In the autumn of 1972, Roger E. Geller, a 50-year-old male cook, was looking forward to a new chapter in his life. He had recently left his job in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and was making final preparations to move back to his home state of Nebraska. His plans were abruptly and brutally ended on the night of September 26, when a transient man forced his way into Geller's hotel room, ending his life for the contents of his wallet.
The following day, a hotel maid discovered Mr.
Geller's body in the room. An investigation quickly determined he had been the victim of a violent homicide. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation, and it was evident he had also been severely beaten on the head. The motive appeared to be robbery, as Geller's wallet and money were missing. The crime sent a shock through the community, a senseless act of violence against a man who was simply on the verge of returning home.
Suspicion quickly fell upon Alvin Johnson, a 28-year-old transient laborer with a troubled past. Johnson, one of 14 children born to poor tenant farmers in Texas, had a history of drifting across the country. His childhood was marked by a severe head injury from an axe handle that reportedly led to bouts of amnesia and dizziness. He was arrested just one day after Roger Geller's murder and charged with the crime.
While awaiting trial in the city jail, Johnson and another inmate attempted a daring escape on January 1, 1973. They managed to lock a jailer in a closet and overpower another officer, but Johnson was shot in the shoulder during the struggle. The two escapees fled in a patrol car but were recaptured within hours. Following this incident, Johnson was tried for the killing of Roger Geller. He was ultimately convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
After serving his sentence, Johnson was released in early 1983. His freedom was short-lived and marked by further violence. That same year, he and an accomplice, Wilbur Lee Jennings, were responsible for the rape and murder of 76-year-old Clarice Reinke in Fresno, California. A few months later, in August 1983, Johnson kidnapped a Texas couple in Salt Lake City, Utah, and murdered the 38-year-old husband, James M. Clark.
Following the Utah murder, Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder and rape and sentenced to life in prison. He would never be a free man again. Years later, while Johnson was still incarcerated, DNA evidence definitively linked him and Jennings to the 1983 murder of Clarice Reinke. Though he was never formally charged in that case due to his life sentence, the evidence confirmed his status as a serial killer responsible for at least three lives. Alvin Johnson died in the Utah State Prison on May 21, 2016, closing the final chapter on his violent history. Roger Geller was his first known victim, a man whose plans to return home were stolen in a random act of brutality.
