Widow Of Sniper Victim, Conrad Johnson, Will Attend John Allen Muhammad Execution
Samara Martin Ewing Date last updated: 11/5/2009 6:00:04 AM Smaller Larger Print Article Close Page

Conrad Johnson was killed by the snipers in Aspen Hill, MD on Oct 22, 2002.

Denise Johnson reflects on the upcoming execution of her husband's killer and how she and her 2 children are coping 7 years after Conrad Johnson's murder.

PROFILES OF OTHER VICTIMS

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA)--When Sniper John Allen Muhammad is executed next week, the wife of his last victim will be there watching.

Seven years after her husband Conrad Johnson was gunned down, Denise Johnson tells 9NEWS NOW digital correspondent Audrey Barnes she is still healing.

"As time goes on,of course, it gets easier. The pain lessens a little bit, but it's still there. It's still there and he's greatly missed," Denise says.

Standing on the top step of Ride On Bus number 5705, a bullet pierced through the abdomen of the 35-year-old driver, Conrad Johnson.

He would become the last victim of the DC Sniper.

Asked if she ever thinks: "If only they had caught him sooner?" Denise says, "I always think that."

John Allen Muhammad and his teenaged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were caught sleeping at a rest stop on I-70 west of Myersville, two days after gunning down Johnson.

Denise says, "I don't think I will ever have closure."

But Johnson's wife Denise has found a way to get on with her life: "It was one set of footsteps in the sand because God carried me through all that."

Without Conrad, she has to be the strong parent for their two boys, 13 year old Davaugh and 21 year old Dante, who's trying to fill some very big shoes his dad left behind.

Dante was 14 when his dad passed. The man he has become is remarkable. He still remembers all his dad taught him.

Of Dante, Denise says, "He definitely takes on almost a father role with his brother. I can't ask for anything better."

The sign at the busstop where Conrad Johnson took that sniper's bullet urges people to always remember. Denise says she looks forward to the day where she can forget the man who pulled the trigger. That day will come she says, when she witnesses his execution.

"His punishment fits the crime. Justice will be served."

Even though that will give her some measure of peace, her heart still aches for another wife and mother whose family was torn apart by the tragedy, Mildred Muhammad, the sniper's ex wife.

"As a mother and a wife she feels my hurt. I kind of feel hers as well."

Seven years later, the longing and the loss are still there but so is the love.

"I know Conrad's watching over us, our strength in god and being a close knit family we are. We'll be just fine."