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The Killing of Katara Johnson · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Gone Cold. Podcasts may contain violent or graphics subject matter.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. Through the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties,
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  Speaker 1: as Austin exploded with tech companies, state jobs, and a
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  Speaker 1: flood of new residents, housing prices inside the city started
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  Speaker 1: climbing fast. People who wanted land, affordability, or just a
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  Speaker 1: quieter zip code began looking outward. That's where the quaint
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  Speaker 1: town of Taylor benefited. Taylor had already weathered the decline
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  Speaker 1: of cotton and the shrinking of rail dominance. By mid century,
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  Speaker 1: it had worked to diversify small manufacturers, agricultural processing, and
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  Speaker 1: a local industry gave it a solid economy. It wasn't
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  Speaker 1: a boomtown anymore, but it wasn't hollowed out either. That
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  Speaker 1: stability made it attractive. When Austin's growth started pushing east
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  Speaker 1: and north in the nineteen nineties, Williamson County became one
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  Speaker 1: of the fastest growing counties in the country. Subdivisions spread
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  Speaker 1: through round Rock and Georgetown first, but the ripple kept moving.
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  Speaker 1: Taylor didn't grow at the breakneck pace of its western neighbors,
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  Speaker 1: yet it absorbed commuters people willing to trade a longer
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  Speaker 1: drive down US Highway seventy nine for lower property costs
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  Speaker 1: and a small town feel. At the same time, Taylor
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  Speaker 1: leaned into preservation rather than reinvention. Its brick storefronts, historic
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  Speaker 1: downtown grid, and rail era infrastructure became assets in an
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  Speaker 1: era when nearby communities were rapidly suburbanizing. While Austin marketed
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  Speaker 1: innovation and tech culture, Taylor quietly offered authenticity, community institutions,
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  Speaker 1: and multi generational families still rooted in place. By two thousand,
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  Speaker 1: Taylor's population had risen modestly to around fourteen thousand residents,
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  Speaker 1: reflecting steady, not explosive growth up to two thousand and four.
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  Speaker 1: The small city's role in the Austin boom wasn't flashy.
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  Speaker 1: It was practical. It was affordable land, It was rail
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  Speaker 1: lines and highway access. It was space, literal and cultural
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  Speaker 1: for people priced out or burned out by the capital
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  Speaker 1: city's acceleration. A town of working class folks, most of
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  Speaker 1: whom commuted to other area cities to punch the clock.
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  Speaker 1: In contrast to Austin, Taylor's violent crime rate stayed relatively low,
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  Speaker 1: usually hovering at or just below the national average, but
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  Speaker 1: on a summer night In two thousand and four, a
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  Speaker 1: year that saw a sharp decline in violent crime, something
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  Speaker 1: highly unusual occurred there, the murder of a young woman
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  Speaker 1: named Katara Johnson. On the night of Wednesday, August twenty fifth,
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and four, Katara Dubois Johnson closed out her
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  Speaker 1: shift at Taco Bell in Taylor. She was twenty one
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  Speaker 1: years old and working as an assistant manager, a job
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  Speaker 1: she held while saving money for college. After the late
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  Speaker 1: shift ended, she drove her two thousand and one Mitsubishi
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  Speaker 1: Lancer to her home on North Dolan Street. Family lived
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  Speaker 1: next door within walking distance, a proximity that had always
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  Speaker 1: meant familiarity and a feeling of security. The following morning,
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  Speaker 1: her grandmother, Helen Rance, noticed something was wrong. Katara's car
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  Speaker 1: was gone. She wasn't answering her cell phone. Concern built
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  Speaker 1: over the course of the day, especially when Katara didn't
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  Speaker 1: show up for her scheduled work shift. At around seven pm,
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  Speaker 1: her grandmother walked to the trailer. The door was locked.
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  Speaker 1: She raised a window and instructed her great grandson to
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  Speaker 1: crawl inside and unlock the door from within. When miss
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  Speaker 1: Rance entered the bedroom inside, Katara lay on the floor,
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  Speaker 1: blood marked her face, neck, and hands. A blue and
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  Speaker 1: white nightgown was draped across her body as if she
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  Speaker 1: had been about to put it on. Katara had been
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: shot in the head. Investigators from the Taylor Police Department responded,
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  Speaker 1: joined by the Texas Rangers and Texas Department of Public
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  Speaker 1: Safety officers. The homicide was the first in Tailor since
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  Speaker 1: the previous Thanksgiving. Police began processing the small trailer, collecting
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  Speaker 1: physical evidence, and documenting the interior. Nothing appeared ransacked. Family
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  Speaker 1: members stated that nothing seemed to be stolen or disturbed.
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  Speaker 1: No murder weapon was found at the scene. Katara's body
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  Speaker 1: was transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for
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  Speaker 1: an autopsy. While officers worked at the residents, information surfaced
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  Speaker 1: about her vehicle. It was located in Thorndale, about twelve
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  Speaker 1: and a half miles east of Taylor. Like the murder weapon, herself,
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  Speaker 1: was not recovered. A friend reported seeing Katara's car driving
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  Speaker 1: around on Thursday, the day following the discovery of the body.
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  Speaker 1: When he honked to greet her, the person in Katara's
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  Speaker 1: vehicle honked back. Earlier that day, Linda Johnson had dialed
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  Speaker 1: her daughter's number. Someone answered, but the voice was unfamiliar
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  Speaker 1: and much higher pitched than Katara's. This is Katara, the
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  Speaker 1: caller said. Laughter was audible in the background before the
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  Speaker 1: line disconnected. Subsequent attempts to call went straight to voicemail.
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  Speaker 1: Detectives began building a timeline from her final known moments.
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  Speaker 1: Katara had worked the evening shift and then drove home.
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  Speaker 1: Sometime between her arrival and the following morning, she was
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  Speaker 1: shot inside her bedroom. Police later disclosed that the handgun
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  Speaker 1: used was large caliber, though they wouldn't elaborate further. Investigators
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  Speaker 1: canvassed the neighborhood around the trailer. Dolan Street was not isolated,
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  Speaker 1: It was embedded within a small community where residents recognized
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  Speaker 1: each other's vehicles and routines. Officers interviewed neighbors, relatives, co workers,
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  Speaker 1: and acquaintances. Family members described Katara as athletic and disciplined.
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  Speaker 1: A graduate of Taylor High School, she had played basketball
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  Speaker 1: and volleyball. She had been considering attending Houston Tillotson University
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  Speaker 1: to study kinesiology and to pursue coaching. Katara had once
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  Speaker 1: received a scholarship offer to play basketball in Kansas. Instead
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  Speaker 1: of leaving town immediately, she had chosen to remain near family.
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  Speaker 1: She lived alone, but only steps from relatives. That proximity
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  Speaker 1: narrowed certain possibilities, perhaps and expanded others. Katara's car was
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  Speaker 1: found at Thorndale City Park, more specifically at the community
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  Speaker 1: pool there in Millam County. The placement raised questions someone
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  Speaker 1: had driven it there, left it, and fled the scene
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  Speaker 1: without it. The car had been abandoned away from Katara's
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  Speaker 1: home community in a different county. In fact, she lived
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  Speaker 1: in Williamson County. Investigator's canvassed Thorndale residents in the days
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  Speaker 1: after the car's recovery. They asked whether anyone had noticed
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  Speaker 1: unfamiliar vehicles near the community pool. Given the rural setting,
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  Speaker 1: out of place traffic might have been memorable. If anything
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  Speaker 1: came of the inquiry, it was never reported on. Detectives
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: began questioning individuals categorized as persons of interest. Over time,
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  Speaker 1: more than fifty people in that category were interviewed. Polygraph
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  Speaker 1: tests were administered to some. The Department of Public Safety
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  Speaker 1: Crime Lab processed collected physical evidence. Some results were returned
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  Speaker 1: to Taylor Police, though specifics were not publicly detailed. Detectives
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  Speaker 1: traced known firearms owned by individuals within Katara's circle where possible.
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  Speaker 1: No public disclosure indicated that a recovered weapon matched ballistic characteristics.
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  Speaker 1: The investigation was going nowhere. In the months following Katara
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  Speaker 1: Johnson's murder, investigators acknowledged that they were questioning multiple persons
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  Speaker 1: of interest, though no names were officially released. However, during
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: public statements in early two thousand and five, Katara's sister,
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  Speaker 1: Kenyada Johnson, revealed that police had questioned her in connection
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  Speaker 1: with the case. Kenyada told reporters she believed investigators suspected
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  Speaker 1: she may have had a role in her sister's death,
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  Speaker 1: something she firmly denied. I would never do a thing
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  Speaker 1: to hurt my sister, she said publicly. I've been to jail.
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  Speaker 1: None of us are perfect, but I don't have it
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  Speaker 1: in my heart to kill anyone. Public records noted that
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  Speaker 1: Kenyada had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge
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  Speaker 1: in two thousand and sentenced to one year in jail.
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  Speaker 1: Taylor Police Chief Jeff Strab declined to comment whether Kenyada
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  Speaker 1: was formally considered a suspect, stating only that police had
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  Speaker 1: no suspects at that time, but were continuing to question
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  Speaker 1: several people of interest. No charges were ever filed against
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  Speaker 1: Kenyah to Johnson, and there has never been a public
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  Speaker 1: statement from law enforcement naming her as a suspect. As
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  Speaker 1: the case remained unsolved, attention continued to focus broadly on
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  Speaker 1: individuals within the victim's circle, rather than any identified outsider.
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  Speaker 1: Katara Johnson's coworkers were interviewed regarding who had been present
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  Speaker 1: at closing during the last shift she worked. Police wanted
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  Speaker 1: to know who might have known Katara's routine and whether
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  Speaker 1: anyone followed her when she left the restaurant that night.
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  Speaker 1: Officers attempted to determine whether she made any stops before
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  Speaker 1: arriving home on North Dolan Street. It's unclear if they
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  Speaker 1: found any. Detective's map the distance between Taco Bell and
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: her residence, noting the short commute within Taylor's small grid
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  Speaker 1: of streets, the proximity meant she would have arrived home
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  Speaker 1: quickly after closing. Police worked to narrow the window between
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  Speaker 1: her return and the estimated time of death using work records,
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  Speaker 1: phone data analysis, and testimony from family members who had
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  Speaker 1: not heard from her the next morning. Five months after
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  Speaker 1: the killing, family and friends gathered outside the Williamson County Courthouse.
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  Speaker 1: Approximately twenty relatives and supporters expressed frustration, stating they believed
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  Speaker 1: insufficient resources were devoted to the investigation. Katara's sister, Janet Scales,
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  Speaker 1: declared the case had effectively become cold and urged authorities
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  Speaker 1: to call in additional resources. The Austin chapter of the
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  Speaker 1: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP,
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  Speaker 1: launched its own inquiry. The organization's president, Nelson Linder, questioned
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  Speaker 1: whether the case had received the same attention as other
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  Speaker 1: high profile homicides in the county. He referenced the two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and three Round Rock murder of Christina Moore, noting
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  Speaker 1: that seven detectives and an analyst had worked that investigation
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  Speaker 1: full time. Taylor Police Chief Jeff Strab responded publicly, stating
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  Speaker 1: that the case was not on a backburner and never
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  Speaker 1: would be. He confirmed that one investigator was assigned full
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  Speaker 1: time and that two Texas rangers were assisting. The chief
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  Speaker 1: emphasized that the department did not have any suspects, but
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  Speaker 1: continued questioning persons of interest. Strab also stated that Johnson's
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  Speaker 1: body had been sent to one of the states leading
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  Speaker 1: forensic pathology labs, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, but
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  Speaker 1: family members alleged that certain leads had not been fully pursued,
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  Speaker 1: including speaking with friends and ex boyfriends and obtaining cell
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  Speaker 1: phone data. Chief Strab countered that detectives had indeed reviewed
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  Speaker 1: those records. In fact, they had been vital to law
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  Speaker 1: enforcements understanding of the timeline. Though the physical device remained missing,
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  Speaker 1: cell phone billing data provided time stamps and sell logs.
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  Speaker 1: Officers focused particularly on incoming and outgoing calls during the
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  Speaker 1: hours after Katara left work. They compared those records to
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  Speaker 1: statements gathered during interviews, looking for discrepancies. After her death,
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  Speaker 1: Linda Johnson dialed her daughter's phone and heard an unfamiliar
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  Speaker 1: voice identify itself as Katara before or laughter followed and
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  Speaker 1: the call ended. Investigators examined whether the answered call corresponded
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  Speaker 1: with a tower ping location, hoping to determine whether the
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  Speaker 1: phone was still in Tailor or had already traveled toward Thorndale,
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  Speaker 1: where the car was found, and the choice of that
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  Speaker 1: location was further scrutinized. Thorndale was not a random direction.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps it required intentional travel east out of Williamson County.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators examined whether anyone connected to Katara had ties to Thorndale.
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  Speaker 1: Their determinations were never publicly released. Parallel to the phone analysis,
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  Speaker 1: forensic technicians processed the trailer interior. They confirmed she had
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  Speaker 1: been shot inside the bedroom. There was no sign of
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  Speaker 1: forced entry at the main door, and the back door
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  Speaker 1: had been unlocked and left ajar. Detectives considered whether the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: shooter entered through the rear or exited that way. As
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  Speaker 1: the months turned to years, little to no press coverage emerged,
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  Speaker 1: and authorities were silent about Katara's case. Captain Don Georgians
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  Speaker 1: later stated that detectives re reviewed hours of videotaped interviews.
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  Speaker 1: The tapes contained initial statements taken in the days immediately
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  Speaker 1: following the homicide. Investigators searched for contradictions that might indicate
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  Speaker 1: deception or withheld knowledge. He stated that he occasionally returned
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  Speaker 1: to the trailer site, revisiting the physical location long after
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  Speaker 1: the homicide. By twenty ten, six years after the killing,
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  Speaker 1: no arrests had been made. A public memorial was organized
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  Speaker 1: at Heritage Square in downtown Taylor, featuring a balloon really
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: and prayer. Family members hoped the event might generate new information.
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  Speaker 1: Chief Strab publicly acknowledged that no weapon had been left behind,
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  Speaker 1: but declined to elaborate on the specifics of the cause
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  Speaker 1: of death. He also stated that investigators found no evidence
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  Speaker 1: of strangers at the crime scene and that forensic evidence
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  Speaker 1: recovered belonged to individuals who had legitimate reason to be
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  Speaker 1: present in the residence. The statement suggested familiarity between victim
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  Speaker 1: and offender. In twenty seventeen, former Chief Strab told the
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  Speaker 1: Tailor Press that failing to close the case was frustrating
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  Speaker 1: for law enforcement. He described the inability to make an
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  Speaker 1: arrest as professionally difficult. In twenty nineteen, the Williamson County
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff's Office took over the investigation of the two thousand
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  Speaker 1: murder of Katara Johnson from the Taylor Police Department. Mark
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: McKinney of the Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division acknowledged public frustration
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  Speaker 1: and stated that someone continued working cold cases within the office.
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  Speaker 1: Later reporting introduced additional context surrounding the days preceding the murder,
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  Speaker 1: Katara had hosted a party at a local park down
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  Speaker 1: the street from her house. One sister recalled attending, but
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  Speaker 1: could not remember the exact occasion. Multiple individuals had been present.
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  Speaker 1: Subsequent reporting clarified that the gathering occurred at the Tailor
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  Speaker 1: Community Center. Investigators later indicated that the event might be
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: critical to understanding what transpired in the hours before her death.
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  Speaker 1: Police continued urging anyone who had attended the party to
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: come forward with information. Like Taylor detectives, Williamson County Sheriff's
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: detective Craig Hunter emphasized the car's relocation to Thorndale Community Pool.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: He said that someone helped move the vehicle and that
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: someone must have picked up the individual or individuals who
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: left it there. Hunter questioned why the car had been
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: abandoned in Thorndale at all, and that the abandonment itself,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: along with a phone call Katara's mother had made after
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: she was likely already dead, suggested that more than one
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: person was involved, at least in the cover up. By
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty, the case was again cold. Relatives maintained a
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Facebook memorial page for Katara and her mother, Linda, who
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: had died in twenty twelve. In public appeals, authorities consistently
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: emphasized that someone knew something about the events of the
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: night of August twenty fifth, two thousand and four. In
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, on the twentieth anniversary, media coverage revisited
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: the case, highlighting the fracture within the Johnson family and
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Katara's brother, A Jay's decision to leave Taylor rather than
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: risk daily proximity to individuals who might know what happened.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: The Taylor Police Department continues to describe the case as active.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Chief Henry Fluck has stated that the department believes individuals
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: in the Taylor community have knowledge of the circumstances that
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: would lead to an arrest. The Williamson County Sheriff's Cold
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Case Unit remains engaged in the case. If you have
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: any information about the murder of Katara Dubois Johnson Police,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: contact Texas Crime Stoppers at eight hundred freefoce three two
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: four three. If you'd like to join Gon Cold's mission
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: to shine a light on unsolved homicides and missing persons cases,
• 21:11
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  Speaker 1: we appreciate you. Thanks for listening, y'all,