Identity
In the 1930s the initial investigation about the identity of Albert Johnson primarily focused on an obscure individual named Arthur Nelson. Details of Nelson's life are recorded by Yukon researcher and author Richard North. Nelson apparently travelled from Dease Lake, British Columbia up into the Yukon in the 1927 to 1931 period. He had similar guns (a Savage M99 .300 lever action rifle and a .22) as Albert Johnson. Nelson is also remembered by Kaska elders Art John Sr. and others who knew him by the alias "Mickey Nelson" when he trapped and prospected in west central Yukon; Ross River region. Yukon author Dick North published his theory that Albert Johnson, Arthur Nelson, and John Johnson from North Dakota were one and the same person in his 1989 book "Trackdown". John Johnson did time in San Quentin and Folsom Prison and his physical description is well documented. North traced John Johnson's identity back to Norway. "Johnny Johnson" was born Johan Konrad Jonsen (1898) in Bardu, Northern Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. Recently DNA tests have ruled out the Johnny Johnson theory.
The Johnston family of Pictou, Nova Scotia have long believed that Albert Johnson is actually Owen Albert Johnston, a relative who had left Pictou at the beginning of the depression to find work in the United States. The family's last letter from Johnston was posted from Revelstoke, British Columbia early in 1931. They never heard from him again. According to the radio interview a relative was arranging for DNA tests.
Previous theories were challenged with the release of Mark Fremmerlid's "What Became of Sigvald Anyway" book. He proposed too many coincidences to ignore the possibility of Sigvald Pedersen Haaskjold from Norway emerging as Albert Johnson. Sigvald was last known as a highly self sufficient 32 year old in 1927, 4½ years before the chase and death of Albert Johnson, who was estimated between 35 and 40 years. Sigvald had become obsessed with the notion that the authorities were still looking for him after evading conscription during the First World War. He had built a fortress like cabin on Digby Island on the north coast of B.C. before disappearing. This author points out circumstantial evidence for this case. This theory, along with the others tested, was 100 percent excluded through DNA testing.
In 2009 a televised exhumation of Johnson's corpse was aired in which DNA comparisons were made to confirm Johnson's identity. A forensic team sponsored by the Discovery Channel exhumed Johnson's body on August 11, 2007 and conducted forensic tests on his remains before re-interring it in an attempt to confirm his true identity conclusively. All candidates tested against were eventually excluded with 100 percent certainty. By analyzing isotopes in Johnson's teeth, it was determined that Johnson was not Canadian but likely grew up in the corn belt of midwest America or possibly Scandinavia. It was also reported that he was aged in his 30s when he died.
Read more about this topic: Albert Johnson (criminal)
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