3 details about Debra Johnson's murder

West Tennessee State Penitentiary corrections administrator Debra Johnson, 64, was found strangled at her home on the prison grounds while investigators searched for a missing inmate named Curtis Ray Watson, a convict with a violent history. They believed he escaped the facility on a tractor and, while doing so, r*ped and murdered Johnson.

An episode of ID's See No Evil, titled Prison Break, follows the events that led to Debra Johnson's murder by an escapee inmate from the facility where she served as a corrections officer.

The synopsis for the episode, which recently aired on the channel, says:

"An escaped inmate murders Debra Johnson, a highly respected Correctional Administrator, at her home outside the prison; with the public at risk, police scour through surveillance footage for clues to hunt him down before he strikes again."

As per sources, Watson was serving a 15-year sentence and had briefly interacted with Johnson. He was arrested in Henning, Tennessee, after a five-day manhunt and charged with multiple counts in connection with the murder of the officer and his escape from the prison.

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Debra Johnson's murder: A violent inmate, his vicious plan to murder before making a grand escape, and other details from the case

1) Johnson's body was found shortly after inmate Curtis Ray Watson went missing

According to The New York Times, Watson drove away on the tractor sometime between 9 and 10 am on August 7, 2019.

A Commercial Appeal report states that during a search for Watson, a corrections officer even noticed a golf cart that the missing inmate had access to near Debra Johnson's house. The officer then approached her house and knocked on the door, but left when there was no response.

Johnson's body was found at 11:30 that same morning and was pronounced dead ten minutes later. As per statements from other inmates, the victim and Watson had briefly interacted previously and the latter told another inmate that Johnson wanted to have s*x with him.

That same day, Watson was released from prison for a work assignment on mowing lawns in the morning hours.

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2) Debra Johnson was r*ped and strangled

Johnson's body was found shortly before noon on August 7. She reportedly had ligature marks and a cord wrapped around her neck at the time of the discovery. A subsequent autopsy determined that she died of strangulation and was also s*xually assaulted by Curtis Ray Watson.

Later, DNA samples taken from the crime scene were used to place Watson at the crime scene.

At the time, Watson, 45, was serving time at the facility on aggravated kidnapping and assault charges from a 2012 attack on his wife. He was serving a 15-year sentence and reportedly had access to a golf car and a tractor while working on the land-mowing. He allegedly used the tractor to drive away from the prison grounds, which was found abandoned at least a mile away.

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3) Curtis Ray Watson was arrested after a five-day manhunt and charged

Watson was arrested after he emerged from a soyfield and surrendered to authorities searching for him in Henning, Tennessee on August 11, after a five-day manhunt. He was arrested in the morning hours by two officers, Ashley Bird, a correctional officer, and Jessica Brown, a probation/parole officer.

Reports state that the arrest was made after couple Harvey and Ann Taylor's security system woke them up, alerting them that someone was behind their home on Graves Avenue. They immediately recognized the man and called 911. Within a half-hour, law enforcement started conducting both ground and aerial searches in the area.

He was initially charged with 15 counts in connection with the prison break and Debra Johnson's murder, including pre-meditated murder, r*pe, and kidnapping.

He reportedly pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in the perpetration of a r*pe and aggravated r*pe, and pleaded guilty to seven additional charges, which included aggravated burglary and escape.