Johnson awaits next court hearing in St. Germain homicide case

A 56-year-old man accused of killing his sister at their St. Germain home on March 21, 2025 is awaiting his next court appearance in the case, which is scheduled for April 7 at the Vilas County Courthouse in Eagle River.

James Johnson was suspected of killing his 61-year-old sister Kelly Johnson after their other sister, who lived with them, came home to the victim wrapped in a blanket, legs tied with a yellow extension cord and covered in blood laying near the front porch of the 7100 State Highway 70 residence. 

Johnson, charged with 1st-degree intentional homicide, faces life in prison with that sentence increasing no more than five years for use of a dangerous weapon. 

According to the March 24, 2025 criminal complaint, Johnson was apprehended in his vehicle at a hotel near the home, the same place investigators took his sister who discovered the victim for further questioning. 

In the defendant’s vehicle, the complaint states investigators found a 9-inch knife that matched the description of the knife Johnson said he used against his sister in a subsequent interview with law enforcement. 

According to the criminal complaint, Johnson told investigators during the interview he waited for his sister to fall asleep before using the knife against her because after he was released from the hospital he spent the previous two weeks in, his vehicle he lended her to use had no gas and one of his bank accounts was “somehow drained.”

Johnson entered a not guilty plea during an arraignment in the case on April 21, 2025. 

His attorney, Courtney Christine Jolin, requested a 90-day adjournment during a July 15, 2025 court hearing. 

Jolin, during an Oct. 28, 2025 court hearing, filed a motion to change Johnson’s plea to not guilty by mental disease or defect and requested a psychological examination, which was subsequently ordered by judge Martha Milanowski.

The examination was reviewed by the court on Jan. 12 and entered into the record during a status hearing that day. The state, court records show, had “no issue with the report.”

Johnson is currently being held on a $1,000,000 cash bond, including the conditions of not to have contact with individuals involved in the case, not to visit the residence where the body of his sister was found and to have a GPS monitoring device fitted upon release. His bond conditions were modified on Sept. 29, 2025 to also include that he’s not allowed to leave Vilas County upon his release.

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].