Who is Brian Johnston? Ex-Marine accused of fatally burning ex Kelly Wilkinson in front of 3 kids out of coma
Kelly Wilkinson, a 27-year-old mother-of-three, was burnt to death by her estranged husband, Brian Earl Johnston, 34, in the backyard of her Arundel home in Australia's Gold Coast on April 20. Johnston had assaulted her before allegedly burning her fatally in front of her children. Police had responded to the scene after hearing screams and an explosion.
Johnston had reportedly fled the scene after committing the crime and was found in a semiconscious state a couple of blocks away, a trail of blood led cops to him after neighbors had reported they spotted him fleeing the scene in an injured condition. Johnston was seriously hurt in this incident and had lost the ability to talk because of damage to his airways. He was under guard and in an induced coma for a couple of days. Reports say he is now talking and aware of the murder charges he's facing.
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Who is Brian Earl Johnston?
Johnston served two hours of duty in Iraq in the aviation division of the Marines but he never engaged in combat. A neighbor revealed that he has established a successful business on the Gold Coast as a marine hydraulic engineer. He had helped fix one of the Victorian cruisers that had attempted to evade Queensland's border closure when the Covid-19 pandemic raged.
Johnston is an Ohio native who left the Marine Corps in 2005. He married Wilkinson in 2012. A fellow Marine had revealed Johnston worried about his wife and kids in Australia. “Last time I talked to Brian, his biggest fear was he had nobody in Australia but his wife and kids,” the friend said. “All his family was in Ohio and [Wilkinson] was making accusations against him. He told me he was living in his office and didn’t know what to do.” The reason for committing the crime is yet to be determined but the friend said Johnston was struggling with the fact that Wilkinson didn't want to be with him
Johnston's neighbor also revealed he had previously spoken about his fears of getting kicked out of the country. “He mentioned there was the chance of him being deported, so in hindsight, he was in a bad mental state,” the neighbor said. “Now I think I should have hopped out of the car and had a chat with him.” Johnston had violated a domestic violence order prior to allegedly killing his wife by burning her, according to police.
He was charged with murder, contravention of domestic violence order, and breach of bail condition on the same day as the crime and was ordered to be held in custody till his new court hearing which is scheduled for June 4. A hearing was scheduled on April 21 at the Southport Magistrates Court which he wasn't able to attend as he remained at the hospital in a serious but stable condition. He couldn't talk because of the burn injuries, which had damaged some of his airways.
After weeks in the hospital, being comatose for the majority of it, Johnston has slowly regained consciousness and his lawyer said he is in a condition to speak. "His voice is back. He's very coherent in relation to understanding what's going on, he's fully aware of the charges against him," his lawyer Chris Hannay told the Gold Coast Bulletin. "I went up there (to the hospital) to get him to sign some documents and he was able to do that with the assistance of one of the nurses. It's going to be, I would probably think, two to three months away before he's in any position to be walking or in a reasonable condition," he added.