BEDFORD – Bedford Police arrested 50-year-old Julie Johnson, of Bloomfield, on Wednesday on charges of auto theft, two counts of theft, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
According to a probable cause affidavit, after receiving a tip that a woman wanted on a warrant in Greene County was seen at Dairyland on Lincoln Avenue, officers responded and arrested Johnson.
While speaking with Johnson, she told the officers her boyfriend had just died at a home at 1313 4th street in Bedford. At this point, an officer requested an ambulance to the home and found the deceased male.
An officer noted “the male appeared to have been deceased for quite some time” in the affidavit report.
The officer found fresh soap suds in the kitchen sink inside the residence. Outside the residence grocery items were seen on the sidewalk and ground leading from the house, as if they were being carried to a vehicle.
Officers then attempted to gather medical history on the deceased male but were unsuccessful.
A neighbor reported last seeing the deceased male early Tuesday morning, the day prior.
Johnson was transported to the police station for questioning and the vehicle she was driving was towed from Dairyland.
Officers were able to see multiple household items in the vehicle.
During questioning, Johnson told officers her boyfriend had been diagnosed with prostate cancer by an unknown doctor at the VA hospital in Indianapolis. An autopsy was performed at the Lawrence County Coroner’s Office by Dr. Jacobi. He noted cancer, coronary issues, and pneumonia as likely contributing factors to the man’s death. Toxicology results are pending.
Johnson told investigators her boyfriend went to bed around 9 p.m. on Tuesday and approximately an hour later, she joined him. She woke around 11 p.m. and found his eyes open and he was cold to the touch. Due to her charges in Greene County, she told officers she was not allowed by the male’s hospice caretakers to stay with the male. She said she got scared and didn’t call the police or an ambulance because she knew she was wanted on a warrant, but she had planned on turning herself in.
Police found in the vehicle the man’s phone, television, walker, microwave, food, pots and pans, and several other personal property items from the man’s home. Inside her purse, police found four Fentanyl patches, a bag containing marijuana, and a glass smoking device.
She told the police she took the items because she did not want other people to take them.
She planned to travel to Greene County to her brother’s home and then call the police to report her boyfriend had passed away.
