‘Hell on Earth’: Idaho prisoner sentenced for beating cellmate to death

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Hallie Johnson used to watch crime shows with her husband, where they’d debate whether the accused killer should face the death penalty. Her husband argued for a life sentence, saying they should have to stew. Prison was the punishment, he would tell her, while she favored execution.

Then her brother was killed.

Milo Warnock was incarcerated at the Idaho State Correctional Center, a minimum and medium security prison for driving under the influence, but was moved to restrictive housing for hiding medication, his family previously told the Idaho Statesman; the Warnocks said he was saving it for the morning because it was keeping him awake. There, he roomed with 33-year-old James Johnson, who beat him to death in December 2023.

Faced with the reality of losing a loved one, Hallie Johnson said she didn’t want to see Johnson killed.

“I’ve surprised myself by not wanting terrible things for this person who murdered my brother heinously,” Hallie said in an interview Friday at the Ada County Courthouse.

“You have to put aside all of your desire for retribution and spite, and think about what’s the best thing for the community as a whole,” Hallie told the Statesman. “That might be, in a lot of cases, treatment, and love, and kindness, and the things that make people better.”

Fourth Judicial District Judge Nancy Baskin sentenced James Johnson to life in prison Friday, with the possibility of parole after 35 years. That’s if he’s able to stay out of trouble and seek the rehabilitation advised by not only Baskin but his own attorney.

James Johnson’s public defender, Amy Smith, argued during the sentencing that her client’s childhood trauma and untreated mental illness led him to “snap” and kill Warnock. She asked that he receive a minimum of 15 years in prison, with an additional 25 years he could spend in prison, on parole or both.

“That is the only thing that can explain why they were friends up until a moment that happened, and then all of a sudden, at the next count, Milo was killed in a brutal and senseless way,” Smith said. “This is not the work of a cognizant individual who planned a murder.”

James Johnson disputed that. In an over 15-minute-long rambling statement, which was at times incomprehensible, he denied any claim that he was mentally ill or that his abusive childhood factored into his mindset.

“All I’m saying is, you can’t paint a picture and say call it a mental illness,” he said. “I’m telling right now. The facts are, I killed Milo, and I regret it.”

James Johnson was serving a five-year sentence for fraud and grand theft and was scheduled to be released in February. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January, and as a part of the plea deal, the prosecution agreed to dismiss an additional felony against him for destruction of evidence.

Hallie Johnson told the Statesman she hoped James Johnson found his purpose in life. The decades Johnson would spend in prison won’t be the punishment for the “goodness he’s stolen,” she said, but she hoped he found the strength and maturity to “tame his demons” and give kindness to others.

“This is how he will repay me for what he had no right to take,” she said in court.

Warnock’s family filed tort against IDOC

Warnock’s family remembered him as a talented working man who had a good heart. His parents also spoke during the sentencing and in their statements expressed the pain of losing their son and anger with the Idaho Department of Correction for housing their him with James Johnson.

His family has filed a nearly $500,000 tort claim against the Idaho Department of Correction, its private medical provider and several employees. They have until December 2025 to file a lawsuit. Kathy Warnock, his mother, said he didn’t stand a chance.

Milo spent his last hours in anguish as James threatened him, and died in the “presence of evil, in that evil place,” Kathy said, referring to the prison. “No one in that hell on Earth had enough humanity to help him,” she said in court. “James committed the ultimate act of violence, but as bad as he is, he’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Milo’s father, Mike Warnock, said his son ended up being James’ cellmate because of “incompetent prison management.”

Hallie Johnson said James Johnson robbed her and her siblings of a brother, her parents of a son, her nephew of a father, and her son of an uncle. She told the Statesman that it “really hurts” to lose a loved one, and she couldn’t reconcile seeking the death penalty against someone who also has family that loves him.

“James had family here today,” she said. “He has people who care about him and love him. I can’t reconcile how I could say, ‘You killed my brother. Murder is wrong. You should die.’”

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