Re: GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL

by TomTerrific0420 Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:20 pm

The mother of the missing Baby Gabriel is in even more trouble.
Elizabeth Johnson is now facing assault charges after allegedly
attacking an inmate at the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona, where she's
being held in the child's disappearance.
Jail video shows her spraying a cleaning solution in an inmate's
face.
Johnson, who still refuses to answer questions about the
disappearance of Baby Gabriel, has been in jail since January.
She's accused of kidnapping her son and leaving him here in San
Antonio. The baby's whereabouts remain unknown.
Johnson is now undergoing a mental evaluation.

by mom_in_il Mon May 03, 2010 1:21 pm

Did Mother of Missing Baby Gabriel Relay Clue In Note to Grandmother in “Advance Directive and Will” When She Says Be Happy for “Us”?

http://drlillianglass.com/body-language-blog/2010/05/02/did-mother-of-missing-baby-gabriel-relay-clue-in-note-to-grandmother-in-%E2%80%9Cadvance-directive-and-will%E2%80%9D-when-she-says-be-happy-for-%E2%80%9Cus%E2%80%9D/

by TomTerrific0420 Mon May 03, 2010 9:21 pm

Baby Gabriel Johnson is 1 year old, but the search for him continues.
May 3 is his first birthday, and more than four months following the
child's disappearance, his mother Elizabeth Johnson, is still behind
bars and investigators are trying to determine whether Gabriel is alive
or dead. A friend of the boy's mother, says he believes Gabriel
is still alive. 23-year-old Sorin Stanescu stands by
Elizabeth and says he's one of the only friends she has left. "Her
parents passed away, friends are against her. I think we are the only
good friends..she has, me and my sister.." said Stanescu. Johnson
is accused of kidnapping her son and leaving Phoenix. Stanescu
met Johnson a few years ago. Two nights before the baby disappeared,
Elizabeth stayed at his apartment with Gabriel. He offered to take care
of them. "I have a second room. I said I will support the
baby..I will buy everything..don't worry about the money. I told her I
was going to do all of that for her." Stanescu said. On the
morning of December 18, Stanescu woke up and found that Johnson was
gone. He received a couple of phone calls from her while she was
on the move. One from Texas and another from Florida. He didn't
see her again until she was behind bars at the Estrella jail in
Phoenix. Stanescu says he strongly believes Johnson would never
have hurt her child. "I said is the baby alive and she said yes,
she said yes." said Stanescu. He also says Johnson lied to the
police in the beginning, to protect the people that helped her to have
the unknown couple take care of Gabriel. She has since given all the
information she knows to police. "She only tell me she gave the
baby to these people..and she didn't ask for information. She didn't do
it because she trusted them with her heart." Stanescu said. When
asked if he thought if Elizabeth is a killer, Stanescu said, "No she's
not. She's a very nice person." Elizabeth Johnson remains behind
bars.

by TomTerrific0420 Fri Jun 04, 2010 1:21 am

The mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson is not competent to stand
trial, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Steven Holding ruled
today. But with treatment and therapy, she could be tried at a later
date.
Holding made the ruling after two court-appointed doctors submitted a
psychological evaluation that found Elizabeth Johnson could not assist
her attorney in her own defense. She is accused of kidnapping, child
abuse and conspiracy to commit custodial interference. Gabriel, who was
born a year ago, has been missing since December.Superior Court spokesman Vincent Funari said there will be another
hearing August 12 to decide the length and conditions of the
rehabilitative process, which could take up to nine months.
If after that time, doctors are unable to restore her to competency, a
judge must drop charges against her and commit her to state hospital.
Johnson's attorney, Nicholas Alcock, filed a request for the court
evaluation, also known as a Rule 11. Alcock said he felt Johnson was
mentally ill since his first meeting with her, and was concerned she
would be unable to help him prepare her defense.
"A criminal defendant has to be able to assist their attorney," he
said. "We're talking about complicated matters of law and fact, and
there's a minimal standard a defendant has to pass."
Johnson will continue to be held in Maricopa County Jail until the
hearing.
The case began in Tempe, where Johnson lived with the child and her
boyfriend, Logan McQueary. She was arrested Dec. 30 in Miami Beach.
Gabriel has not been seen since she checked into a hotel in San Antonio
on Dec. 26.

by tears4caylee Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:00 pm

She is so incompetent that she was able to drive from arizona to florida with a baby and probably kill or give the baby to someone...that takes planning in my opinion...she is so incompetent that she planned giving her baby away to that couple for a while....

I think she is just BS'ing the dr....I worked at a mental health clinic and saw how people can get over on the docs....Just BS. in my opinion...

by mom_in_il Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:01 pm

Friday, June 04, 2010

Baby Gabriel

Statement Analysis

http://seamusoriley.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-gabriel.html

by roseyg76 Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:54 am

I also think she is BSing her way out of this.....she needs to be given a harsh dose of reality. She seems to believe that she will not be punished, that if she plays enough games she will simply walk away scott free....

by TomTerrific0420 Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:52 am

roseyg76 wrote:I also think she is BSing her way out of this.....she needs to be given a harsh dose of reality. She seems to believe that she will not be punished, that if she plays enough games she will simply walk away scott free....

---Gee, now I WONDER where she may have gotten that idea from? Hmmmm.... Maybe ESOTD???

by TomTerrific0420 Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:24 am

Elizabeth Johnson, the incarcerated mother of missing baby
Gabriel Johnson, was deemed competent to stand trial and her mental
restoration process complete, according to information from the
court, but a Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner on
Thursday granted her attorneys an evidentiary hearing to contest
the findings in the report.

The report, conducted by two court-appointed doctors, was released
to Johnson’s defense attorneys Thursday morning, just hours before
the hearing, and specific details in it will not be discussed until
a hearing on Sept. 23.

Johnson’s attorneys also will present discovery including new
evidence involving the case before the court at that time, The
findings in the report will be discussed during a competency
hearing before commissioner Steve Holding on Sept. 27, so a ruling
could be made on Johnson’s level of competency. Holding ruled in
early June that the Tempe woman was incompetent to stand trial
based on the findings in the report, including a psychological
evaluation, but ruled that her level of competency could be
restored through medication and counseling by therapists.

Johnson, who turned 24 last month, drove to San Antonio in
mid-December with her son Gabriel, who was 5 months old at the
time, in the midst of a custody battle with her estranged boyfriend
and father of the baby, Logan McQueary. On Dec. 27, Johnson told
McQueary she killed Gabriel and stuffed his body in a diaper bag
and placed it in a Dumpster. At the time of her arrest in Miami
Beach, Fla. on Dec. 30, Johnson also told the FBI that she gave
Gabriel to a couple at a HomeGate Inn and Suites Motel where she
was staying a day after meeting them at a park in San Antonio,
according to Maricopa County Superior Court documents.

Johnson has continued to refuse to reveal Gabriel’s whereabouts.
She is being held in Maricopa County’s Estrella Jail on a $1.1
million cash bond on charges of kidnapping, child abuse, custodial
interference and conspiracy to commit custodial interference. She
has been held in the jail since her extradition from San Antonio in
early January, and restrictions remain on her privileges to receive
visitors after she recently was disciplined a second time,
according to her grandfather, Robert Johnson of Scottsdale, who was
present at Thursday’s hearing.

Adam Feldman, who is one of Johnson’s attorneys, and fellow
attorney Nick Alcock, said after Thursday’s hearing it’s common
procedure for the judge or commissioner to allow defense attorneys
to contest findings in a competency report, but would not comment
on what they disagree with until they further read it.

“We still have a great deal of concerns about her mental health and
level of competency in being able to assist us in her defense,”
Feldman said. “We have issues with findings that were generated in the report.”

Feldman also said that Johnson is being seen by therapists in jail,
and visits likely will continue. If a judge rules that Johnson
again is incompetent to stand trial, other options could be
considered, such as dismissing the case or institutionalizing her,
Feldman said.

“Prosecutors likely would re-integrate another process to determine
whether she is competent if that were to happen, but that’s too early to tell,” Feldman said.

Alcock, who did not attend the hearing on Thursday, told the
Tribune he had not read the report and likely would not comment on
its findings until next week.

Alcock also would not comment on what San Antonio police detectives
discussed with Johnson and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
deputies at the county jail in May when at least one detective from
San Antonio flew to Phoenix to interview her, according to court records.

However, in June, the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that San
Antonio police and the MCSO had to provide Johnson’s attorneys with
details of what was discussed.

Pending the final outcome of the competency hearing in September, a
Maricopa County Superior Family Court judge could rule that Johnson
is in contempt of court for refusing the answer the court’s
questions of Gabriel’s whereabouts, his well-being and when she last saw the child.

Johnson’s grandfather has said he firmly believes that she gave Gabriel away.

Gabriel turned a year old in May.

by TomTerrific0420 Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:31 pm

It's been more than a week since two court-appointed doctors released
their findings in a report that determined the mother of missing Baby
Gabriel Johnson is competent to stand trial, but her attorneys still do
not want to comment on why they contend she is not.
However, the missing baby's mother, Elizabeth Johnson, knows what she's
doing and needs to start accepting responsibilities for her actions,
according to her grandfather, Robert Johnson of Scottsdale.

Elizabeth Johnson, 24, of Tempe is being held in Maricopa County's
Estrella jail on a $1.1 million cash bond on charges of kidnapping,
child abuse, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodial
interference in connection with the disappearance of her son, who was 5
months old at the time he was last seen on Dec. 26, and now is 1 year
and 3 months old.

In the midst of a custody battle with her estranged boyfriend and father
of the baby, Logan McQueary of Gilbert, Johnson drove to San Antonio
with her son in mid-December. On Dec. 27, Johnson told McQueary via text
message and telephone call that she killed Gabriel, stuffed his body in
a diaper bag and threw it in a trash container, according to court
documents.

When she was arrested on Dec. 30 in Miami Beach, Fla., Johnson told
authorities that she gave Gabriel to a couple in the parking lot of a
motel she was staying at in San Antonio a day after meeting them in a
park there.

Johnson has refused to tell authorities the whereabouts of Gabriel and
has refused to answer a judge's questions in Mariciopa County Superior
Court family court about the child's whereabouts and well-being.

She could be found in contempt of court, pending the outcome of Maricopa
County Superior Court commissioner's decision on her level of
competency expected to be ruled on Sept. 27.

In San Antonio, police claim they are continuing to investigate
Gabriel's disappearance as both a homicide and a missing persons case,
but no photographs of Gabriel are listed on the police department's
missing persons website.

Johnson's attorney's Nick Alcock and Adam Feldman said they have read
the report about Johnson that includes her psychological evaluation, but
have to discuss it further before they comment on it.

In a recent proceeding in the criminal case involving Gabriel's
disappearance, Johnson thought she was going to get out of jail, her
grandfather said.

"Elizabeth's attorney had her convinced that the charges were going to
be dropped because of some kind of procedural error on the prosecution
so her grandmother paid the attorney $50,000 thinking the charges were
going to get dropped," Johnson said after last week's court hearing,
referring to Elizabeth's maternal grandmother, Sylvia Puckett.

"Elizabeth was all happy, smiling and in good spirits, thinking she was
going to get out of jail, but that didn't happen," he said. "She went
back to acting like her old self.

"She needs to realize that if she's ever going to get out of jail, she
needs to tell authorities what she did with that baby. She must like
staying in jail."

Puckett could not be reached for comment.

For the second time this year, Johnson currently has restrictions placed
on her jail visitation rights because of behavioral issues, but the
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office refused to say why.

Tammi Peters Smith, 38, who was interested in adopting Gabriel, still is
facing charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit custodial
interference. Smith and her husband Jack Smith were interested in
adopting Gabriel, but McQueary said he did not want to sign the
paperwork to give up custody of his son.

During a recorded jailhouse phone call between Johnson and Tammi Smith
early in the case, Smith told Johnson that she was going to sue her for
"ruining her life," but Johnson implicated Smith by telling her over the
phone that she was the one who set the deal up for the couple to pick
up Gabriel and was the one who knew them.

Smith has denied Johnson's claims that she brokered an adoption deal for
Johnson, but Tempe police believed that the Smiths had a plan in place
or were organizing a plan to get custody of Gabriel and possibly pick
him up in Tennessee.

Smith is scheduled to appear in court with Johnson on Sept. 27.

"I have no fear of the charges," Smith said. "Elizabeth knows what she
was saying is a lie, and she was doing it for a reason. I know I am
completely innocent."

by oviedo45 Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:54 pm

Gabriel was last seen 8 months ago today

where is this baby?

by TomTerrific0420 Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:41 pm

As the Baby Gabriel case enters its ninth month, one constant has
remained: His mother, Elizabeth Johnson, still refuses to say where he is.
Her stubbornness is so steadfast that even her grandfather,
Bob Johnson, is beginning to have his doubts."The
sooner they find that baby, the sooner she gets out (of jail),"
Johnson, 80, of Scottsdale, said Wednesday. "She has not been
cooperating with them in Gabriel, which is scary."
The disappearance of the chubby-cheeked, towheaded Gabriel captured
the nation's attention when it was first reported in December.
Since then, Elizabeth Johnson, 24, of Tempe, has been arrested and is
being held without bond in the Estrella Jail; a Scottsdale woman has
been charged with conspiracy to commit custodial interference; and Logan
McQueary, the boy's father, has been awarded full custody of Gabriel,
who would now be 15 months old. McQueary has moved out of his Tempe home
and has not spoken publicly for months about his son's disappearance.
Despite this, McQueary told his child-custody attorney over a month ago
that he still has hope his son is alive.
"Last I talked to him, he absolutely believed it," Phoenix attorney Craig Mehrens said.
In August, two months after being declared incompetent and sent to a
county treatment program, Johnson was found competent by a
court-appointed doctor. Her attorney is fighting the determination.
She faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and custodial interference.
Her grandfather called the doctor's finding of competence "a farce. She is bipolar. There is no cure for that."
At Estrella Jail, Johnson has been so disruptive that she was put on
full restrictions Wednesday. The two-month punishment removes
privileges, including visitors, recreation time or regular phone calls,
said Jeffrey Sprong, a deputy sheriff with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
"She is not complying with our rules," Sprong said.
Meanwhile, the baby at the heart of the case, Gabriel Johnson, is still missing,
and authorities do not know where he is.
His remains were not found in a San Antonio landfill. Police there
spent 16 days sifting through 4,260 tons of debris before ending their search in March.
Although the criminal investigation there is ongoing, there have been
no developments recently, police Officer Matthew Porter said.
McQueary, 25, has not seen his son since an increasingly volatile
Johnson told him to move out Dec. 8, according to records.
One day later, Johnson called him at work and told him to sign over
rights to Gabriel to a couple who wanted to adopt him, according to
records. McQueary refused.
He was approached by a couple who begged him to sign the paperwork. He again refused.
In mid-December, Johnson took off with the child, as McQueary had
predicted in custody filings: "She will run with Gabriel Johnson and hide."
McQueary detailed Johnson's temper in custody documents. In July
2009, she became enraged when he came home late and she took a knife to
his clothing, the couch and baby crib. She broke dishes and took a
cooking pan and smashed the TV while the baby was in the Tempe apartment.
"When I would go to work, I would put the baby in his room and when I
would get home five hours later, he would still be in the room (with)
no changed diaper and crying," McQueary wrote.
Gabriel was last seen alive on Dec. 26, when Johnson checked into a
San Antonio hotel. The next day, Johnson was seen getting on a bus without the baby.
It was at around this time that she e-mailed McQueary, saying she had
smothered Gabriel, stuffed him in a baby bag and left him in a
dumpster, according to documents.
She was next seen in Florida on Dec. 30, where she was arrested. She
later recanted her story about killing her son, saying instead she had
given him to a couple in San Antonio.
She has never provided any specific information about this supposed
giveaway. Johnson refused to talk to two private investigators hired to
look for Gabriel. Her grandfather tried to talk her into cooperating.
"She said, 'no way,' " Bob Johnson said. "When you look at it simply,
no one wants to sit in jail. The odds of finding a body go down with
each day that goes by."
Tammi Peters Smith, 38, of Scottsdale, wanted to adopt the baby and
provided Johnson with contacts and adoption advice after Johnson fled in
December, Tempe police said.
Smith is also accused of texting McQueary, trying to bully him into
signing over his custodial rights. She lied on a custody document,
listing her cousin as a potential father of Gabriel, police said.
Both Johnson and Smith have hearings in Maricopa County Superior
Court this month. A hearing on the finding that Johnson is competent to
stand trial is scheduled for Sept. 23 and 27.
A status conference for Smith, who has been out of jail since March on a $15,000 bond, is scheduled for Sept. 27.

by TomTerrific0420 Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:10 pm

The case of missing Baby Gabriel has become an Internet wildfire with thousands of people across the country devouring every electronic detail and pages on the sensational topic springing up across social media sites."Bring Home Gabriel Johnson," "Gabriel Scott Johnson Missing - Psychic Discussion" and "The other side of the story, Elizabeth Johnson jail house communications" are but three of at least 20 Facebook pages dedicated to the case of the missing Tempe baby. Some users spend hours a day following the case via the Internet.In a digital-age media phenomenon, the case of Gabriel Johnson, last seen in San Antonio on Dec. 26, has become an Internet cause celebre. Rapt followers are taking sides in a free-for-all debate about the baby, the mother and the woman who wanted to adopt him."Like never before, a huge swath of the American public is online and connected one way or the other," said Aretha Hill, director off the New Media Innovation Lab at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Gabriel, 8 months old when he disappeared, was at the center of a custody battle between his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, 24, and his father, Logan McQueary, 25. Johnson, who was arrested and is being held without bail, fled with Gabriel Dec. 8, the last day his father ever saw him. She brought Gabriel to the Scottsdale home of Tammi Peters Smith, 38, and her husband, Jack, who wanted to adopt him. Police say Smith tried to bully McQueary into surrendering his parental rights, gave Johnson adoption advice and forged a custodial document. In mid-December, Johnson took the baby to San Antonio, where he vanished. At first she said she smothered the baby, but recanted, saying she gave him to a couple she met in a park.The plight of the blue-eye, towheaded baby has tugged at the heartstrings of people from California to Maine. Where once newspapers and radios were prime sources for news, now people can browse the Internet for updates without ever leaving their computer.Clicking through some Facebook pages - essentially Web pages within Facebook - readers can find links to court documents, arrest records and recorded interviews with Johnson. There are photos, time lines, links to news reports and a phone conversation between Smith and Johnson, in which Smith says, "You have destroyed our lives." Elizabeth Jurenovich of San Antonio spends hours a day e-mailing and adding links -- which take browsers to other places on the Web -- to the "No Plea Deal" Facebook page, which has more than 300 members. It started after attorneys said they are negotiating a plea for Smith. "It's a passion," said Jurenovich, who runs an adoption agency in San Antonio. "For me it comes from the need for adoption reform in Texas . . . "The dichotomy between the two mothers in the case-- a winsome twenty-something and a Bible-thumping matron-- only adds to the intrigue."Laurel Coughlin of Gilbert got caught up because Baby Gabriel reminds her of her grandson."When I heard the story of what had happened and saw this baby with the big blue eyes and blond hair and sweet face . . . I became involved in this case like so many others," Coughlin said. By far the largest membership belongs to the "Bring Home Gabriel Johnson" Facebook page, with more than 15,000 members, and is sanctioned by the McQueary family. Logan's aunt, who helped organize the site, hopes there is no plea deal for Smith or Johnson. "Not knowing where your child is one of the hardest things a parent will ever face in their lifetime . . . ," said Kelli Gustafson McQueary, of Scottsdale, "The heartache will never stop for my nephew until he finds his son. I hope court will bring out some answers to help find Gabriel." Coughlin and Banks are part of the social media rush that is gaining momentum every day, said Hill, of ASU. A huge boom took place in about 2007, when Facebook was opened to the public, not just businesses.Facebook now has more than 500 million users, Skype 590 million, and Twitter 114 million, Hill said. "We have more and more ways to get information online," she said, adding, even citizens of Third World countries text. Celebrities helped trigger the stampede, Hill said, noting that Oprah and Ashton Kutcher announced a race to see who would get 1,000 Twitter followers first. The Baby Gabriel case grabs people because they can relate to it, Hill said."It hits at us at our most basic level, when we are supposed to be protecting our loved ones, and when something horrific happens, it is your worst nightmare," she said. It hit Jess Banks of San Antonio at just such a deep level. The park where Johnson said she surrendered her child is nearby, her husband and son are named Gabriel and she shares a birthday with Gabriel Johnson, who would be about 1 ½ years old now."I hate to see children hurt," said Banks. "Gabriel should not be gone."

by kiwimom Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:58 pm

Mother of missing Ariz. baby found competent

September 23rd 2010
PHOENIX — The mother of an Arizona baby missing since December has been found competent to stand trial. Elizabeth Johnson had been found incompetent in June, but a judge ruled Thursday that she's now able to understand the charges against her and assist in her own defense after she finished court-ordered treatment and therapy. Johnson has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, child abuse, and custodial interference in the disappearance of her son Gabriel, who was 8 months old when he was last seen in December in San Antonio. Police don't know whether the boy is alive. Tempe police say Johnson originally claimed she killed the baby and later said she gave the child to a couple in San Antonio.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7215079.html

by TomTerrific0420 Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:45 pm

The mother of an Arizona baby missing since December and his would-be adoptive mother are scheduled to be in a Phoenix courtroom Monday morning. Elizabeth Johnson and Tammi Peters Smith are scheduled for pretrial conferences in Maricopa County Superior Court. Johnson has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, child abuse, and custodial interference in the disappearance of her son Gabriel, who was 8 months old when he was last seen in December in San Antonio. Police don't know where the boy is or whether he's alive. Smith, a north Scottsdale woman who wanted to adopt Gabriel, has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony forgery and conspiracy to commit custodial interference. Police say she is not connected to the boy's disappearance.

by So_Cal Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:00 pm

Elizabeth Johnson, mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, was in court again this morning for a pre-trial conference, at which the judge in the case delayed setting a date for trial.

Johnson's been charged with kidnapping, child abuse, and custodial interference in the disappearance of the baby, who went missing last December.

Police still don't know if the boy is even alive, and Johnson's been no help in finding him.

Johnson was in the news again last week when her attorneys withdrew their request for a competency hearing. Johnson was initially found incompetent to stand trial following a psychological evaluation back in June. In August, however, the state went back on its earlier finding and ruled that Johnson is competent.

Johnson first made headlines in January after not appearing at a December custody hearing over her then-8-month-old son. Johnson disappeared with the baby and went to San Antonio, Texas, where Gabriel was last seen alive.

While on the run, Johnson sent text messages to the baby's father, Logan McQueary, saying she had killed the baby and put his body in a dumpster.

She later recanted her claims and said she gave the baby to a random couple she met at a park in San Antonio.

Initially, Tempe police were optimistic that the baby was still alive but have since changed their tune as tips in the case slowed.

Johnson's been in the Maricopa County Jail system since her arrest. Initially, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claimed she was a model inmate.

Arpaio's tune soon changed after Johnson assaulted two other prisoners, was thrown in the jail's loony bin, and placed on Joe's "loaf" program.
If you're unfamiliar with Joe's loaf, click here.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/09/trial_delayed_in_baby_gabriel.php#more

I SO want to GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL - Page 6 909494

GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL - Page 6 909494

that bitch!!

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:01 am

Tammi Smith, 38, charged in the case of missing Baby Gabriel, will receive a court-appointed attorney.Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie allowed Smith's previous lawyer, Amy Nguyen, who recently left the office of Kimerer and Derrick of Phoenix, to withdraw from the case.McMurdie ordered the Office of Public Defense Services to appoint new counsel. Smith has a company, according to published reports, called the Healing Waters Health and Wellness Clinic. Tammi's husband Jack Smith, 56, was once a big name in southern gospel music, according to reports, which said he was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry produced soundtracks for PraiseHymn Soundtracks. and reproduced soundtracks for The Tape Factory. The Smiths have one adopted daughter, Jack said recently. He said she is the child of a daughter from his first marriage. He also confirmed that he and Tammi are raising a second child from the same daughter. The Smiths wanted to adopt Baby Gabriel, who lived with them for a week after Johnson fled from her Tempe home with him in mid December. His father, Logan McQueary, 25, has never seen him since. Johnson fled Arizona with Gabriel after McQueary refused to sign over custodial rights to his son, for whom he has since won full custody.Johnson went to San Antonio, the last place the baby was seen alive.First, Johnson told McQueary she had smothered the baby and put him a dumpster. Then she recanted, saying she gave him to a couple in a San Antonio park. Elizabeth Johnson, Gabriel's mother, recently submitted a request to change her lawyers, Nicholas Alcock and Associates of Phoenix. She provided a list of reasons, including that she was unable to reach him personally but was referred to an associate. She also said he spoke to a member of her family without her permission. In the handwritten letter from jail, Johnson asked to have her former public defenders re-appointed. She then filed a motion to withdraw this request, and last Friday, McMurdie approved it.Johnson is charged with kidnapping, child abuse, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodial interference. Smith is charged with forgery and custodial interference. She has been out on $15,000 bond since March. Both women have an Oct. 25 court date.

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:04 am

Check out the actual letter, handwritten, in PDF format.

Click Here: http://www.azcentral.com/ic/pdf/1006elizabeth-johnson-letter.pdf

by TomTerrific0420 Sat Oct 09, 2010 5:12 am

A motion to dismiss charges against a Tempe woman accused of kidnapping in the disappearance of her toddler son has been filed in a Phoenix court. According to the motion filed Friday by attorney Adam Feldman, a police detective from San Antonio talked his way into a jailhouse interview with Elizabeth Johnson, even though the Maricopa County Attorney's Office had initially turned down the detective's interview request. Johnson, 24, was in a custody battle over 8-month-old Gabriel when she left Arizona last December. She at first told Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, she had killed the boy. She then said she gave him to a San Antonio couple. Johnson was arrested in Miami, Florida where she was found without Gabriel. In January she was indicted in Maricopa County on charges of kidnapping, child abuse, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodial interference. She has not been charged in Texas, and baby Gabriel has not been found. According to Friday's motion, a San Antonio detective accompanied a county attorney and Tempe detective to talk to an informant who claimed to have information about Johnson and her missing son. After that May 10 interview, the Tempe detective left with the prosecutor and the San Antonio detective stayed behind and was able to spend several hours with Johnson without her attorney present. Johnson's attorneys are asking that charges be dropped, claiming that Johnson's right to an attorney was violated by the unauthorized interview. They say Johnson was in a psychiatric ward at the Estrella Jail because of concerns of suicide. She was reportedly also heavily medicated. Johnson's attorneys claim two Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Intelligence Officers accompanied the San Antonio detective to the interview and allowed Johnson to remove her shackles. The motion claims the detective spent several hours interrogating Johnson, and that the interrogation "completely altered the nature of the attorney-client relationship in the case." The attorneys claim the detective positioned himself so close to Johnson their knees touched and tried to assure her that nobody else "could save her or protect her other than him." He also reportedly shared a personal story of his own child's drowning death and held her hands and placed his hands on her legs for an extended period of time. The visit was discovered when a paralegal from her attorneys' office went to the Estrella Jail to deliver legal papers to Johnson and discovered she was being interviewed by a detective. The paralegal called the office and Johnson's attorney immediately responded to the jail and ended the interview. Johnson's attorneys maintain that since the May interview, their staff has observed "a continuous deterioration of the legal relationship," saying she remains constantly skeptical and reiterates the sentiment of the detective that "the firm is not concerned about her well being or legal defense."
The detective initially denied recording the interview but later admitted he had and refused to provide a copy to Johnson's attorneys.

by TomTerrific0420 Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:40 am

Elizabeth Johnson hadn't talked to her grandfather in months, but she called him from behind bars last Friday in good spirits, happy and confident that she will soon be set free. It was just last week that Elizabeth Johnson's attorneys filed a motion to have all of the criminal charges against her dropped.They say an unauthorized interrogation by a San Antonio detective back in May violated her rights and irreparably damaged her attorney client relationship.But with Gabriel still missing, could she really be set free without ever revealing what she did to her only child? Johnson seems to think so. She told her grandfather, Bob Johnson, that she is hopeful and confident she will be let go.He also remarked that she seems much more stable now that she is taking anti-anxiety medicine. But he said she would still rather stay in jail than see Gabriel safely returned to his biological father, Logan McQueary.Reportedly, after the interrogation, that lasted more than three hours and involved crying, praying, touching and hand-holding, San Antonio Detective Jesse Salame went straight to the Tempe Police Department to debrief local investigators.A Tempe police spokesman would not confirm who was at that meeting and what time of the night it took place, but it could indicate they knew Salame was with Johnson at the jail when he was not supposed to be, without her attorney present.Johnson's attorney, Nick Alcock, said he is preparing federal motions to force Salame to share the recordings of what he learned in the jail that day in May.Logan McQueary, Gabriel's father said he talked with Detective Salame on the phone for more than an hour Monday. McQueary was not happy that Salame may have damaged the case against Johnson, but after the call, he said Salame convinced him that the interview with Gabriel's mother was proper.McQueary said of Johnson's attorney, "I think Alcock is talking it up. This is all a show because he knows this is the only way she will get out of jail anytime soon. We are still looking for Gabe. We don't know what happened to him, and she shouldn't be let out until we know the truth."

by twinkletoes Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:01 am

Elizabeth Johnson Believes She Will Soon Be Getting Out Of Jail, But Still No Gabriel

GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL - Page 6 32107_10150200749560221_756360220_12559469_6250288_n

GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL - Page 6 32107_10150200749560221_756360220_12559469_6250288_n

Yes, Gabriel Johnson’s mother, Elizabeth is now fit for court, and she’s happy. They now have her mentally stable, and on anti-depressants. She believes she will soon be getting out of jail (based on a conversation to her grandfather, Bob Johnson, whom she called from jail last Friday), because her attorney is claiming that her May interrogation violated her rights. No one knows for sure what happened, but it is said that the session lasted for more than 3 hours and consisted of crying, praying, touching and holding hands. You can read more about it here:
Elizabeth Johnson Confident She Will Be Freed
From that article:

Bob Johnson also told CBS 5 News that Elizabeth seemed more stable mentally now that she is taking anti-anxiety medicine. But he said she would still rather stay in jail than see Gabriel safely returned to his biological father, Logan McQueary.

Okay, I think that Gabriel is likely no longer with us. I’m of the belief that if Elizabeth could actually set herself free, and lead them to a live child, she would. I think her first story to Logan McQueary, Gabriel’s father, is likely the truth. That she killed him and put his body in a diaper bag and disposed of him. I know many times in this case it has appeared that she may well have sold him, but I cannot see her sitting in jail on serious charges, when she could, at the instruction of her attorney, make a deal for the truth and make it where she could see the light of day, sooner, rather than later, or never. I could see authorities dealing with her. I would love to be wrong on this one, but I don’t see it as likely. I do believe they need to keep up the investigation and figure out what she did, but I don’t think they will receive any help from Elizabeth. She didn’t care about that baby then, and she still doesn’t. It’s a shame that they have not been able to find out what happened for sure, but Elizabeth Johnson, is one cold, selfish monster, and she’s sitting exactly where she needs to be. She is a threat to society.
God Bless Baby Gabriel, and God Bless Logan McQueary. This case is so sad.

**Niecey456

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Oct 28, 2010 1:58 am

A trial date for the Tempe mother of a missing baby is expectedto be set by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Tuesday. Healso will decide whether to dismiss the high-profile case. During a hearing held in Judge Paul McMurdie’s courtroom onWednesday, McMurdie set the hearing to determine when the trial ofElizabeth Johnson and Tammi Peters Smith will begin, stemming froma case of Johnson’s missing son, Gabriel, who was last seen Dec. 26at a motel in San Antonio when she took him there in the midst of acustody battle. Johnson has both said she killed Gabriel and gave him away to acouple at the motel, according to a court document.Johnson, 24, who remains incarcerated in Maricopa County’s Estrellajail on a $1.1 million cash bond, is charged with kidnapping, childabuse, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodialinterference.Smith, 38, who was interested in adopting Gabriel, is charged withforgery, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodialinterference.The trial could begin in May or possibly earlier.Johnson’s attorneys, Nicholas Alcock and Adam Feldman, also willargue in court to have the case dismissed, contending thatJohnson’s Sixth Amendment rights were violated when she wasinterviewed in a Maricopa County jail by a San Antonio policedetective without her attorneys present.

by TomTerrific0420 Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:44 am

A May 9 trial date has been set for the two women charged in the case of missing Baby Gabriel of Tempe.Elizabeth Johnson, 24, of Tempe, the mother of the baby missing for nearly a year, and Tammi Smith, 38, of Scottsdale, who wanted to adopt Gabriel, will face separate trials scheduled to begin the same day, court officials said.Smith, who is out on $13,000 bond, is charged with custodial interference and forgery. Johnson is held without bond at Estrella jail on charges of kidnapping, child abuse, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and custodial interference.The blond-haired, blue-eyed Gabriel has captured the attention of the nation and spawned dozens of social network pages since he disappeared last December in San Antonio. Johnson first told the boy's father, Logan McQueary, that she smothered her son. She later said she gave him to a couple in a San Antonio park. She has refused to provide further information about Gabriel's whereabouts, which frustrates her grandfather, Bob Johnson. "She could at least point people in the right direction," he said recently. Police said Smith provided Johnson adoption advice and contacts, tried to bully McQueary into surrendering his parental rights and forged a document in a custody case. Johnson's trial, set before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie, is expected to last about three weeks.Johnson has refused to attend many court appearances or obey many jail rules and was recently on restrictions at Estrella, where she was not allowed to receive visitors. She was found competent to stand trial in September.

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:37 am

A Phoenix judge delayed a scheduled court hearing for Elizabeth Johnson, mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson.The hearing was rescheduled for Dec. 9.Johnson, of Tempe, is charged with kidnapping the 8-month-old. The boy hasn’t been seen or heard from since last Christmas. Since then, Johnson has refused to say what she did with her child.Johnson’s trial is expected to begin on May 9.

by TomTerrific0420 Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:09 am

An Arizona woman charged with custodial interference in a case involving a missing baby wanted to adopt the boy's mother, prosecutors say.The prosecutors' claim was revealed in a motion filed by lawyers for Tammi Smith, 38, of Scottsdale, The Arizona Republic reported. Prosecutors say Smith's alleged move to adopt Elizabeth Johnson, 24, of Tempe shows how far she was willing to go to get custody of Johnson's son.The boy, Gabriel Johnson, usually called Baby Gabriel, was last seen Dec. 26 in San Antonio. Elizabeth Johnson sent the father, Logan McQueary, a text saying she had smothered him and dumped the body, but she later told police she gave him away to a couple she had just met.Elizabeth Johnson, who also faces criminal charges, left for Texas after a court gave McQueary custody. She has been charged with kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference and is in custody.Smith's lawyers, in a motion filed Wednesday, said talking about adult adoption is not illegal and giving Elizabeth Johnson advice in her custody battle is also legal.

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