An Army soldier whose pregnant wife disappeared near the couple’s Hawaii home in July 2024 was sentenced this week to 23 years in prison for her murder, according to the Army.
In a Wheeler Army Airfield courtroom Tuesday, Pfc. Dewayne Arthur Johnson II, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday at a court-martial to killing Mischa Mabeline Kaalohilani Johnson, 19, and her unborn child last summer at the couple’s home on Schofield Barracks, an Army installation on Hawaii.
“Today as a result of the tremendous efforts from the prosecution team from the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel and 25th Infantry Division’s Office of the Staff Judge Advocate … the accused was sentenced to the statutory maximum amount of confinement for the killing,” said Lt. Col. Nicholas Hurd, prosecutor for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
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In August 2024, the service charged Johnson, a cavalry scout assigned to the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, with making false official statements, obstruction of justice and the production and distribution of child pornography.
As part of his plea agreement, the child pornography charges were dropped, and he instead accepted a 23-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and providing false official statements.
Johnson admitted to striking his six-month pregnant wife in the head with a machete after a heated argument at their home on July 12, 2024, according to the Army release.
He said he then dismembered her and his unborn child’s bodies with a chainsaw and drove their remains to a dumpster on Schofield Barracks.
Their bodies have not been found and are assumed to have been destroyed in the island’s trash incinerator, the release said.
Johnson reported his wife missing on July 31, 2024, and joined search parties spanning the island to look for her, the Army said.
But less than a month later, on August 27, 2024, authorities charged Johnson with Mischa Johnson’s murder, after finding blood, DNA and other forensic evidence in their home.
“After almost one year since Mischa Johnson last saw her family, I am relieved that the accused was held accountable for what he did to her and her unborn child in court today,” said Lt. Col. William Wicks, a prosecutor with the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Johnson will serve his time at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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