted car stolen car looks like better
than police was this thing all busted up and torn up was there was there an abundance of evidence inside were there
items inside of that vehicle that you could show to her family and say does this belong to qara obviously it
complicates thing that she doesn't live under lock and key of mom and dad's house she's an independent woman so they
may not be able to give great answers maybe yes no and a maybe are all involved in and did this hoodie did this
shirt did this bracelet flip-flops whatever you find in this vehicle did they belong to her we know the cell
phone was never found so if killer is completely operating alone they dropped the car and took the cell phone with
them how long it remained in their possession that's anybody's that's anybody's guess but the car should
provide you some evidence here I'm curious to find out what was in that vehicle and if the keys were ever found
absolutely the other thing too let's go back to that phone call we talked about was the voice mail was it female what
was Mom's speculation about that phone call because here's one thing we know for sure whoever answered that call
whether they're the killer or not they were in possession of one of the very few things that was taken from her home
from the murder victim's home in short time short proximity from when our victim was killed well and if going to
pretend to be the victim then guess what use a piece of [ __ ] the other thing here
where I go to the idea that there are probably a few different people that may know or have Insider information about
either what happened to qara or who was involved is that giggling in the background that Mom heard when she
called the cell phone that almost seems to me like this crime feels very juvenile very juvenile that that
somebody you said dum dum earlier I think we I think we called the whoever answered that cell phone let's call them
dum dum because dum dum scum buum they clearly didn't understand that that could that puts them on the radar
whether they're the killer or an accessory to murder and then you have the people in the background
giggling and laughing yeah that's another one is it simply that we have somebody at a party does the other
people around this person that answered the the call do they even know what is being said on that call or is this a a
TV in the background or a radio in the background I mean that's some of this stuff seems so simple in this case and
you go so this should be solved by now but there I think there's twists and turns to every piece of evidence again
did somebody pick up the killer at the pool somebody should know contact law enforcement somebody else could go well
I was actually with this guy that answered the phone and said the victim's name pretended to be the victim right
that's strange let me call law enforcement and this like you said this is not you know this is a if anybody's
ever seen Friday Night Lights the movie or the TV show this reminds me of of East Dylan and uh but probably a little
bit more of a rural area well that's very strange and ironic that you say that if you look up Taylor Texas yeah
one thing that they will tell us is as small as this town is Right currently 16,000 people one thing and I and I
think if you live far from this place at all like us Ohio boys here we would have
no way of knowing this but notable movies filmed in and around Taylor Texas there's some big ones here uh the movie
Michael Suburbia Varsity Blues I don't want your life the life of David Gale The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre Friday Night Lights here's God in football and in 10 years from now Street good friends live in
large in Texas Texas forever Street yo everybody listen up let's do it let's touch God this time Texas forever street
so I had forgotten all about that until till you had had dropped that uh title there but yeah when you see photos of
this town because they talk about this party and so let's go back to this party a little bit strange it seems like so
simple okay so she's having a party she's a host well what was this party for nobody knows the sister was there
her sister goes to the to the party doesn't even the sister remembers talking to her her sister but doesn't
remember why they had the party that seems strange to me is this the same sister that said that she thought police
thought of her as a suspect could be could be so one of her sisters kinat is on record telling the
newspapers and media that she thought that police thought that she should be a suspect and look she's very upfront she
says look I have a police record I was arrested one time for assault right and she says none of us are perfect this was
a mistake I would never ever harm my sister at all and she says I I really I would never kill anybody right but I'm
not I wouldn't hurt my sister the assault wasn't on my sister and in the defense of law enforcement they do
everyone's a suspect until you're not no [ __ ] so I don't know that I didn't get
the vibe from the sister that they were you know up in her face grilling her and
threatening her with uh spending the rest of her life in prison I didn't get that Vibe I think because what she says
to the media is that based off of the line of questioning it would seem like they
thought I was a suspect police did give a direct response to that statement saying we've not named a suspect at this
time right we have interviewed over 50 people we have administered several polygraphs we have also sent physical
evidence off to be tested yeah but but think about this if you're law enforcement you you go so qara has a
party and then you start asking people about the party and you're getting these wishy-washy answers it makes it feel
like people are covering up something how can you not know who the host of the party is how how can you how
can people not know why there was a party because because you can you can have a party
just to have a party but people at the party would know oh well what's the what's the occasion no nothing just to
just to have a get together right but they've been investigating this for 20 years that's that's where another speed
bump comes up for me in this investigation yeah where I have to wonder when did police when did law
enforcement think that this Gathering right should could I should say could rather than should hold
some significance to the murder yeah was it months afterwards was it was it a week afterward or was it years because
if it were years or even months it it's not out of the realm of reason that people that attended didn't fully know
what it was for especially if it was for no reason reason at all other than just
to get together but the sister not knowing does complicate things as well here's the thing though Captain so this
is one thing that I want to point out the reason why and and this is a call to action to all the listeners out there
because what I'm hoping is that with the unfortunate 20th anniversary coming up with this unsolved homicide that we can
get some renewed interest in this case one with the anniversary two with our coverage too law enforcement have said
that they want to know more about this gathering in fact one thing that law enforcement did very well in this case
circling back to something we we said at the beginning they brought in other agencies bigger agencies with more
resources and one of those agencies was the Texas Rangers and it's a Texas Ranger that is on record saying that we
want to know more about this Gap gaing that took place the Saturday before she was killed because we have concerns that
there could be there could be information details about that Gathering that could give us or provide a lead
here in this case according to detective hunter that event may be crucial in finding out what happened to qara and
investigators are urging anyone who may have seen or heard anything during that party to call police now that statement
that's why I question when were they asking individuals about that Gathering because that statement to the media that
where they're calling and asking for the Public's help that was 15 years after she was killed maybe they stumbled onto
something that made them think wait a second we got to go back and examine not just the the day leading up to to to the
night that she's murdered or the movement of the vehicle or the movement of the cell phone and and who may have
had been in possession of the phone or the car both maybe we need to go back early in our timeline to that Saturday
to that Gathering maybe they stumbled onto something and to expand on the car too so that car it's reported that the
car was found on Friday morning it's found here we go August 27th 2004 Friday a.m. qatar's Mitsubishi Lancer is found
at the Thorndale community swimming pool this swimming pool is approximately 12 miles from qatar's home she's alive and
well Wednesday at midnight after her shift at the Taco Bell seen getting into her car we know she makes it home safe
she's killed after that her car disappears why why does that car disappear was she murdered for the car
unfortunately it wouldn't be the first time Michael Jordan's father was killed by two teenage [ __ ] boys that just
wanted to steal his his vehicle and and go joy riding did somebody just go out and joy ride in
this thing for a day and when was it dumped at the pool just because it was found Friday
morning doesn't mean it was gone the entire time it's not terribly far from her home it's found relatively quickly
that makes me wonder that the car is not not the answer it might be the answer to
finding out who's involved who's responsible but I don't I don't feel like that that she was killed for the
car no but the other tough thing is like we said she she lives on this property owned by the family two family members
live on each side of her mhm but we have no family member coming forward and saying that they even saw the car at her
trailer that night right which now again they they might not have been looking or
might not even have the Viewpoint or the vantage point to be able to see that unless they get in their car and drive
ways and I'll make a couple of assumptions here and I'm underlining that they're assumptions so don't don't
take this as fact but I'm going to make the assumption that Grandma is not hanging out at 1:00 a.m. on a Thursday
and grandma likes to party grandma likes to get down especially on a Wednesday night then we have the uncle living on
the other side it's the middle of the week right very likely he's got work in the morning
so I'm picking up what you're putting down we we don't have anybody saying that they saw the vehicle there that
night but I also don't think that I don't think I would expect them to have seen it I'm going to assume that that
car made it back to her trailer at some point oh yeah after work absolutely so but we but our timeline becomes shorter
and I'd like to talk I wish they had more information that they're releasing about the shift that she worked
beforehand what were her responsibilities was she closing the store that night yes and who was she
closing with and what were her responsibilities because was she supposed to take a
deposit and does and does she take a deposit home with her or or is that something that she did that she
shouldn't have done are you the leader of the blood hound Gang because I I feel like you are you're taking us down the
perfect path here well I do sit down to pee I I was talking about the ones that solve Mysteries not the not the
musicians um that's where I'm at If This Were if this were the case that you and
I caught and and we are driving around in the old the old uh patrol car talking about where what what lead do we want to
look at first after we interview everybody her immediate family and friends and everyone I'm looking at this
thing going and I'm of course I'm trying to relate it to my own life EXP experiences but sometimes that there is
value in that right I look back at the old Colonels being 21 years old living out on my own and my life looks very
similar to what her life looked like to me I was 21 living in a tiny little apartment with an okay car and I had a
decent job right qara living on her own in a small place doing you know doing her thing
she's building her life she's really starting out and building her life here she's got she's got a car and she's got
a job and she's got her place and you know what if her life was like mine after those three things I didn't have
anything I was broke you you come into my place remember Captain you come to my place you open up the fridge what was in
there some beer and some condiments and that's about that's about it maybe some uh I kept slices at that young age I
kept red wine in the fridge too but the thing here is where where I'm going is where you're going the three things
missing from this young woman's home her cell phone her car which implies her keys were missing and guess what could
be on that key ring along with the key to her car did she have the key to that Taco Bell or did somebody think she
didn't have to have the key somebody could have just thought that she had it but if I don't think this seems like a
sexually motivated crime doesn't seem like a any type of Revenge well we're BAS in that off of the description that
we're getting of the murder scene right there doesn't seem to be a huge scuffle now the uh no forced entry might imply
that it was somebody that she could have been you know could have been somebody of the opposite sex showing up that she
either wanted to or didn't want to show up or a friend or family member that's why I don't think it's out of look law
enforcement has to question the Inner Circle it's somebody that knows her 100% yeah I'm thinking here C
mhm the car's taken out of happen stance if you're if you go there looking for the key to that store and you take the
keys again I go back to the impulsivity of the juvenile nature that I feel like we have here in this case the juvenile
tendencies in nature was to answer that cell phone when it rang the first time too dumb too impulsive to know better
answer the phone make a joke this is Qatar whatever voice male voice female voice we don't know giggling in the
background this feels very juvenile to me did she close the store that night and did somebody have a window of
opportunity to attempt to return to the store to open it up or as you said was she in charge of a deposit did she take
the deposit home for some reason and that is actually missing and it's been proven and law enforcement are aware of
it but they don't want to release that detail her killer knew her I feel like many people when I say many it could
just be two or three other individuals I think know what happened here I'm hoping
with the how young the killer could be and it could be as simple as somebody that knew
her brought a bad element along with them we we're we're just going to we're just going to go get the money from the
restaurant that's all we're going to do yeah again but it still bothers me that we don't have much information
even from people that went to this party or this Gathering seems like I don't know I I
think if I'm the lead detective and I start asking people about this event and I'm getting these dumb answers I'm going
to go this it should be pretty pretty [ __ ] simple well and you're right and that's what they did right because
they're asking the public for help on that front saying hey we we want to know more about this Gathering because we
think that there could be some some clues or it could hold significant information as to the murder of this
young woman yeah I I'm I'm a little clueless on the vehicle the cell phone I get it you know was
2004 a much a much higher percentage of the population didn't have cell phones then that do today I don't think she was
killed for the phone I think it was taken as maybe an afterthought I just really wonder if unfortunately with her
responsibilities and her duties as a manager manager of that restaurant was it just an did somebody
see what they thought was an opportunity to collect thousands of dollars from the
place and she was forgive me for saying collateral damage just just they killed her to try to gain access to either the
deposit for that day or access to that restaurant and 2004 the thing that you would be hopeful of is well can I I
think rather than her friends and family I would be looking at people that worked
under her absolutely more so I feel like that there's a lot of ties to this restaurant here that's the last thing
that we are aware that she did in her life and in 2004 you're probably hoping surveillance maybe we if if the Taco
Bell didn't have it could we pick up surveillance from neighboring businesses or on the route from her place to the
restaurant to see if we can see her vehicle heading in that direction yeah or what happens when you're younger at
work that doesn't really happen so much when you're older at work your friend stopped by is there somebody that
stopped by during her shift riding shotgun and saw something yeah or just or is there somebody that went through
the drive-thru just to say hello where's the bad element On The Fringe of her acquaintances or friends or Associates
where's that bad element because that might be your person responsible or the center of this investigation now one
thing we should point out here too Captain is that the family has voiced some concerns over the years that they
didn't think that law enforcement was so um forthcoming to them keeping them up to speed and up to dat on the
investigation itself I wish that they didn't feel that way I wish that they had a different feeling and that their
experience was different I will say this though what we can say is based off of The Limited information that they've
released to the public it makes sense that they've not released a lot of that information to
the family as well and and I and I I want to be able to share in your your hurt and your
anger in that regard I will say this though we we know the NAACP was brought in for for a brief period of time here
to take a look at the case and I'm glad that they were but I will say this multiple agencies were brought in Texas
Rangers were brought in Taylor Texas PD is still involved in this case and this is one that this is one that pisses them
off this is a case that when it first happens you think all right we're going to be able to get some justice for this
young woman because we have some leads with the vehicle with the cell phone and when it starts to fizzle out and you
start to not get answers or you start getting push back from from persons I I what I'm trying to say I think here
captain and not so eloquently is that I understand the frustrations of the family and I'm glad that the NAACP was
brought in I applaud you for that you I I would do the same thing but the flip side of that coin from what I've
observed it looks like they were they were working this one real good and continue to work it over the years you
know periodically we've had statements from police and the Texas Rangers and in other agencies at the one-year Mark at
the at the 2-year Mark at the 5year 10 year 15 and I'm sure we're going to see it again at the 20-year Mark I spoke
with two individuals at the Taylor police department and they agre I said here's my guess this one pissed you guys
off they said yes this one pisses us off we want help with this one we want help
with this one they still think that they can get it done and I think the other agencies think that they can get it done
too the other thing too is when you're not getting answers or you don't feel like you're being brought up to speed
keep in mind there's multiple agencies working the case agency one might not have all the information that agency 2
has and so on and so forth uh in a manner that they can deliver them to you I'm hopeful about this case as sad as it
is that we're reaching the 20th anniversary as sad as it is that qar is no longer with us she seemed like a
bright hardworking young woman who cared about her family she loved her family so
much she turns down a basketball scholarship she she didn't want to be away from from her family she in
distance she was she was working hard she was building her life and someone came and snuffed it out for reasons
undetermined by us here in the garage today but I tell you I I can't get over the simple fact garage task force gut
check here tells me that this has to do with that restaurant I just feel I can't
get over that like I I can't move past that Town not a dangerous Town pretty safe
and I think that's one of the problems when this is not a crime that you investigate often but I do think they
are steadfast and I do believe that they want this crime solved and they want Justice to be served absolutely 100%
they've worked it I believe the best that they can right because they're up against a brick wall with some of this
if you if you're reach out to people and you can't get information or they're dodging your questions and we probably
have a situation too where a few of the people that they would like to talk to they may not have awareness of hiding
behind a veil of of friendship or Allegiance with with other persons here so we have a case where we know that
they've interviewed over 50 people and that's that is within the first few years of the case polygraph test
administered evidence sent off to Crime Labs I'm curious what new evidence could
be collected off of those same items today or that we could yield different information today than it did 20 years
ago we may have technology on our side here but we do need police need your help with this and and this is a
situation where it doesn't have to mean that you know who did this or why or other players in involved or that you
know why the car was moved or the details of that or or information about the cell phone maybe you know about the
cell phone call police but here's an opportunity if you were at that Gathering that event that party whatever
you want to call it or if you heard people talk about it investigators want information about that event about that
Gathering that took place on Saturday August 21st they want information about that as well that could give them the
lead or the breadcrumb trail that so needed for 20 years now qara Johnson was taken away far too early she was only 21
years old building her life she loved her family deeply her sister said to the perpetrator or perpetrators she didn't
deserve what happened to her if you don't turn yourself in God is going to deal with you anyone with any
information at all regarding this case and the Gathering that took place days before her murder is encouraged to
contact the Taylor Police Department at 512 35 25551 or if you want to remain anonymous
you can call Crim Stoppers at 1 1800 253 7867 or for some reason you are uncomfortable speaking with law
enforcement at all you can contact one of us here at the garage want to thank everybody for joining us
here in the garage each and every week Colonel do you have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners this
week Captain it's a little self- serving I'm doing it again but it's because of the garage sale going on going to
recommend my book the deli murders the quest to find the man on the bridge we have autograph copies for limited time
available back on our website true Crim garage.com you can tell from this episode we're doing everything we can
just to get you to go to our website but no we have limited copies autographed copies of the deli murders the case is
heating up again should be going to trial here soon so if you need to get up to speed if you want to get all the
information as I saw and as I explained it as one man's obsession with an American murder investigation check out
the deli murders book The ques toy the man on the bridge by Yours Truly of course you can get that on Amazon you
can get it on Audible or Kindle but if you want an autograph sign copy go to our website truecrime garage.com and not
only is it signed by the colonel but it's also signed by Bo Jackson and until next week be good be
kind and don't litter [Music] [Applause] [Music] building a business may feel like a big
jump but on Deck small business loans can help keep you afloat with lines of credit up to $100,000 and term loans up
to $250,000 onc lets you choose the loan that's right for your business as a toprated online small
business lender onex's team of loan advisers can help you find the right business loan to fit your needs visit
on.com for more information depending on certain loan attributes your business loan may be issued by on or cty Bank onc
does not lend in North Dakota all loans and amount subject to lender approval

After Midnight ////// 781

Part 1 of 1

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

Katara Johnson was a vibrant, young woman with a zest for life. On August 25, 2004 Katara worked the late shift, leaving work at midnight and heading home. By morning, her car was gone, and her family could not get in touch with the 21 year old. Less than 24 hours after leaving work, Katara was found dead. This homicide case remains open today, 20 years later. What happened to Katara in the middle of that night? Any one with information about the murder, Katara’s car, or a gathering that Katara attended days before the murder should call the Taylor Police Department at 512-352-5551, or to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-253-7867.

Beer of the Week - Lone Star Beer (the beer of Texas)

Garage Grade - 3 and a quarter bottle caps out of 5

For all things True Crime go to our website www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/) and while you’re there check out the Garage Sale on the store page.

More True Crime Garage can be found on Patreon and to Apple subscribers with our show - Off The Record. Catch dozens of episodes of Off The Record plus a couple of Bonus episodes and our first 50 when you sign up today.

Thanks for listening and thanks for telling a friend. Be good, be kind, and don’t litter!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brief Summary

The episode discusses the unsolved murder of Qara Johnson in Texas and the ongoing investigation into her death.

Key points

The Tragic Murder of Qara Johnson. 21-year-old Qara Johnson was found dead in her home, sparking a complex investigation.
Mystery Surrounds Qara's Last Night. Details about Qara's last seen moments raise questions about her murder.
The Discovery of Qara's Body. Qara's grandmother finds her lifeless in her home, leading to a police investigation.
Missing Vehicle and Cell Phone. Qara's car and cell phone go missing after her murder, complicating the investigation.
Murder Mystery Unfolds. A woman is found murdered in her home, raising questions about the timeline and suspects.
Community Pool Clue. The victim's car is found at a community pool, raising more questions about the timeline.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a nightmare, a bad dream.

Family's reaction to the murder of Qara Johnson.

5:02WatchAug 21, 2024

Tension

70/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.