Victim June Johnson well-known, liked in neighbourhood By: Tyler Searle Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

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This article was published 17/05/2023 (885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents of a Manitoba Housing complex were taken aback to learn a woman who had often couch-surfed there, and was known as kind and friendly, had been identified as the homicide victim whose remains were found near the Red River last month.

“She was always nice and polite,” said Nick Herda, a friend of June Christine Johnson. “She was a very outgoing and nice person.”

Herda, and roughly a dozen other residents, were outside the 55-plus high-rise at 515 Elgin Ave. Wednesday afternoon when they learned police had publicly named Johnson as the victim.

Police identify slaying victim whose remains found along Red

Nearly every person said they were familiar with the 40-year-old woman, who was known to stay in different apartments multiple times a week.

Residents said the high-rise is a hub of criminal activity, and vulnerable people are often exploited there.

Johnson was frequently seen at a nearby Tim Hortons, where Herda said he met her and the two became friends.

He believed she was suffering from addiction and did not have stable housing. She would hang around the coffee shop in the hopes of meeting friends or collecting money, he said.

The manager at the business confirmed Johnson visited the coffee shop several times a day, and was known to mingle with patrons. Her behaviour was sometimes erratic, but she was friendly, the woman said.

In winter, Johnson would visit Herda in his apartment to get out of the cold.

“She just stayed for a couple hours and warm up, and then go back to the street to make some money,” he said, adding he worried about her being alone in the neighbourhood.

While the area is relatively safe during the day, it transforms at night. Residents know to stay inside after dark, or travel together if they leave, he said.

Winnipeg Police Service data show the Centennial neighbourhood logged 107 violent crimes last year.

Herda hadn’t seen Johnson in recent months and hoped she may have found a permanent place to stay, or improved the circumstances of her life, he said.

Police said Johnson was last seen downtown in early February.

When Herda saw her photo Wednesday, he gasped.

“It’s such a shock,” he said. “She was always paranoid that someone was following her, or she was going to get attacked or something. Finally, it did happen.”

Michaela Moar said Johnson was probably smiling the last time they saw each other.

“She was an outgoing, bubbly woman. She was always trying to smile, even in hardship,” said Moar, a volunteer with Sabe Peace Walkers who had met Johnson several times during community patrols.

Like Herda, Moar took notice when she stopped seeing Johnson several months ago, but was hopeful she was working on herself.

“There were times we sat and talked a little bit about her situation and what was going on in her life,” she said, speaking by phone. “She was homeless and trying to figure stuff out. She wanted to get back on her feet.”

Johnson often spoke about her family, and would display her C-section scar, saying she was a proud mother, Moar said.

When police held a news conference April 18 to appeal for tips, they provided a description of the then-unidentified victim, who had no upper or lower teeth, a C-section scar and double-pierced ears.

“She was an outgoing, bubbly woman. She was always trying to smile, even in hardship.”–Michaela Moar

Moar never suspected Johnson had been a victim of foul play, but later realized there had been signs.

“The way they described her, with short hair, a scar and missing teeth,” Moar said. “By the time I figured out it could be her, it was in the news; It was hindsight.”

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.