Federal Prison Inmate Charged With Murdering His Cellmate at Fairton Prison in New Jersey
An inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, has been charged with murdering another inmate, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer for the District of New Jersey announced. William Vontrail Johnson, 39, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was charged by criminal complaint with murder and made an initial appearance on November 5, 2026, in Camden federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, on March 4, 2025, Bureau of Prisons officials found Johnson's cellmate unresponsive and lying in a pool of blood, not breathing and without a pulse. Officials began lifesaving measures and the victim was transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on March 5, 2025. An autopsy concluded that the victim died from puncture wounds of the head, neck, and chest, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
During the investigation, FBI special agents interviewed Johnson. According to the filings, Johnson said he first tried to choke the victim to death and, when the victim began breathing again, tried to kill him in other ways, including using a pencil to stab the victim through the eye. At the time of the murder, Johnson was serving a sentence for child sex trafficking imposed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
The single count of murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges and allegations in the complaint are merely accusations, and Johnson is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney Frazer credited FBI special agents in Newark, under Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, with the investigation, and thanked the Bureau of Prisons' Special Investigation Services for its assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Richardson and Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼。APK 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. By APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
