Bemidji Woman Sentenced to 28 Years in Prison for Murder of Brother-in-Law

Janelle Johnson
Credit: Beltrami County Jail

A Bemidji woman has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for felony second-degree intentional murder.

Court documents state Janelle Johnson, 38, is sentenced to 343 months at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee for the December 2020 murder of Jesse Farris. Johnson does have 74 days of credit for time served. This sentencing comes after a nearly two-week trial in March.

A May 22 notice of motion and motion from Johnson’s attorney states that Johnson wanted to stop Farris’ alleged emotional, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse of his wife and her sister, Justina Farris. Justina reportedly discouraged Johnson and Austin, her husband, from intervening in the conflict on December 24, 2020.

Court documents state Johnson ended up going to Farris’ home in Northern Township on December 25, 2020, wherein a physical altercation happened. At one point, Johnson took out a gun and shot the victim three times. Johnson and her husband then left the scene and reported the incident to law enforcement.

Johnson was found guilty of felony second degree intentional murder on March 23 of this year. Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Daniel Vlieger assisted in securing the verdict along with the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office.