In the early morning hours of October 25, 2016, the quiet of a Whitewater, Wisconsin neighborhood was shattered by a tragic event. Inside his home on West Peck Street, Kenneth Myszkewicz, a 43-year-old Caucasian male, was found dead. His wife was awakened by a loud "thud" and initially thought her husband had fallen down the stairs. When she went to check on him, she found him unresponsive in his office.
Believing he had hit his head, she called 911 for what was described as an unknown medical emergency.
Upon their arrival shortly before 2:30 a.m., police discovered a scene that suggested something far more sinister than a simple fall. A. 40 caliber shell casing found in the hallway pointed towards a violent struggle. It was soon determined that Kenneth Myszkewicz had not fallen but had been shot multiple times, with wounds to his arm, chest, and back. The Walworth County Medical Examiner pronounced him dead at the scene. The investigation quickly shifted from a medical emergency to a homicide.
The focus of the investigation soon turned to Alan Johnson, the 31-year-old brother of Myszkewicz's wife. In initial interviews with police, Johnson denied any knowledge of how his brother-in-law had died. However, the truth began to unravel later that same day. Johnson’s father, a retired police officer, became suspicious and checked his ammunition, noticing that some rounds were missing. He turned over his. 40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol to the authorities. The turning point came when Johnson's father called detectives to his son's home. As they entered, Alan Johnson stood up and confessed, "Arrest me. I killed him."
Johnson was taken into custody and charged with first-degree intentional homicide and use of a dangerous weapon. His confession revealed a premeditated plan to kill Myszkewicz with his father's gun, after which he had intended to take his own life. The motive appeared to be rooted in deep-seated family tensions. Johnson alleged a history of abuse by Myszkewicz and claimed to have previously found what he believed to be inappropriate materials on his brother-in-law's computer. On the night of the murder, Johnson had entered the home to search the computer again when he was discovered by Myszkewicz, leading to the fatal confrontation. In 2017, a jury convicted Johnson of first-degree reckless homicide, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, in a later appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the jury should have been given instructions on self-defense, granting Alan Johnson a new trial.
