Albert Johnson (criminal) - Manhunt

Manhunt

Albert Johnson arrived in Fort McPherson after coming down the Peel River on July 9, 1931. He was questioned by RCMP constable Edgar Millen, but provided little information. Millen thought he had a Scandinavian accent, generally kept himself clean shaven, and seemed to have plenty of money for supplies. After venturing the waterways in a native-built raft to the Mackenzie River delta, he built a small 8 ft × 10 ft (2.4 m × 3.0 m) cabin on the banks of the Rat River. Johnson had not acquired a trapping license, which was considered odd for someone living in the bush. At that time many northern native traditional trapping areas were being invaded by outsiders fleeing the Great Depression and some complaints may have been intended to remove him.

In December, one of the native trappers complained to the local RCMP detachment in Aklavik that someone was tampering with his traps, tripping them and hanging them on the trees. He identified Johnson as the likely culprit. On December 26, Constable Alfred King and Special Constable Joe Bernard, each of whom had considerable northern experience, trekked the 60 miles (97 km) to Johnson's cabin to ask him about the allegations. Seeing smoke coming from the chimney, they approached the hut to talk. Johnson refused to talk to them however, seeming to not even notice them. King looked into the cabin window, at which point Johnson placed a sack across it. The two constables eventually decided to return to Aklavik and get a search warrant.

King and Bernard returned five days later with two other men. Johnson again refused to talk and eventually King decided to enforce the warrant and force the door. As soon as he began, Johnson shot him through the wooden door. A brief firefight broke out, and the team managed to return the wounded King to Aklavik where he eventually recovered.

A posse was then formed consisting of nine men, 42 dogs and 20 lb (9.1 kg) of dynamite which they intended to use to blast Johnson out of the cabin if necessary. After surrounding the cabin they thawed the dynamite inside their coats, eventually building a single charge and tossing it into the cabin. After the explosion collapsed the building, the men tried to rush in. Johnson opened fire from the five-foot dugout beneath the ruins. No one was hit, and after a 15-hour standoff (ending at 4:00 A.M.) in the −40 °C (−40 °F) weather, the posse retreated to Aklavik for further assistance.

By this point, the news had filtered out to the rest of the world via radio. After being delayed because of blizzard conditions, the reinforced posse returned on January 14 to find that Johnson had left the cabin and they struck out after him. Eventually, they caught up with him on January 30, surrounding him in a thicket. In the ensuing firefight, Johnson shot Constable Edgar Millen through the heart, killing him. Once again they fell into retreat. The posse continued to grow, enlisting local Inuit and Gwich’in who were better able to move in the back country. Johnson had clearly decided to leave for the Yukon, but the RCMP blocked the only two passes over the Richardson Mountains. That did not stop Johnson, who climbed a 7,000 ft (2,100 m) peak and once again disappeared. This was only discovered when the airplane saw his tracks on the far side of the mountains.

Wop May was hired by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to hunt Albert Johnson from the air

In desperation, the RCMP hired Wop May to help in the hunt by scouting the area from the air. He arrived in his new ski-equipped Bellanca monoplane on February 5. On February 14, he discovered the tactic Johnson had been using to elude his followers. He noticed a set of footprints leading off the centre of the frozen surface of the Eagle River to the bank. Johnson had been following the caribou tracks in the middle of the river, where they walked in order to give them better visibility of approaching predators. Walking in their tracks had hidden his footprints and allowed him to travel quickly on the compacted snow without having to use his snowshoes. He left the trail only at night to make camp on the river bank, which is the track May had spotted. May radioed back his findings and the RCMP gave chase up the river, eventually being directed to Johnson by February 17.

The pursuit team rounded a bend in the river to find Johnson only a few hundred yards in front of them. Johnson attempted to run for the bank, but did not have his snowshoes on and could not make it. A firefight broke out in which one RCMP officer was seriously wounded and Johnson was eventually killed after being shot in the left side of the pelvis at an acute angle. It is believed that the bullet passed through important tissues, bowels, and main arteries, which caused his death. May landed, picked up the officer and flew him to help for which he was credited with saving his life.

After Johnson's death, RCMP officials realized that he had traveled over 85 miles away from his cabin in less than 3 days, burning approximately 10,000 calories a day. Seventy-five years later in 2007, forensics teams found that his tailbone was not actually symmetrical, causing his spine to curve left and right slightly. In addition, one foot was longer than other.

An examination of Johnson's body yielded over $2,000 in both American and Canadian currency as well as some gold, a pocket compass, a razor, a knife, fish hooks, nails, a dead squirrel, a dead bird, a large quantity of Beecham's Pills and teeth with gold fillings that were believed to be his. During the entire chase, the Mounties had never heard Johnson utter a single word. The only thing they heard was Johnson's laugh after he shot Constable Edgar Millen. To this day people debate who he was, why he moved to the Arctic, or if he was actually responsible for interfering with the trap lines as alleged.