Johnson caught
Murder suspect's rrest brings some closure to victims' families

By Independent Staff
and The Associated Press

HOGBACK — After months of waiting, family members of three people who were shot execution-style on the Navajo Nation in November 2005 had some good news delivered to them this Christmas.

The FBI caught up with Michael Johnson, 27, of Shiprock, in Mexico on Saturday. He was the last of four people to be arrested in the slaying of Bobby Wayne Fulton, 22; Lars Yazzie, 18; and Vicki Benally, 26.

Although the pain of losing their loved ones hasn't diminished, Yazzie and Fulton's family members say they were relieved to hear of Johnson's arrest.

"It's more than a Christmas present," said Fulton's 22-year-old brother, Earl Fulton.

Last Christmas, Fulton's mother said the holiday was tainted by the loss of her son and by the thought that one of his suspected killers wasn't behind bars.

"We were wondering how many years it would take for him to get caught," Marilyn Fulton said. "Every single night I think about my Bobby. It's really hard."

Yazzie's sister, Melissa Simpson, 26, of Farmington, said Christmas for her family is no longer the same.

"This is how were spending our Christmas now at the cemetery. We don't put up trees or anything anymore. This is what they did to us," she said.

Last year, police arrested Darcus Manus, 22, of Shiprock; Chuck Nahkai, 29, of Beclabito; and Eugina Cowboy, 22, of Shiprock.

They, along with Johnson, have been charged with first-degree murder, firing a weapon to further a violent crime, aiding and abetting the commission of offense against the U.S. and distributing a controlled substance on the Navajo Nation.

Johnson will be taken before a federal magistrate in El Paso, Texas, today for his initial appearance, according to a release rom the FBI's Albuquerque office.

Authorities have said all of the victims appeared to have been shot at close range inside their car, which was parked along a dirt road near the Hogback chapter house.

"Over the past year, special agents of the FBI's Albuquerque and El Paso divisions, as well as the FBI's legal attache in Mexico City had worked tirelessly with Mexican law enforcement authorities to in an attempt to locate and apprehend Johnson," stated a release from Thomas C. McClenaghan, a special agent in charge of the FBI's Albuquerque division.

The pain is still there, but family members say Johnson's capture has brought some sense of closure.

"From here on, we can try to put our lives back together," Marilyn Fulton said.