The death of LaVena Johnson | Ep 234

Summary

Podcast Summary: Crime and Coffee Couple Ep. 234

The Death of LaVena Johnson

Release Date: March 1, 2026
Hosts: Allison and Mike

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Overview

In this emotionally charged and meticulously researched episode, Allison and Mike delve into the deeply troubling case of LaVena Johnson—a 19-year-old U.S. Army soldier found dead in Balad, Iraq, in 2005. The Army classified her death as a suicide, but her family (and many experts) have passionately disputed this, pointing to numerous inconsistencies and evidence suggestive of a violent cover-up. The hosts navigate the case with their trademark blend of warmth, wit, and respect for the victim, balancing shocking facts with heartfelt advocacy and critical discussion about sexual assault and systemic failures within the military.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. LaVena Johnson’s Background and Enlistment

• LaVena Johnson was a bright, compassionate, and thoughtful honor student from Missouri, who chose to enlist in the Army to help pay for college, motivated by concern for her family’s finances.
• Family’s Support: Originally hesitant, her parents ultimately supported her decision (18:23).

2. Circumstances of LaVena’s Death

• In July 2005, after only eight weeks in Iraq, LaVena was found dead in a contractor’s tent on the Balad military base.
• Army’s Finding: Military officials told her family it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound from her M16 rifle.
• Family’s Immediate Doubts: From the start, her family found inconsistencies—her body showed signs of a violent attack (broken nose, split lip, burns, and suspicious acid burns on her hand), and her funeral presentation was altered (hands glued with white gloves, likely to conceal burns) (09:31).

3. Family’s Investigation & the Army’s Response

• Fight for Information: John and Linda Johnson struggled to access clear, consistent information, receiving conflicting reports about her death's location and circumstances (14:42, 29:15).
• Autopsy Discrepancies:
  • The wound was unlike what would be caused by an M16.
  • Experts suggested a 9mm pistol was more likely used (23:01).
  • No sexual assault kit was performed, despite physical signs of assault and deliberate attempts to destroy DNA evidence (significant acid burns and use of lye) (35:55).
• Cover-Up Concerns: Family believes Army sought to protect higher-ranking individuals or contractors, and that the official investigation was intentionally incomplete or manipulated.

4. Sexual Assault & Violence Against Women in the Military

• Alarming Statistics: One in three women serving in the military experiences sexual assault or rape by male servicemen (24:42). Civilian rates are also high, but the military is even higher (33% for military women, 20% for civilian women) (27:21).
• Culture of Fear: Many victims do not report, fearing career retaliation or not being believed—especially when offenders are often higher-ranking ([26:57], 27:12).
• "Command Rape": Power imbalances and the structure of military authority leave young female soldiers exceptionally vulnerable.

5. Events Leading Up to LaVena’s Death

• Despite some second-hand reports of depressive statements or joking references to suicide, close friends and her own family describe her as excited to return home, making plans for the holidays, and recently discussing frustrations about disrespect and harassment from male colleagues and superiors (33:25).
• Her sudden behavioral changes (e.g., smoking, distancing from friends, giving possessions away) are mentioned but considered inconclusive given the context (41:45).

6. Physical Evidence & the Scene

• Findings Suggest Foul Play:
  • Signs of a severe assault: Broken nose, burns, drag marks on clothing, and evidence of being moved after death (35:54).
  • No suicide note; physical impracticality for her stature to use an M16 on herself as described.
  • Discrepancies in ballistic evidence, lack of gunshot residue, and missing bullet (48:43).
  • Secondary autopsy revealed a broken neck and undocumented removal of certain body parts (50:08).

7. Pattern of ‘Suicides’ and Sexual Assault Cover-Ups

• Cited similar cases where women who reported sexual assault were dead under suspicious circumstances, often ruled suicides with wildly improbable explanations (e.g., pulling the trigger with a toe while clothed) (51:03).
• Lack of Institutional Accountability: Army and Congress have failed to reopen these cases or address systemic issues.

8. Media Silence and Systemic Obstacles

• Media outlets including 60 Minutes and network news abandoned coverage under apparent pressure from the military, which is a significant advertiser (49:25).
• The hosts express frustration that the military industrial complex’s influence makes reform and transparency exceedingly difficult (58:48).

9. Impact, Reflection, and Call to Action

• The Johnson family continues to fight for answers after decades (55:41).
• Hosts lament the powerlessness of ordinary citizens against massive, well-funded institutions but encourage independent and grassroots advocacy: “You can get on TikTok and make a video right now... a million people could see your message” (60:46).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Army classified her death as a suicide... her family believe that this conclusion was the laziest, most insulting cover story they could have ever slapped onto this tragedy.” — Allison (09:31)
• “If you believe the Army’s version of how Lavina died, you need to check your intelligence for a power outage.” — Allison, quoting a congressional staffer (54:18)
• “It sucks that... nothing will ever happen and it’s like that’s where we leave it.” — Mike (60:10)
• “It’s not like ABC and NBC and Fox... you can get on TikTok and make a video right now. Like you listening to this. Just get on... and start talking—literally a million people could see your message.” — Mike (60:45)
• “Anytime there’s people in power that just get away with stuff and then there’s cover-ups, those are the worst stories… Because you want to believe people in charge are going to do good things, right?” — Mike (58:48)
• “[LaVena] was bravely serving her country... loved by her family... and she was someone that deserves the truth.” — Allison (57:38)
• “How does anyone have the power to do such a thing is beyond me.” — Allison, on the abrupt closure of homicide investigations (46:58)

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Timestamps for Major Themes & Segments

• Intro & Banter: 00:24–09:27
• Case Introduction & LaVena’s Story: 09:31–19:22
• Family’s Investigation and Autopsy Inconsistencies: 19:23–30:50
• Sexual Assault in the Military: Stats and Analysis: 24:36–28:08, 56:11–57:38
• Eyewitness Reports & Case Timelines: 41:45–45:57
• Scene Analysis & Physical Evidence: 46:18–49:25
• Comparison to Other Military 'Suicide' Cases: 51:03–52:34
• Media Reluctance & Political/Industrial Barriers: 49:25–54:18
• Reflection, Systemic Concerns, and Advocacy: 58:48–61:02

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Closing Thoughts

Allison and Mike use their platform to amplify the voices of LaVena Johnson’s family and advocate for greater scrutiny of institutional power, especially regarding women and vulnerable populations in the military. Their discussion is heartfelt, critical, and informative—with every effort made to honor LaVena’s memory and shine a light on what may be systemic abuses and failures.

For further exploration, the documentary “The Silent Truth” covers LaVena’s case and her family’s ongoing fight for justice.

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For bonus content, supporting materials, and more cases covered with both heart and humor, visit crimeandcoffeecouple.com.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode with the crime and coffee couple. My name's Alison.

[A]

And my name's Mike.

[B]

Hi, Mike.

[A]

I'm getting the finger guns over here. Yeah, at this, at the camera.

[B]

You're a little psycho today. Yeah, that.

[A]

I'm sorry for trying to get stuff done for once.

[B]

I mean, he is puttering around this room like a cracked out monkey.

[A]

Puttering and cracked out monkey don't go together.

[B]

Well, okay, fine. You weren't puttering. You wouldn't think.

[A]

Bumbling around the room, you wouldn't think that. You speak professionally. Like as. As a profession.

[B]

You couldn't come up with the word comparison or something like that? In the kitchen about five minutes ago.

[A]

Yeah, then you help me. But I'm not the one that talks all day long every day.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

You're always like, did you know about.

[B]

Oh, my gosh, getting these cameras set up? And then our cat slinks in and he's a psychopath. I noticed that the wallpaper behind us has, like, scratch marks on it. I'm like that little mfer.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of things that. We're a typical family. We got plenty of problems all over us. And yeah, I'm one of them. The cats are some of them. And Allison's perfect, luckily, so. Luckily, she does no wrong.

[B]

That's for sure. That's not true.

[A]

Yeah, we know that's not true. Everybody listening knows that's not true. You're insane. You're out of your mind.

[B]

So if you're new to us, welcome. We are the crime and coffee coup. Highly dysfunctional. We've been married for almost 24 years.

[A]

I don't know. We're not dysfunctional at all. I wouldn't say.

[B]

No, we're not dysfunctional. I'm just joking. Yeah, I, of course, am Allison. And that's Mike. Yeah. And Mike sits. And he and Oz. As I tell him a story that he has yet to hear. He has no idea what I'm presenting to him. So as you guys are hearing it, so is Mike.

[A]

And I generally never looked into true crime in my life. Like, if I happen to walk by and date lines on, I'll Stop and watch. But I would never seek out, like, on Netflix, like, a documentary about crime. Like, that sounds terrible. Like, why would I want to have negative thoughts in my head? But now, like, a lot of these stories definitely deserve to be told, so they're, they're definitely interesting. And it's so sad hearing about these people. I try to keep the negative out of my life, but, you know, twice a week, two for two hours plus.

[B]

You're in it.

[A]

I'm in it. Well, and also the TikToks and videos and all that stuff. If you, if you ever send us a message anywhere on social media, it's always me. Just so you know, like, all of our longtime listeners know that, because I'll just get a message like, hey, Mike, blah, blah, blah. So it's me all the time. So. But yeah, we're. How's your week going here so far?

[B]

I'd say pretty good. I started a new book. Book, and I was gonna look it up and I totally forgot. So we'll get back around to that.

[A]

Yeah. And while we were thinking about that, I, I want to mention more about myself. It's. I'm having a banner week. I, I. Oh, God. I just hit the microphone.

[B]

But I thought you were having a

[A]

banner week right now. I am. That's. That doesn't make things bad. I'm having some yerba mate. I've. I don't know why. When it gets really cold out here and then we live in Florida, it is cold. It's like 40 or 50 right now. Sorry for everybody else's where it's like zero.

[B]

Tomorrow, the wind chill is going to be down to 8 degrees in Florida.

[A]

Yeah, that's all Fahrenheit, Celsius. I don't know, you guys make the version. But, yeah, this is a yerba mate tea. Today, for some reason, I got myself a new kettle from Amazon. So with certain teas, you have to brew them at certain temperatures, like 170 for, like, yerba mate. And then there's like black tea and white tea and green tea in different temperatures and stuff. And I'm just having so much fun with it. Has a little gooseneck so I can pour it, like, correctly. This sounds so dorky and lame, but I'm actually excited by it.

[B]

Well, because our previous kettle, it just simply boiled, and that makes the yerba mate very bitter.

[A]

It burns it.

[B]

It burns it. So maybe you should link the teapot. It's really cute. We have, like, a little tea station in our kitchen, so we keep it out and it's very visually appealing.

[A]

It's a little teapot. It's not so short and stout, but there's definitely a handle and a spout.

[B]

That's. That's very true, Mike. Very cute.

[A]

Yeah, that's a little reference, that song.

[B]

So the book that I'm reading is why has nobody told me this before? And it's by Dr. Julie Smith and it's a self help book, which I'm a lover of. Anything self help, because you read them a lot.

[A]

But you know, the self helping.

[B]

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be working, but it's basically just off offering practical therapist approved strategies for common challenges. So, like the one that I was reading last night was, why are our moods low Sometimes? I know for me it's usually hormone based and I just dealt with this as a perimenopausal woman and ovulation. I was very weepy this week.

[A]

It was, it was. It was a rough week. And. Yeah, you know, I'm here for you.

[B]

I wouldn't say it was a rough week. I think at one point in the kitchen I had a couple tears in my eye and I said, I just feel very low. Like everything is spiraling.

[A]

No, no, it wasn't a rough week. You're right. It was a great week.

[B]

Yeah, it was a great week.

[A]

Yeah, I see those eyes. Yeah, it was a great week, folks.

[B]

It was a great week.

[A]

Winking at the camera. So you tell me how my week.

[B]

Cold ass hands off my shoulder.

[A]

Yeah, I am so. You are definitely cold. I'm warm. And the other thing I wanted to

[B]

mention, Cold Hearted Snake.

[A]

We look into these. He's. He's been telling, I was doing a karaoke for myself in the family room the other day.

[B]

Gosh, I woke up the next morning. He's like, I did a little karaoke. I was like, what?

[A]

I was just on Spotify. And so I get into AI and I start telling it, like, what songs I like to sing at karaoke. And I like to have a list of karaoke songs just in case I ever find myself at a karaoke bar and I need to sing something. So I tell it, okay, these are the songs I can really hit the notes on. It's like, okay, you sound like a baritone, like low tenor, basically. And I was like, okay, like, what songs can I sing? And like, there was one like Creed, like My sacrifice. When you are with me, I'm free. Oh, once you said okay, I wanted to keep on going.

[B]

I don't know if anyone's tuning in

[A]

Will fly which brings tears to my.

[B]

You're bringing tears to my eyes right now. You have a nice voice, but I just don't know if anyone's tuning into us to hear karaoke.

[A]

I. Well, you know what? I've got the stage, and I've got the microphone, so until that happens, I'm gonna keep on going.

[B]

I'm usually not into karaoke. There's certain people that get up and take the mic, and I'm like, wow, they're talented. But it's the ones in between there where I'm like, whoa. Yeah, it's kind of like, you know, and this sounds really. But when you're like, did that person check their appearance in the mirror before they left the house?

[A]

And that, like, so mean.

[B]

It is mean. But I'm a witch with a bee. And it's like that when you're getting on the microphone and a stage, and it's like, I know I'm not a great singer, so I wouldn't sign up to sing karaoke. And you could just say, oh, it's all in good fun.

[A]

It is.

[B]

And that is the point. I understand that completely. I just don't want to hear people that don't have good voices.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Singing.

[A]

I don't blame you.

[B]

That's just my opinion. Please don't come at me.

[A]

The less people in the crowd like Allison, the more fun people have.

[B]

It's true. I take your fun and I squash it.

[A]

Just smush it right down. Just think, oh, sorry. I just scared our dog. Can I do one more thing? Can I say one more thing? A banner week again. I told you I got this sweatshirt. None of these things are ads, by the way. We just talk about stuff like, you'll one. You'll know what an ad is like that. You didn't get paid by that book company.

[B]

No, no, I just picked it up at Target.

[A]

Yeah, I know. We have a lot of new listeners are like, oh, man, they have ads or whatever, and they sneak them in. These aren't. I wish we were getting paid for all this stuff.

[B]

No, it' just. If you're interested in what we like, we thought, well, we'll share.

[A]

Well, you guys are some of our closest pals, whether you like it or not. So if we have, like, it's like saying, hey, you guys gotta. Gotta try this. I got this sweatshirt at Costco. It's a pullover Nike hoodie, and I saw it at Costco originally, and I was like, I don't know if now Nike must be going down the Drain. Because it's a Costco and they're like, selling them for cheap. And then my son's like, hey, could I get this Nike hoodie? I'm like, I just saw that Nike hoodie at Costco. It was on Amazon for 60, and it was at Costco for 20. So I rushed back to Costco. I'm like, oh, they're still in. And they were, like, all sold out, but they had my size, so.

[B]

So you said it was only days in between. So obviously people are buying them up and then reselling them on Amazon.

[A]

Yeah. And like, right now, we always pre record all these episodes, but, like, right now, Costco just came out with Nike dunks. Sponsored by or not sponsored, but they have the Kirkland logo on them.

[B]

So I'd have to see these to have an opinion about them.

[A]

If whoever's editing this video, if you can go ahead and put a picture of those Kirkland, like, you know, dunks and everything. They said they have Nike on the side. So it's not like it's just brand Kirkland Costco. It's Nike Swoosh. It's made by Nike, but there's a little patch that says Kirkland Signature. So it's super lame, but it's like, that's part of the attraction.

[B]

Is it funny or.

[A]

I think so. I think they did it like, tongue in cheek.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Because they also have hoodies where it just says Kirkland Signature, huge logo. And people buy those because it's kind of dumb.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like wearing it like a. Like a Walmart shirt, basically.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's so funny. But, yeah, it's a banner week. I got the shirt for 20 bucks. I couldn't be happier. I'm super hot right now. I should probably take it off, but I'm just so proud.

[B]

You're proud, and you should be. One last thing, since it is going to be alarmingly cold in Florida. Now, granted, we grew up in the Chicago suburbs, so we know what true cold feels like. People up north laugh when it's like, oh, Florida's cold. So it's going to be the wind chill as low as 8 degrees. So it's like, make sure you keep your pets. And this is on Amazon. Make sure you keep your pets. And check on vulnerable neighbors. So we texted our neighbor across the street. We're like, hey, Stephen. We wanted to check on our vulnerable neighbors.

[A]

He's like two years older than us.

[B]

Yeah. So it was just kind of ironic.

[A]

Yeah. And the other thing about cold in Florida, I will have you Know, in Florida, since it's a little more humid, like 40 here, feels just like 20 or 15.

[B]

It like goes through your bones.

[A]

Yeah. Because of the humidity. It's just so frigid and like. Yeah, you just can't get away from.

[B]

Right. So anywho, are you ready to dive into this cup of coffee?

[A]

I am.

[B]

All right, so this is a listener suggestion from bad guy stuff. Thank you so much. And this is the death of lavina Johnson. So 19 year old Lavina johnson was a u. S. Army soldier who was found dead in a contractor's tent on the military base of ballad Iraq. I remembered it rhymes with salad. So ballad Iraq. And this happened in 2005. Although her family was told that her death had been a suicide, they believe that this conclusion was the laziest, most insulting cover story they could have ever slapped onto this tragedy. So Lavina had only been in Iraq for about eight weeks, Iraq, excuse me, for about eight weeks when she was found dead. And her family was eventually told that her death was from a self inflicted gunshot wound through the mouth from her assigned M16 rifle. However, discrepancies began piling up, beginning with her autopsy, which suggested that she had been attacked before her death. So a lot of the findings are her family's opinions based on the autopsy photos and things like that. So her family suspicions began during lavina's funeral when they were able to lay eyes on her body and view parts of her, including a small moon wound that was to her head, and it was just much smaller than they expected it to be, after they were told that it was an M16 rifle that inflicted this wound. So they also couldn't understand why the white gloves she wore in her casket had been glued to her hands. They found this very strange. And it wasn't until they were finally able to view the photos. And that was like a whole other issue, getting these photos of her body that were taken when she was found in this tent as well as during her autopsy when they became convinced that lavina had been attacked and then murdered. So these photos depicted a broken nose, a split lip, scratches, bruises to her arms, chemical burns to her right leg, her hand, and even more concerning to her genitals. So the white gloves had been glued to her hands during the funeral, and these concealed acid burns specifically to her dominant hand that she would have used to pull the trigger. So although lavina's death was ultimately ruled a suicide, her family remained convinced that she was murdered and the army covered it up. So at 7:30 in the morning of Tuesday, July 19, 2005. Dr. John and Linda Johnson awoke to the sound of their doorbell ringing. And this is at their fluorescent Missouri home. So Linda looked out the window and she's up on the second story. And her heart just sank when she saw a soldier standing on their front porch. And since their daughter was stationed in the army in Iraq, they knew that the news was going to be devastating. They didn't just come and dispatch someone over to say, hey, good morning, everything great.

[A]

No, we've all seen the movies, and as somebody that's in the military, you would know that that's terrible sign.

[B]

So just they knew it was going to be devastating. So as John opened the door, Linda couldn't even bring herself down the stairs. So she stood on the second story balcony that overlooked the foyer in the front door. So the soldier held this little black book, and he asked them to confirm that they were the parents of Private Lavina Lynn Johnson. And as he stepped inside the home, he read from his book, saying the words that were their absolute wor Nightmare. He said, we regretfully inform you that your daughter, Private Lavina Lynn Johnson, is dead. So John and Linda understandably lost it, believing that they were standing in the midst of a nightmare. And meanwhile, their other four children awoke from the commotion. And they immediately began screaming and crying as they learned the news that their beloved sister was gone. She was never going to be coming home. So John recalls hearing the officer who stood with this cold look on his face, and he mentioned that his daughter was dead from a self inflicted injury. It seemed like maybe he just like briefly kind of glazed over this. So when John asked the officer, I'm sorry, what can you clarify? He told John that Lavina's death was under active investigation. So the idea that their daughter would have harmed herself was just incomprehensible to them, as I'm sure it is to most people that are, you know, dealing with a suicide in the family. So they had only just spoken to their daughter two days earlier, on the morning of Sunday, July 17, 2005. And this was a time when she was her usual happy, bubbly self. She excitedly told her parents that she would be coming home sooner than she expected. She sounded eager to be assigned to the 129th Corps Support Ballot Battalion. Excuse me. Which would then allow her to rotate back to the United States in just a few months. Months. So she was super excited that she was going to be able to come home for Christmas. And she talked about decorating the Christmas tree with her younger sister. This was something they did every single year. So she told her parents, make sure you guys don't start decorating without me, because I'm gonna be there. So that's why they couldn't understand if she was so excited and talking about Christmas, how could this happen?

[A]

Never. No chance.

[B]

So one day after John and Linda were told that their daughter was dead, a casualty liaison came to their home. And this is the person that's respons for making the funeral arrangements. And he was urging the family to consider having a closed cast casket funeral based on their daughter's injuries. So he told John that Lavina was found dead in her barracks with a gunshot wound to the head. But then he found out the very next day from a family friend who knew someone who was stationed there that Lavina hadn't died in her barracks. She died in this contractor's tent. This like, like just off the beaten path, contractors, tents. So it was just this lack of clear cut information that made John begin to believe that the army was maybe trying to cover for someone of a higher rank and prestige. So John and Linda were traumatized as they made their drive to the airport to pick up Lavina's remains. Because the last time they had made that very drive, it was unhappy terms and their daughter had run to them with open arms. She was so excited to see them while she was home on leave. She was just super close with her whole family. So this time 19 year old Laina was in a casket that had been draped with an American flag. Laina Johnson was born on July 27, 1985 in the middle class town of Florescent, Missouri to parents Dr. John Johnson and Linda Johnson. She was one of five children. So after graduating from Hazelwood Central High School with honors, Laina followed in her father's footsteps and she enlisted in the army. And this happened on September 15, 2004. As a young boy, John had lived with his family and the housing projects in St. Louis until he graduated from high school and then he joined the army. He served for about three years until he was discharged and this is when he started taking college classes and then he went on to earn a doctorate in psychology. So both he and Linda had civilian jobs and troop support for the army. John was a military psychologist for his entire career. So since the Johnsons had five children during her senior year of high school, Lavina started to worry about the fact that she was going to be going to college and her parents would have to pay for it because they have five kids. So John said, no, Lavina, we've, we know this is coming and we're fine, so please don't worry about it. So she was interested in going to school in California, across the country. So she wanted to pay for her own tuition because she worried how much it would be and she felt that the army would be the perfect solution to do so.

[A]

What a stand up kid, man. It's like just, you know, honors and like I, you know, she feels bad about putting that on her parents, not that, you know, parents should pay for their kids schooling. I, I think if you can do it, absolutely nobody wants to put their kids into debt, you know, so it's just like, that's very, very mature of her.

[B]

Well, it just goes to show because a lot of the times teenagers live in their own little world where it's like only they exist and their parents are just like these mutants. It's kind of like how we used to see our teachers when we were in school. Like they had no life outside of the classroom, they just lived at school. I think our, our kids sometimes think like we're just their parents and that's it.

[A]

Just here to serve them.

[B]

Whereas she obviously had the forethought to think, gosh, is this gonna cost a lot of money? Just a really compassionate, just thoughtful person. Although John and Linda were initially fully against this idea, they eventually came around to support their daughter's decision. Army recruiters had visited her high school and that's where she had gotten this idea. And Lavina was just a very strong willed person who was just. When she made a decision, that was it, they knew it. So that's where they came around and they wanted to give her support also.

[A]

These recruiters are just fantastic at what they do. So you know, he probably latched on to, oh man, you don't want your, your parents to have to pay for all that college. Like we could pay for it all. Just come on over, you know, be in for two years and everything's paid for.

[B]

Exactly. And it was John's opinion after the fact that, that he just doesn't think that's right. He thinks when these recruiters come to the school, it should be with the parents presence there.

[A]

Oh, they want them there. I remember in high school they would want us there by ourselves and try to make a decision for the rest of our lives. And it's, I mean that's their job.

[B]

Right. And only months later she was deployed to Iraq and she was permanently stationed in the city of ballad. This is 50 miles north of Baghdad. So Lavina's funeral was held on July 27, 2005. This was a day she would have celebrated her 20th birthday. So she was buried with military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. And she was posthumously promoted to Private first class and awarded good conduct and commendation medals.

[A]

Who cares, Right?

[B]

It's. And that's just the thing. It's like almost in the aftermath, looking back at this, it was like that was given so that it just tramped down anyone's suspicions.

[A]

Yeah, hush everybody up.

[B]

So as John stood by his daughter's body at the funeral and he was looking her over, he called could. He was very alarmed by what he saw. He noticed she probably had plastic surgery done and there was a hole in the left side of her head near her temporal lobe. Of course, at this point in time, he has no information to go by, so he. It didn't make sense to him because Lavina was right handed, so the. Where the bullet wound was didn't make sense. And even more concerning, the white gloves had been glued to her hands. He was like, why would they have done that? That. So although Lavina's autopsy had been completed five days before the funeral on July 22, John and Linda still hadn't heard from the medical examiner. So they were basically in the dark at this point. They were, you know, having no idea what really led to their daughter's death. So it wasn't until August 3rd when John heard from Dr. Edward Reedy. And during their conversation, when he was asking about the hole that he himself had seen on the left side of his daughter's head, he was told that it wasn't an entry wound. It was an exit wound from Lavina's M16 rifle. So Dr. Reedy informed him that she had placed the barrel of her gun into her mouth and pulled the trigger. However, right away, this just didn't make sense to John for a number of reasons. Lavina stood at maybe 5 foot 1, which is 61 inches, and her weapon in question was 40 inches long. And John just didn't think it would have been physically possible for her to do what Dr. Reedy was suggesting. So when he brought this up, Dr. Reedy just responded, well, she managed. John was also stunned to learn that a sexual assault kit hadn't been collected during the autopsy. And when he asked why this wouldn't have been done, Dr. Reedy said it wasn't indicated because there hadn't been any signs of a struggle. So John also questioned the unexpectedly small size of the wound to his daughter's head. This appeared to be more from maybe a hand revolver rather than an M16 rifle. Dr. Reedy went on to say that there had been considerable damage and that the bullet had exited the back of Lavina's head. And he said, no, it hadn't. I saw during the funeral that it had exited the left side of her head. And you would think when you're talking to the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, you would be given clear cut, concise answers that made sense with what you yourself saw.

[A]

It's kind of like interviewing somebody during an investigation and having different stories. It's like, okay, since you're not, you don't have your story together. Something's going on, right? This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with a name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match, limited by state law. Not available in all states. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with a name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match, limited by state law. Not available in all states.

[B]

So Dr. Reedy just responded to him when he said it wasn't to the back of her head. He said, no, it depends on the angle you're looking at.

[A]

Nope, back is the back. Side is the side.

[B]

What are you talking about? So two ballistics experts, this is Donald Marion and Cyril Wecht. They later told the family that Lavina's wounds were not consistent with an M16 and the exit wound appeared to have been caused by a 9 millimeter pistol. I did some of my own research and in many cases at close range, an M16 bullet will exit the body, causing an irregular torn wound that could be several inches wide. Because oftentimes the bullet will turn sideways inside the the body as well as from fragmentation. Although there are some cases where a smaller wound can occur if the bullet passes straight through and doesn't fragment. But most of the time when a skull is involved, a much larger and much more destructive wound will result. So immediately, John and Linda were convinced that Lavina had not done this to herself. Also, paired with the fact that they had only just talked to her a couple of days before and she sounded perfectly happy and was so excited to come home. So, Colonel Ann Wright, who served in the US army for 29 years and currently Works to raise awareness of sexual assault in the military, publicly supported their cause. And she wrote an article titled is there an army cover up of rape and murder of women Soldiers? And I will tell you, these statistics really alarmed me. I don't have any kind of family ties to people in the military, so I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to serving in the military. So I just never fathom that these statistics were the way that they were or are.

[A]

If you have served in the military or if you know somebody, we'd love to hear from you, like leave some comments and if you've heard about similar things.

[B]

So this indicated that one in three women who join the military will be sexually assaulted or raped by men in the military. One in three.

[A]

Do you know how that compares to the general population by chance?

[B]

I don't know, but I, I mean it's staggering.

[A]

So 33% of women will be by somebody in the military in some, a

[B]

man in the military. And that's what John was saying, a man or anybody said by men in the military. So John's point was, can you imagine if that was the sign that was posted above the recruitment office? How many women would join the military if that was just in plain sight?

[A]

Well, no, of course, the same reason they don't say you could die in, in combat.

[B]

So according to Statistics, of the 120 women who have died in Iraq, over percent were unrelated to combat. Half of these Deaths, meaning about 25, have been under highly suspicious circumstances. Within these cases, the military have determined that most of these women committed suicide, while their family members have strongly disputed these findings and are calling for further investigation.

[A]

Well, not to mention suicide among females is pretty rare. Like, you know, most suicide. I'm pretty sure most suicides are men.

[B]

I wouldn't have the faintest idea and I hate to give opinions based on something that I don't know.

[A]

I'm pretty sure I'll look at up to.

[B]

So the point is, is that when these women are bringing attention to the fact that they have been sexually assaulted, a lot of them die in suspicious circumstances that are basically just slapped with, oh, suicide. So Anne defines these instances as command rape, an act that has been named because it's happening so frequently. And some of the stories I heard were so alarming and so ridiculous what they concluded there's no consequences that some of these people are facing. It's alarming, it's disturbing, it's disgusting. So when a male of higher rank preys on these young women who are new to the military, these Women are being sexually assaulted and they're told. Who would believe your story over mine? We're talking about someone that's in the military for maybe decades and there's a brand new recruit coming in and this person's of higher rank and they're telling this person, no one's going to believe you.

[A]

Yeah, because like everybody on that higher rank person is trying to get to the higher rank. So if you go against that higher ranked person, then all of a sudden your job options are very, very limited, if you even have a job anymore. So it's like everybody's trying to get to that next rank and they're just like, okay, just, you know what you don't see, you don't say and you're done.

[B]

And not to mention a lot of these women are thousands of miles from home. They're in a vulnerable position. It's a terrible situation.

[A]

Real quick, if I can report, I did some research here real quick and it turns out in the US at least, any sexual assault contact in the United States by a civilian woman will be likely 50% chance, which is horrible.

[B]

Civilian horrible.

[A]

Like any. That means like generally half of women will have some kind of sexual contact that they didn't want. Right. And in the military it's 66%. So even higher than that.

[B]

Even higher, 66%.

[A]

And then you're looking at completed attempted R word, you know, sexual assault.

[B]

Well, I mean, I'm saying that word during this case.

[A]

I just want to make sure I'm used to the tiktoks where I try not to get disbanded or whatever. So civilian women 20%. So one in five. And military women about 33. So yeah, 33. One in one in three.

[B]

So in 2016.

[A]

And real quick about the suicides. Men about 80% of suicide.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Women.

[B]

Okay, I did not know that.

[A]

So the reason I wanted to bring that up, to say all these women have been not sexually assaulted, that they all committed suicide. Like that's super, super rare. So that's a huge replica flag.

[B]

I mean, I'm not kidding you. When I saw some of these stories, like one woman was up in a guard tower. That was her position. A male associate came and took her out. They got intoxicated and then she's found dead in the road having been run over by the his vehicle and he got like a slap on the wrist. And it was so clear that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.

[A]

And like power that gets away with illegal things. I don't know if there's anything that increases my Frustration, it's.

[B]

It's scary. It scares the crap out of me. So in 2016, 14, 900 members of the military were sexually assaulted, many of which happened on more than one occasion. 81% of these victims did not report the crime due to shame and fear of retaliation. So the numbers we know are grossly

[A]

underreported, just like the general population.

[B]

So around August 16, 2005, John contacted this casual, casually casualty, easy for me to say, casualty liaison, about receiving more concrete information regarding the circumstances of his daughter's death. Of course, at this point in time, they've attended Lavina's funeral. He's had this conversation with the medical examiner, but he's still very much in the dark.

[A]

And all these guys that they want promotions and they want to be kept in the military where they are, they don't want to make any waves. So they're all going to say whatever this high ranking official wants them to say, right?

[B]

And you know, right off the gate, he's just very confused by all of it because. Because he's seeing her body at the funeral, he's talking to the medical examiner, the casualty liaison is like, oh, yeah, she died in her barracks. And then the next day they're like, no, she didn't.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So like that just. That's very alarming.

[A]

Everything he's getting told is complete.

[B]

Right? So, I mean, in the wake of grieving and mourning the loss of your daughter, you're like, I don't believe that this is true. I can't imagine what this must be like for these family members who are dealing with this. And my heart truly goes out to you. So when this guy got back to him later that day, he indicated that due to the highly concerning evidence, the investigation could take up to a year to complete. So John explained that he was ex military and he had worked for the army for 25 years because he's a psychologist and it was his experience that when the army made a decision, they would typically not alter it, even if the decision had been wrong. And we can all think of Ellen Greenberg's case where her, her death was ruled a suicide. We all know it's.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And yet it's not changed.

[A]

Just recently, the US like Department of justice has picked it up, so hopefully something happens there.

[B]

So on September 19th, the liaison gave John a copy of Dr. Reedy's autopsy, which concluded that Lavina's death had been a suicide. However, later that same day, a criminal investigator visited the Johnson home and told Linda that they would do everything in their power to determine what happened to their daughter. So they're reading the autopsy report saying suicide. And then this person's talking to them the same day saying, we're gonna figure out what's happened.

[A]

They're like, ok, thought it was figured out and. But it's not. What's going on?

[B]

So when John received copies, and when I say copies, they're not very clear. I saw a lot of these pictures that were photocopied so he couldn't see very clearly. And, you know, this is just horrible. A father is looking at his deceased daughter's body. One depicted her lying on her back with her left arm stretched out, and her right arm was draped over her face. And he was understandably racked with emotions seeing his beautiful baby girl in this horrific way.

[A]

So terrible.

[B]

So more and more documents began to come out that included witness statements. I read all of these statements, and this was a time when John and Linda came to believe that at some point, while their daughter had been in the military, she had been sexually assaulted. So Lavina was receiving medical treatment for genital warts, and she had been diagnosed with this on July 9. According to the doctor, Lavina had been shocked by this diagnosis. She was very upset during her visit. Visit. And although he suggested that she seek counseling to deal with the stress, she declined. So since Lavina had been in charge of a communications facility, she was able to touch base with her family very often, and that really helped them tremendously to hear from her. She would call them, email them on a daily basis, and this just helped put them at ease. So during the majority of these phone calls, Lavina sounded very happy be. But over time, she had confided in her parents that she was feeling very disrespected by some of her superiors. And during a phone call home on July 14, 2005, this is five days before her death, Lavina specifically mentioned an incident that involved this group of soldiers who just blatantly disobeyed her orders. And they refused to leave the communications room despite her having authority over them. She's like, okay, you guys can't be in here. You have to go, go. So they started to disagree verbally, and the general came into the room, Basically causing the group to just disperse without him really even having to say anything.

[A]

Yeah, General pops in. Everybody's like, oh, oh, we gotta go.

[B]

So Lavina felt that these soldiers were disrespecting her because she was a young female, she's 19 years old, and rather than supporting her, the general scolded her for failing to get the soldiers to listen to her. So this was when she began to feel that she was being personally targeted. It She's a young black female in the army, and she feels that no one's respecting her. So over the next two and a half years, with the assistance and support of their family and friends, John and Linda fought for these documents that were concerning their daughter's death. And through the Freedom of Information act and the help of his local congressional representative. This is William Lacey Clay. The army. Finally. I mean, I'm talking. They had to jump through the greatest of hoops that were on fire to get this information. So at some point in time, someone slipped in a photocopy of a cd. And John feels like whoever slipped that in wanted him to know that this CD existed. So he wanted to get this cd. And they kept saying, well, there's names in here that are confidential. And he's like, these names have to do with my daughter. Daughter's case?

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

And I have every right to see them. So this. When he finally, finally got this freaking cd, he was able to clearly see the photos that had been taken of Lavina, because previously, he was just looking at photocopies. So it was much clearer this time. So again, these photos depicted her lying in this contractor's tent after she supposedly took her own life, as well as when she was disrobed during the autopsy and such. Much so. Although the initial autopsy supported Lavina's cause of death, the photos that John was viewing suggested otherwise. So Lavina, again, she was a petite girl. She stood at barely five feet tall, maybe five' one on a good day. She weighed less than a hundred pounds. And she appeared to have been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, possibly a weapon stock. And while her nose was broken, her teeth had been knocked backwards. The back of her clothing contained debris. Debris. Good Lord. Debris. Excuse me. So this suggested she had been dragged from one location to another. And he saw bruising and teeth marks to her upper body, while the right side of her back and her right hand had been burned after a flammable liquid had been poured over her and ignited.

[A]

Man, this is some savage attack.

[B]

It's seriously disturbing. So her genital area had suffered tears. And there was a substance that he saw running out of it, potentially lie, which is a corrosive liquid which John believed was utilized to destroy whatever DNA was there, you know, which suggested a sexual assault. So despite the wounds John observed on Lavina's disrobed body, when she was found in the contractor's Tent. She was fully dressed. So there was a trail of blood from the outside of the tent leading to the inside, which suggested that she was attacked, redressed, dragged into the tent that was owned by Kellogg, Brown and root, or kbr, which was then set on fire. So John believes that his daughter was raped and murdered by a contractor. And sadly, rape by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan is not rare. In July of 2005, the same month that Lavina died, 20 year old Jamie Lee Jones was working in Iraq when she was allegedly gang raped and beaten by k our employees.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And then she was locked in a shipping container by managers after she sought out law law enforcement. So although Jamie and her lawyers lost a federal suit against KBR, nearly 40 other female KBR employees who worked in Afghanistan and Iraq told them stories of rape, beatings and sexual harassment.

[A]

That's a hell of a company culture. You want to hand their KB are.

[B]

So according to the army's investigative report, which included many witness statements, sometime between 1:20 and 1:30 in the morning on Tuesday, July 19, 2005, two witnesses heard a boom. They said it sounded like a car backfiring and they noticed a flash of flames that were coming from this contracting tent adjacent to the mess hall. So they ran inside the tent to extinguish the fire, and they found two small fires burning inside. And then three feet into the tent is where they found Lavina. She was lying on her back, face up with her left arm stretched out and her right arm across her face. An M16 rifle was stretched out across her left wrist. There was blood present and she wasn't moving. The witness didn't check for signs of life at that time because he was trying to like, call for help. He immediately left the tent, secured the scene and called for rescue. You. Another witness recalled seeing Lavina lying on her left side with the rifle parallel to her body with the muzzle facing down. However, they did admit though, that they were concerned about the fire. They wanted to get that put out. They were scared that Lavina as well as the tent would catch on fire. So they did say, well, maybe the weapon was facing face up. I wasn't sure. Although they quickly attempted to remove Lavina's body body, they felt they needed to attend to the fire first. They indicated that everything was smoking, including parts of Lavina's body. And after both fires were extinguished with dirt, the wooden bench inside the tent began to smoke and reignite. So when they moved the bench outside the tent, they noticed this large pool of blood. Underneath there was an aerosol can that was lying on the floor adjacent to Lavina's right leg that appeared to have exploded. I think it was a hairspray can, if I'm not mistaken. Taken. So the general theme from her fellow soldiers, because they talked to a lot of people, was that Lavina was a very happy, positive person. She was someone that you definitely wanted to spend time with because she was very light hearted. She loved to crack jokes, laugh, just keep the mood light. And if there's anywhere you want to keep the mood light and have a little reprieve from the stress around you is when you're deployed overseas in Iraq.

[A]

Yeah, you want to keep the morale up.

[B]

So they saw that she was a religious girl, she was very close with her family, and she was adapting well to working in a Iraq. And other than mentioning this recent breakup, she rarely spoke of personal matters. She was usually just pretty upbeat. So as additional soldiers were interviewed later that morning, they discussed that they were close friends with Lavina. And they indicated that her boyfriend of two months who she met in the army while she was stationed in Kentucky before she deployed to Iraq. So they only dated for two months. They broke up over email on Monday, July 18th. 18th. So when she tried to get a hold of him to make amends, she was told by someone she knew that he wanted her to stop calling because he had met someone else. And although they could see that she was hurt, she tried to just shrug it off. So because of these statements, the military jumped to the conclusion that she had been so distraught by this breakup that she took her own life. And they found small pieces of charred papers scattered around her near her body, I should say say. And this was something that the general claimed were letters from her boyfriend that she set on fire before she shot herself. And I don't know, they never mentioned could they put the pieces of the letters together to even see that that was the case? I never saw that. So my assumption was based on the photos of them. They were charred beyond recognition. So I think we're just making some assumptions here.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, if an investigation was actually done, that would be part of it. At vrbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support. So we plan for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our VRBO care guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready before your stay, through the moments in between and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind and maybe a couple good playlist. But we've got the peace of mind part covered.

[B]

So while most people indicated seeing absolutely no signs of depression in Lavina prior to her death, one friend did mention that in the two weeks before her death, she had discussed killing herself, but she hadn't been concerned because she said it in a very joking manner, like

[A]

all teenagers do these days, unfortunately. Like, I hate hearing that, but it's like, oh, I know I'm killing myself. It's like, you're not actually. Please don't say that.

[B]

If this doesn't happen, I'm gonna just hang myself. It's like, don't say that. Like that's scary to me. So one month before her death, when another friend asked her if she would actually kill herself, she said she wouldn't because she would never want to hurt her family. So another friend indicated that over the past two months, Lavina had made several comments about how she hated her life and she wished she were dead. During a time when her fellow soldier had a knife stuck in a can can, they kept saying Gerber. So I was like, do they eat baby food? So I googled do soldiers overseas eat baby food? And there was like nothing to support that. But I can only assume Gerber meant baby food, right? So there was a knife stuck in this can and Lavina tried to pull it out and her friend was like, hey, be careful, you might cut yourself. She said, well she hoped she would because then maybe she would die. So she had also given some of her belongings away. This included a bag of chapstick as well as a case of full of CDs. So those close to Lavina were also shocked when they noticed she started smoking in the days before her death because she was always very much against smoking. And I guess a lot of people in the military smoke from what I hear like in reading these reports.

[A]

Yeah, cuz there's nothing else to do. You're like just basically hanging out with each other all the time and one person smokes like oh yeah, let try. Then you all get addicted.

[B]

I'm always amazed when I watch Below deck cuz it's like 2025 when these are recorded and I'm like gosh, people still smell smoke.

[A]

Yeah, like service industry. And like I used to work at a copier sales job. Like all those guys smoke just like cuz they hang out, there's something to do.

[B]

So when they saw her smoking they were like whoa. And they asked why would you possibly start smoking? And she said some of us have things going on in our lives. And she told another friend that she was going to live her life because she might not live that long.

[A]

All these things you're talking about are highly concerning.

[B]

I would agree. So according to the investigative report, Lavina got off of work sometime between 4 and 5pm on Monday, July 18. This is the evening before her death. She had been scheduled to meet two other soldiers at the running track to prepare for an upcoming physical fitness test at 8pm this was scheduled about five hours before her death. But she didn't show up. So this was highly out of character her, for her, because she was super responsible. She was a fantastic worker. She never missed work. She had never been late for anything that she was assigned to before. So that's alarming and it's itself. So when they went back to check on her later that night, she didn't answer the door. So according to the Army's report, investigative report, she instead met with a male soldier and they spent about four hours together in his room. And then they left to get snacks. Lavina picked up some soda and some M M's and they stopped off at Burger King. And he indicated that she had been in a very good mood while they were together. She seemed very happy. But while they were walking together, sometime close to midnight, Lavina asked him if he was scared to meet God. And she talked about the end of the world. And when he asked her if she wanted to kill herself, she responded, hell no, stupid. And when he asked her a second time, she said, why would I? I have a lot to live for. And mind you, this is about an hour and 20 minutes before that person reported hearing that sound that sounded like a backfire from a car. So. So it suggested that sometime after this, Lavena left her barracks and eventually walked across the post. And she went into this tent. And it was not a nice tent. It was filled with trash. It had this random bench sitting in there. And they suggested that she sat down on this bench and she used an aerosol can as an accelerant to. One of the reports said that she ignited the bottom of the bench. But others said, you know, she ignited these letters, these emails that she printed from her ex, boyfriend, friend. And then she put the rifle in her mouth and she pulled the trigger with her right thumb.

[A]

The printed emails, that's just stupid, right? Nobody who would do that.

[B]

And she only dated him for two months while they were over in Kentucky.

[A]

Yeah, that's. That's really. That's a stretch. And it seems like she would leave a letter for her family at least, like she was close to her family.

[B]

It's Very, very close with her family.

[A]

Probably be some kind of an apology, like, I'm sorry, just none of that makes sense.

[B]

Sense. So after fellow soldiers heard this boom and saw a fire in the tent at about 1:20 in the morning, this is when they found her body. So army investigators initially believed that Lavina's death was a homicide, something that was indicated on their paperwork. However, it wasn't long before higher officials decided that the investigation needed to stop and her death should be classified as a suicide.

[A]

Like, who. Who are these higher officials and how do they determine that?

[B]

Right. It's like, no, the investigation isn't done until the facts are seen and are played out.

[A]

And I'm guessing these higher officials never saw the scene or anything to do with anything.

[B]

Right?

[A]

They're just sitting at some desk somewhere, like, oh, no, no, this one's a suicide.

[B]

How. How does anyone have the power to do such a thing is beyond me. So as a result, despite strong evidence that suggested a homicide, no further investigation took place. So according to reports, a shell casing was found under Lavina's right leg. Leg. Although witnesses at the scene said they had not seen that at all. And had she taken her own life, the shell casing would have ejected out the right side of the gun and landed anywhere from 5 to 15ft, but anywhere as high as 24ft away. However, it could have ricocheted off of something inside the tent. So when a gunshot residue kit was collected from Lavina's body, the report indicated that while residue was recovered, the number was insignificant. So there were a number of reasons listed as to why this would be the case. The weapon itself didn't deposit a significant amount of gsr. But wouldn't you test that? Yeah, you would shoot the gun and then test the residue left behind on someone's hand.

[A]

And we've done some stories on gsr, and there's always, like, a good amount, especially if it's right on her, like, suicide attempt.

[B]

So the timeline of the event versus the collection, which you would assume it would be collected very quickly if the body had been moved, if the hands had been rubbed, if there was an explosion. Excuse me. Explosion. Explosion, yeah.

[A]

You're good.

[B]

It's a tough word to say, explosion adjacent to the body or if Lavina's hands had been soiled. So if they were covered in dirt or something like that. So there was also the possibility that Lavina had not discharged that weapon herself. No. Latent prints were found on Lavina's M16 rifle, which to me is very weird. Weird.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

If you are carrying a weapon with you, you're moving it, you're handling it.

[A]

Yeah, like your thumb or something. I know, I'm 16 is long. So she would have to. I don't know. That's. That's big time.

[B]

So no latent prints were found that were suitable for identification. While John indicated that the bullet that killed his daughter has never been located and she had not left a suicide note behind. So despite the fact that CBS and ABC had spent thousands of dollars sending multiple sets of teams to the Johnson home, as well as 60 Minutes, who funded to have Lavina's body exhumed in 2007, two years after she died, each backed away from airing her story.

[A]

Ah, they must have been. So the military is a huge sponsor of all networks. So anytime you see like on the NFL or Major League Baseball or any sport or anything, and they're like, salute to the military. The military is paying for that, right? It's a commercial for them. Anything. Anytime the jets are flying over the field, like the military is paying for that. So if you start to air things bad about the military, the military pulls their funding and you don't have as much commercials.

[B]

So it was very clear to John that these networks were unwilling to cover this case because the military would pull their advertising from those channels. Although the results of the secondary autopsy were inconclusive, new X rays did shed some light on things.

[A]

Things.

[B]

And it proved that Lavina's neck had been broken. It also proved that the military had removed parts of her tongue, vagina and anus.

[A]

What the hell?

[B]

This was something that had not been documented whatsoever in the first autopsy report, which is alarming because everything you do during an autopsy should be reported. John believes that these body parts had been removed in order to conceal whatever happened to their daughter. So John spoke with a woman named Joy Priest, who lost her 20 year old daughter Tina Priest in Iraq in March of 2006 in what the army deemed a suicide from a gunshot wound to the chest. Her death came two weeks after she reported being sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier. And that's the theme of what happens here. And then they'll use it like, oh, well, they were distraught about, you know, reporting this and that's why they did it.

[A]

Right. And kind of convenient how that happens.

[B]

So according to the ballistic investigation, at 5 foot 2, Tina would have been unable to shoot herself with her M16 weapon, as the army had claimed. When Joy went back to them with these findings, they told her that she must have pulled the trigger with her big toe. I looked into the case to see, was Tina dressed when this happened, Was she wearing shoes? But there was no information about that because obviously, if she had shoes on her face, feet, she couldn't have pulled the trigger with her toe.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So in the wake of immense grief, paired with the fact that it can be very difficult and daunting to begin an investigation against the army, many families who believe that their child's death during deployment is suspicious choose not to do so. So John was initially told that his daughter's death had been combat related, something he just didn't understand because she had been working in a telecommunications room. Room. So as he continued to comb through the paperwork, he was shocked to read the words, Johnson was not mentally sound at the time of her death. And he's like, not mentally sound. What? I talked to my daughter on a near daily basis, and she sounded just like herself every day other than reporting, you know, her frustrations about not being taken seriously, maybe being disrespected. So John questioned why Lavina would have been allowed to carry around an empty.16 rifle. Had she been depressed and had she not been mentally sound.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So he also wanted to know why they believed. He wanted specifics. Why do you think she wasn't mentally sound when me as her father, hadn't noticed that in all my conversations with her?

[A]

It sounds like John's open to some feedback.

[B]

Right.

[A]

If somebody would just give him some.

[B]

He just wants to understand. So they wrote back and said that a few soldiers had noticed that she was. Was eating differently. She was eating more ice cream.

[A]

Oh, yeah. That's a big telltale sign that somebody's gonna kill themselves.

[B]

So a fellow soldier who had been with Lavina since deployment classes at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, noticed that in the week before her death, Lavina, who was a vegetarian, had began eating ice cream about three to four times a day. And this was something she previously avoided. Saying that she wanted to lose a little bit of weight.

[A]

I mean, that's a lot. Three or four times.

[B]

Yeah. It could be those little cups.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Like, I work in the hospital and there's those tiny little cups there'. No big deal.

[A]

Yeah, Maybe you just get into it and you have, like, a taste.

[B]

Yeah, you know how I roll?

[A]

You roll. I was thinking the same thing.

[B]

When I get into something, I get into it and I get on a kick with it.

[A]

Yeah, you do.

[B]

And another thing to note that John mentioned was that temperatures on Iraq were soaring over 120 degrees at the time that she died. So it wouldn't be unusual to maybe eat a little bit less because you know how it is when it's hot outside. You're like, oh, I can't eat very much. And these people, you know, these soldiers, they're in it. You know, they're not living these cushy lifestyles. They're working crazy hours, they're out in the heat. So it wouldn't be unusual to, to grab ice cream more often.

[A]

You said she was vegetarian before that?

[B]

Yeah, but not vegan.

[A]

Okay, so she still had milk, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, she was.

[A]

Ice cream was still like on her. Okay. It's not like you come in from a super hot 120 degree day and there's like free ice cream there. You're like, I'm just gonna grab a little ice cream. Yeah, that sounds nice. So. Okay.

[B]

So not only has the military been uncooperative, but according to the Johnsons, Congress has also been of little help. When a team of congressional staffers did investigate Lavina's death, nothing came of it. But one of the staffers reached out to the media anonymously and indicated that when the team requested the autopsy photos, the army pushed back hard. The staffer suggests that if you believe the Army's version of how Lavina died, died, you need to check your intelligence for a power outage. That's their quote, not mine. So although nearly 21 years has passed since Lavina tragically died at 19 years old, the question of murder versus suicide still remains. The Johnson family refused to give up and continue to dispute the Army's findings and pursue the truth regarding her death. In 2010, a documentary about Lavina's story was released. It's called the Silent Trailer Truth. And as of that time, 143 women have died in Iraq, 25 of which were non combat related deaths, eight of which have been deemed suicides. So each of these grieving families have requested that their daughter's cases be reopened and all have been denied. Meanwhile, the army stand by their investigation that Lavina's death was a suicide. It's like, just because you say it's true doesn't mean it's true.

[A]

There's nothing to back it up.

[B]

Gaslighting, you know, know.

[A]

But if like all of them say it then like, who are you gonna fight? And like, exactly like you said, a family. The Johnson family versus the US Army. Who's gonna win that?

[B]

How do you, how do you win it?

[A]

And like, you don't have media help because they don't want to get their funding Scared. So, like, it has to be independent journalists that don't depend on that kind of funding. Like, you can't have the money be following you. Even me, I sell to the military. I can't make tiktoks against the military like that. It sucks, right? But if I did this full time, I would. But I'm not gonna make any tech talks about it because I'm trying to sell, to sell to them.

[B]

I mean, you can post facts.

[A]

I can, but that. Okay, it's. So then they see me, a picture of me, right, Saying this, this, this. Well, we can't go with this guy.

[B]

So the mysterious deaths of female soldiers coincide with an increase in reported sexual violence against women in the military. In 1970, only 1% of the military was made up of females. While in 2011, this number jumped to about 15%. Nearly 200,000 in all. All. And as this number has grown, sexual assault cases have gone up 26% from 2007 to 2008 and another 33% the following year.

[A]

Now see, stats are interesting. Obviously the number is going to go up because there's more females to be sexually.

[B]

Percentages, right?

[A]

Is it percentages of those females or is it just numbers? Like, is it if this, if the. You know what I'm saying, If the number was 100 before and now it's 2, 200, you would expect that because there's more females to be sexually assaulted.

[B]

I'm pretty sure it's percentages based off of the numbers per capita is what I'd be looking for. So because a victim is in a vulnerable position in a far away country surrounded by violence and confusion in a war zone, there is an air of intimidation following a rape. So oftentimes the perpetrator may be a member of the victim's chain of command. So not to mention, when a victim dies in a violent area area, their death can often quickly and easily be brushed off as unsafe security, you know?

[A]

Yeah, because it's like 80 men and it's just like, well, we're just gonna do this, what we do, all of them.

[B]

So the point is, it's like you're going to report a sexual assault and the person you're reporting to could be your offender. You know, it's just a terrible situation. So Lavina's family have spent more than two decades fighting for answers about how she really died. Died. Whether it was a cover up or a botched investigation, something far darker because happened. Because we know that the official story just doesn't line up with the evidence. So at the time of her death, 19 year old Lavina Johnson had been thousands of miles away from home. She was bravely serving her country. She was a beautiful soul. She was loved by her family. She was a sister and a daughter. And she was someone that deserves the truth. Truth. When you learn about this case, it isn't only about whether you believe the official conclusion or not. It's about the fact that so many things were left unexplained things that if this was your child, you wouldn't be able to just accept and move on from. And if this can happen to Lavina Johnson, it can happen to anyone whose story becomes inconvenient. And that is a sad story of the death of Lavina Johnson.

[A]

It's really sad. Anytime there's people in power that just get away with stuff and then there's cover ups, those are the worst stories. I mean they're all so terrible. But this is, I just, I can't stand that kind of stuff. Because you want to believe people, you want to believe the people in charge are going to do good things, right? And help and. Yeah, but it's just not the case all the time, unfortunately. And the problem in the United States is that the military industrial complex is basically like 20% of our economy. Between like the money being spent and the jobs created and all the contractors that are involved, like there's all, there's so much money involved there and we spend, spend like double what China does or triple or it's some crazy number. You see the graph, like the US spends like trillions and then there's like China and Russia and whatever. Like it's a, it's an insane amount. Right. I get that there's like things are more expensive and I'm glad we have defense. And I love our people in the military, love, you know, heroes. I would not be able to do it, but man, there's just so much money involved there. That's why Congress won't chase after it because they know they have all their wheels greased by all these different contractors and people. People like if they start going after the military, then all that money is gone. Like it's all run by money. That's the thing, right?

[B]

And then that makes it that this is just going to continue to go on and this problem will continue to escalate.

[A]

This will never be changed, it'll never be fixed ever.

[B]

Which is just, it's disgusting to me.

[A]

It sucks. It's like you're sitting here, oh, somebody should do something about it. But nothing's going to be done. It sucks that like there's this horrible problem. Problem. Nothing will ever happen and it's like that's where we leave it. So.

[B]

Just terrible.

[A]

So sorry to Lavina's family. She sounded like an awesome young lady

[B]

and just a beautiful family. Just. Oh, it's just. Just devastating.

[A]

So sorry to have such a downer and just say that nothing's going to change. But I mean, maybe someday let's, let's have a little optimism, I guess, right? Maybe someday something will change us. The real, the real nice thing, I guess is there's more people that have opinions and can get things out there.

[B]

Spreading of information.

[A]

Yeah. It's not like ABC and NBC and Fox don't really matter. Like, you can get on TikTok and make a video right now. Like you listening to this. Just get on TikTok, open up a thing and start talking in like literally a million people could see your message and then I can spread, you know, I, I don't know. That's. It's. It's up to all of us to do that as a society.

[B]

Right. So anyway, thank you guys so much for being here with us. We appreciate each and every one of you for listening. If you're running out of regular content, we've got you covered. We do have bonus content available every single Wednesday day. If you head on over to Apple Subscriptions or Patreon, depending on your level of tier, you can get one as. As many as one a week.

[A]

Yeah, and we're just Little Manpa podcast. I'm PA and I'm. Yeah, so it's like supporting your local bakery, coffee shop little podcast. We're just a little corner podcast trying to make it in this crazy world.

[B]

So we're the Little Shop on the corner. Is it the Little Shop around the Corner?

[A]

Maybe a Little Shop of Horrors?

[B]

No, I think it's. Isn't that the little book shop that Meg Ryan had?

[A]

That's what it was.

[B]

Don't touch me and do not condescend.

[A]

Okay, folks, she needs a little rest, so we're going to put her down for a nap and then we'll be back and in.

[B]

Way to make it awkward, Mike.

[A]

I just, I don't know. It's your. Your deal is wrapping it up. I just sit here and look pretty.

[B]

One last thing. We hope you guys have a lovely week and take care of yourselves. There's a lot of heavy things happening in the world. Take some time instead of doom scrolling. Maybe like I mentioned to our bonus listeners, call up. Read a light hearted book.

[A]

Yeah, I don't color. What should I do?

[B]

Play a card game with your family?

[A]

Well, nobody plays with me. I bought a bunch of them. I have lots of them. I buy them. I continuously buy them. Just nobody plays with me.

[B]

Played with the kids the other day when they were all playing.

[A]

I was trying to and they didn't like want me to, so I don't know.

[B]

Well, we're old now, so.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But anyway, we will see you back on next Wednesday if you're a bonus listener. We'll be back on Wednesday?

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Did I say next Wednesday or did I say Sunday?

[A]

I don't know. Sundays and Wednesdays.

[B]

I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. So we're gonna go ahead and end this. And until next time, bye.

[A]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Pricing coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.