Murder of Ronald Johnson

On April 12, 2011, at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, 63-year-old corrections officer Ronald Johnson was attacked and murdered by two inmates who were in the midst of a prison escape. They were later apprehended by other correctional officers while attempting to disguise themselves. The two prisoners, Eric Robert and Rodney Berget, were charged with murdering Johnson and were sentenced to death by the courts of South Dakota. Robert, who waived his right to appeal, was executed on October 15, 2012, while Berget, whose brother was sentenced to death in Oklahoma in 1987, was executed six years later on October 29, 2018, after also ending his appeals. A third prisoner, Michael Nordman, who provided the murder weapons, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to his role in the murder.

Murder

On the morning of April 12, 2011, the day of his 63rd birthday, corrections officer Ronald (RJ) Johnson, who had been on the job for 23 years and was close to retiring, was working in one of the two Pheasantland Industries (PI 1) shop buildings which are state owned, but private operated and located within the prison compound of South Dakota State Penitentiary, where inmates work on upholstery, printing, signs, furniture, and other projects. Johnson, who was alone in the shop, was attacked by two prisoners, Eric Robert and Rodney Berget, who bludgeoned Johnson severely with a pipe, and wrapped his head in plastic wrap. The attack on Johnson resulted in his death; an autopsy result revealed that Johnson suffered at least three fatal head wounds and multiple fractures to his hands and arms, which were consistent with defensive injuries.

At that time, Berget was serving two life sentences for kidnapping and attempted murder, while Robert was serving a sentence of 80 years for kidnapping. Both men, classified as maximum-security inmates, plotted to escape from prison since August 2010.