A former Texas football standout was found guilty of killing a jogger with a machete in 2015.
The jury delivered Thomas Johnson’s verdict in less than 30 minutes on Tuesday, the Dallas Morning-News reported. He had previously confessed to the murder in October 2015.
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Johnson, who starred at Skyline High School and played one season at Texas A&M, confessed five years ago to killing Dave Stevens along White Rock Creek Trail in East Dallas. He called authorities moments after the killing and that DNA evidence also pointed to his guilt, prosecutors said Monday.
“He's dead. There was a sword in his head. Do you understand?” a recording of Johnson’s phone call to police said, according to the Dallas Morning-News.
A Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office official said no one could have survived wounds, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.
Johnson was originally found incompetent to stand trial in 2016, and he was committed to a psychiatric hospital. He was then deemed fit for trial in June 2018 following a report on his mental state from the hospital, according to court records.
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The trial entered the sentencing stage after the verdict was read.