BENTONVILLE — A Garfield man is fit to stand trial on murder and robbery charges in connection with the deaths of his mother and grandmother, Circuit Judge Robin Green ruled Monday.
Nicholas Johansen, 21, is charged with two counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. He is accused of killing his mother, Christina Bishop, and his grandmother, Louise Bishop, 81. Johansen is being held without bond in the Benton County Jail and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Johansen was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation at the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock. Prosecuting Attorney Van Stone requested the evaluation to rebut or confirm findings from tests performed by Miami neurologist Barry Crown for the defense. Green found Johansen fit to stand trial as result of the State Hospital evaluation.
At A Glance
The Charges
Nicholas Johansen faces life imprisonment or a death sentence if convicted of capital murder. He could be sentenced from 10 to 40 years in prison or life imprisonment on each of the aggravated robbery charges.
Source: Staff Report
Documents related to the evaluation were sealed by the court. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 7, and a suppression hearing is slated to begin Jan. 24.
Michael Shane Winters, Johansen’s co-defendant, was found guilty in November 2011 on the same charges Johansen faces. Winters was sentenced to life in prison and is incarcerated at the Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Police believe the two women were killed June 18, 2009, at their Bentonville home on Southeast J Street. The Bishops were reported missing June 21, 2009. They were last seen at Sam’s Club in Bentonville, according to court documents.
Their bodies were found Feb. 16, 2010, in a grave at 15226 Sugar Creek Road, between Garfield and Avoca, according court documents.
Susan Martin, Winters’ former girlfriend and Johansen’s half-sister, testified during Winters’ trial the murder plot began as a scheme to get bond money to get her out of the county jail, but the robbery turned into a plan to murder the women.
John Johansen, Nicholas Johansen’s brother and Martin’s half-brother, testified during Winters’ trial he and Martin were aware of the plan to kill the women, but did nothing to prevent the murders. Martin and John Johansen said they were aware Winters and Nicholas Johansen dug a hole for the bodies before they went to the Bishop home and murdered the women.