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Background

Vincent Johnson was born on January 6th, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. He was in foster care at one point or another in his youth, but other than that, not much is known about his childhood.

As an adult, he had a violent relationship with a girlfriend that lasted until 1995.

By 1999, he was 30 years old, addicted to crack cocaine, and living on the street. He had several minor offenses up to that point, but he escalated to murder on August 26th.

Murders

He strangled 26-year-old Vivian Caraballo and left her in an elevator room. He killed 35-year-old Joanne Feliciano the same way on September 16th, then left her on the roof of a building.

Nine days later, 21-year-old Rhoda Tucker was killed in her apartment.

Johnson took a little break for the holidays but restarted his killing spree on February 21st, 2000, when he strangled 43-year-old Laura Nusser. Her body was left under a bridge in a utility room.

On June 7th, 2000, 49-year-old Patricia Sullivan was killed and left on an empty piece of land.

As Johnson killed woman after woman, police were investigating several homeless men in Brooklyn who were known for associating with sex workers.

They zeroed in on one guy, but DNA excluded him. The man went from suspect to informant, and he pointed out a man he smoked crack with who seemed obsessed with rough and violent sex. It was 31-year-old Johnson.

The next time the informant saw Johnson, he called the police. They showed up and took Johnson in for questioning. Detectives asked him to submit a DNA sample, but he refused. He was released due to a lack of evidence.

After leaving the police station, Johnson made the mistake of spitting into a cup and abandoning it. One of the investigators grabbed the cup and had Johnson’s saliva tested. It matched the evidence found on the four victims.

Arrest and Confession

He was arrested on August 5th, 2000. He confessed to the murders of five women. He reportedly had sex with at least three of the women before killing them.

Police pressed him about the October 4th, 1999, strangulation murder of 34-year-old Katrina Niles. But Johnson denied involvement in her death.

Johnson told authorities he committed his crimes out of hatred for his mother.

When speaking about his last victim, Patricia Sullivan, he said,

“We smoked her crack, then we had sex, then I smoked my crack. The thoughts of my childhood and foster care and mom came into my mind,”

“I was someone different. I wasn’t the same person. I didn’t see strangling her as doing something wrong at the time. I didn’t realize what I had done until after the crack had wore off an hour later.”

Conviction

He pleaded guilty to five murders in exchange for a life without parole sentence.

The 5-foot 4-inch 130-pound monster is serving a life without parole sentence in Wende Correction.