A soldier stationed in Hawaii admitted to killing and dismembering his pregnant wife in July 2024, Army officials said.
Pfc. Dewayne Arthur Johnson II pleaded guilty during a court-martial in Hawaii to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in connection with the deaths of his wife, Mischa Johnson, and unborn child, according to a June 5 news release from the Army.
Pfc. Johnson was ordered by a military judge to serve 23 years behind bars, which is the maximum, officials said. The 29-year-old also is to be reduced in rank and dishonorably discharged, according to officials.
Mischa Johnson was six months pregnant when she was reported missing last summer from Oahu’s Schofield Barracks, McClatchy News previously reported.
In February, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel referred several charges and specifications against Pfc. Johnson, according to a news release at the time. That meant he was headed toward a military trial.
Under his plea agreement, the cavalry scout “admitted to killing his wife and unborn child in the heat of passion by striking (his wife) in the head with a machete,” officials said. The couple had been fighting, “and then things escalated to violence,” according to officials.
Pfc. Johnson “also provided specific details of his actions following their deaths, to include dismembering the bodies with a chainsaw and then using his car to transport the remains to a dumpster on Schofield Barracks,” according to officials.
The remains “have never been found and are presumed to have been transported to the island’s trash incinerator,” officials said.
Pfc. Johnson reported his wife missing about two weeks after he killed her, officials said, “and (he) even participated with community search parties that spanned the island to look for her.”
He was linked to the killing through DNA, blood and other evidence in their home, according to officials.
Pfc. Johnson apologized during court proceedings, saying, “My wife didn’t deserve that. She wasn’t trash,” Hawaii News Now reported.
He also said that, “I failed as a husband. I failed as a father and I failed as a man. … I’ll forever be sorry,” per the outlet.
Pfc. Johnson will serve his prison time at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, officials said.
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