WELCH, ANTHONY W

DC Number:	E02957
Name:	WELCH, ANTHONY W
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Hair Color:	BROWN
Eye Color:	BROWN
Height:	5’10”
Weight:	163 lbs.
Birth Date:	04/18/1978
Initial Receipt Date:	03/08/2006
Current Facility:	FLORIDA STATE PRISON
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

 

---

Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County Case #00-44691

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Tonya Rainwater
• Attorney, Trial:  J. Randall Moore – 18th Circuit, Public Defender
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher S. Quarles – 7th Circuit, Public Defender
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

Date of Offense: 12/14/00

Date of Sentence: 03/07/06

Circumstances of Offense:

On 12/19/00, the bodies of Rufus Johnson, 69, and his wife, Kyoko Johnson, 62, were found in their home in Melbourne, Florida.  During the autopsies, the medical examiner found an unsigned extortion note in the shirt pocket of Kyoko Johnson. The note claimed that an unnamed employer hired the author to murder Rufus Johnson for $5,000.  The note outlined a plan for Mr. Johnson to retrieve funds from his bank while the author held Kyoko Johnson hostage.  If Rufus Johnson did not return in one hour, she would be killed.  The note confessed that the author did not want to hurt Rufus Johnson because of Johnson’s help in trying to save the life of the author’s brother.  This information led investigators to Anthony Welch whose brother, Ricky, had committed suicide years before.  Rufus Johnson had helped Anthony perform CPR.

Welch was arrested on 12/21/00 and confessed the same day to both murders and to stealing property from the Johnsons’ home.

Trial Summary:

01/09/01          Indicted as follows:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder (Kyoko Johnson)

Count II:         First-Degree Murder (Rufus Johnson)

Count III:        Robbery with a Deadly Weapon

Count IV:        Trafficking Stolen Property

Count V:         Grand Theft Motor Vehicle

01/07/05          Defendant entered guilty plea; court proceeds to penalty phase.

11/21/05          Jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0.

03/07/06          Sentenced as follows:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder (Kyoko Johnson) – Death

Count II:         First-Degree Murder (Rufus Johnson) – Death

Count III:        Robbery with a Deadly Weapon – Life

Count IV:        Trafficking Stolen Property – 15 Years

Count V:         Grand Theft Motor Vehicle – 5 Years

Advertisement