Bemidji woman convicted of murder after two-week trial

After a two-week trial, a Beltrami County jury convicted a woman with second-degree murder.

Janelle Johnson, 38.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office assisted with prosecuting the case against 38-year-old Janelle Johnson, who was convicted of shooting her brother-in-law Jesse Farris on Christmas Day, 2020. 

The AG’s office assisted upon the Beltrami County Attorney’s request.

According to court documents, Johnson shot Farris three times in his home after an argument over the alleged domestic abuse of Johnson’s sister.

She was reportedly intoxicated at the time.


Larissa Donovan is the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016. She covers all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


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