The harrowing 911 call from the son of a Utah couple who found their bullet-ridden bodies has shed some light on what may have led up to the murder-suicide.
An audio recording of the eight-minute call obtained by ABC4 reveals that one of Olin and Kerilyn Johnson’s six children immediately suspected his father had shot dead his mother before killing himself.
“I think my dad killed my mom, but then he killed himself,” the unidentified son told a 911 dispatcher on June 20 at around 12:40 p.m.
“Are they beyond help?” the dispatcher calmly replied.
“I — yeah. Yes,” the shocked son answered, before telling the dispatcher there was a gun in the home.
Olin, 57, is suspected of shooting and killing his wife Kerilyn, 52, before turning the gun on himself inside their $1.34 million home in American Fork.
Investigators classified the deaths as a murder-suicide the next day.
“Have they been violent? Do they have a history of fighting or?” the dispatcher asked.
“No, but there’s been a lot of drama recently in the household. Just within the past four days,” the son answers.
He didn’t expand on what he meant by drama but said his father had served time for some kind of domestic dispute in the past.
“There was one instance of like a year or two ago that I think my mom, I don’t know, my dad was chucking stuff around the house. He had a — he went to jail for a little bit, but nothing, like, I don’t think like contact physically,” he said on the call.
The Mormon couple met in a college bookstore and had been married 32 years as of April. The dad proudly shared photos of his wife and kids on his social media pages.
But a couple days before the tragedy, Olin wrote a potentially worrisome caption next to a pic of himself on a motorcycle.
“No matter how crappy a person I am, motorcycles always love me back. Oh and skiing. Skiing loves me too,” Olin’s post on June 18 read alongside pictures of him riding his bike and skiing.
Two of his kids dispute his claims of being a “crappy person” in the comments.
Police have not revealed a motive in the shooting and are continuing their investigation.
Olin’s obituary described him as “always calm, thoughtful, kid and professional” with a “compassion for those in need” and a “constant source of calm and strength to his family.”
“As we cope with immense sorrow, mourning the loss of Kerilyn, our beautiful mother, daughter, and sister, we also mourn for Olin, despite his actions,” the joint obituaries state. “We are overwhelmed with love and support from the community and express our deepest appreciation and gratitude. If you or someone you love is in crisis, please reach out for help.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
