Shocking Update In Mischa Johnson Case: Army Hubby Charged In Wife's Murder
Private First Class Dewayne Arthur Johnson II was brought up on additional charges, including murder, in the disappearance of his wife Mischa Johnson .
Mischa Johnson , 19, was reported missing from her home on Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu on July 31. She was around six months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
Dewayne Arthur Johnson was arrested on August 19 and charged with providing false statements, obstruction of justice and production and distribution of child pornography.
He now faces additional charges for the murder of Mischa Johnson, intentionally killing her unborn child, obstruction of justice, and the possession of child pornography, the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement sent to Newsweek.
Dewayne Arthur Johnson is being held in pretrial confinement pending a preliminary hearing, which is required before charges can be referred to the general court-martial.
If the charges are referred, he will be arraigned and the assigned military judge will schedule pre-trial hearings and the trial.
The incident remains under investigation and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) is continuing to ask for the public's help. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Army CID Pacific Field Office at (808) 208-0559 or online at cid.army.mil/tips.
Dewayne Arthur Johnson and Mischa Johnson had gotten married in November of last year.
He has been a cavalry scout with the 25th Infantry Division since 2023, Stars and Stripes reported. He is originally from Maryland.
Officials have not confirmed whether Mischa Johnson's body has been located. Paul F. Rothstein , the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, previously spoke with Newsweek about the challenges prosecutors may face in building a case against a defendant in the absence of a body.
"It's very difficult, but it depends on whether the prosecutors can construct a story that compellingly suggests motive to kill the wife on the part of the husband, and compellingly suggests that it was done, even without a body," Rothstein said.
Rothstein said it is difficult to find someone guilty of murder when that key piece of evidence is missing, but not impossible.
"The cases in which there is no body have usually not gone forward to trial, either because the prosecutors back off, or if they have gone forward to trial and the defendant gets off, it's because the jury feels the case has not been made," Rothstein said. "So these are very, very rare cases where there is a conviction of murder when there's been no body, but they are not unheard of."
