Milton Johnson: New Book On Joliet's Notorious Serial Killer

JOLIET, IL — A number of America's most notorious serial killers are from Illinois, and people far and wide know about the atrocities committed by John Wayne Gacy and Richard Speck. But bring up the name Milton Johnson to someone who didn't grow up in Joliet, and you're likely to get a blank stare.

Yet Johnson is the most notorious killer to ever come from Joliet. These days, Johnson remains alive and well. He blew out his 71st birthday candles on May 15 at the Menard Correctional Center.

Last week, my sixth true-crime book and fifth with Denver-based WildBlue Press came out. It's called Terror Town USA: The Untold Story of Joliet's Serial Killer.

The book, about 320 pages, begins with my reflections of growing up on Joliet's east side across from Nowell Park and the haunting memories of the summer of 1983.

From page 6:

"A crazed madman, like Joliet had never seen, was on the prowl, maiming and torturing along the way. All of the victims were losing their lives in truly wicked ways. About two weeks before I returned to start fifth grade at St. Mary Nativity, one of the summer's gruesome killings hit close to home, Ed Garland, the owner of our friendly and dependable neighborhood full-service gas station, lost one of his children during the serial killing spree."

Ultimately, authorities with the Will County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police and Cook County Sheriff's Office linked Johnson to the brutal killings of 14 people. Terror Town, USA goes into great detail chronicling the events surrounding each of these truly shocking crimes.

In addition to the 14 killings, there were three separate attacks on women who miraculously survived. All of Milton Johnson's victims were picked at random. In other words, he didn't know any of them.

The first chapter of my book sets the stage for Johnson's first violent crime, way back in 1970.

He committed a torture rape late at night deep inside the woods at Joliet's Pilcher Park.

After serving his prison sentence, Johnson returned to his boyhood hometown, and a summer of terror like Joliet had never experienced was about to unfold.

From page 22: "According to the local police, the Pilcher Park torture rapist was a wicked sexual voyeur. Milton Johnson liked to troll desolate roads and out of the way parks in search of young lovers sharing affection. That way, he could watch and fantasize for a while as they remained oblivious to his presence hovering in the background under the cloak of darkness. Indeed, he was no ordinary Peeping Tom."

Terror Town, USA includes several interviews with retired members of the Will County Sheriff's Office, as well as the key prosecutors responsible for securing Milton Johnson's death sentence. Johnson was given five death sentences, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison when Illinois Governor George Ryan abolished the death penalty in Illinois.

Over the past couple of years, Illinois has freed a couple of the state's most notorious mass murderers: the Starved Rock killer Chester Weger and Carl Reimann, who murdered five people inside a Yorkville restaurant back in 1972.

The book also examines Milton Johnson's life as an aging senior citizen and lets true-crime readers far and wide ponder whether Johnson has a realistic chance to follow in the footsteps of Weger and Reimann. Given his old age, will the Illinois Department of Corrections let Milton Johnson return to society?

If so, would Johnson return to his wicked ways as being a "stone-cold killing machine," as Johnson was described by former Will County State's Attorney Ed Burmila for a 1990s Chicago Tribune article.

It's important to acknowledge several people who were instrumental in helping with my research as I spent the past three years putting this book together.

Michelle Marek, records manager for Andrea Chasteen, the Will County Circuit Court Clerk, went through her records vaults and gave me access to tens of thousands of pages of old Will County trial transcripts and court records from Milton Johnson's two murder trials from 1984 and 1985 respectively. All of these documents were stored off-site at the Will County government's archive building for old records on Nicholson Street.

Dan Jungles, Will County Sheriff's chief deputy of investigations, and Shannon Wahl, FOIA administrator with Will County Sheriff’s Office. Both were extremely helpful and courteous in helping me track down thousands of old police reports from the 1980s involving Will County's homicide investigations of Milton Johnson.

Nick Ficarello, a retired Will County Sheriff's investigator who helped investigate Milton Johnson's crimes, including the ceramic shop murders of Aug. 20, 1983. Ficarello was able to take time out of his schedule to take me out to several of the crime scenes where Milton Johnson perpetrated his unconscionable acts. Ficarello was also instrumental in helping arrange a number of additional interviews that I did with several of his former colleagues from the Will County Sheriff's Office who had major roles investigating Johnson's crimes and interview Johnson.

Ed Petka, retired state senator from Plainfield. Petka was the Will County State's Attorney at the time of Will County's summer of terror. As I worked on the book, Petka made himself available for numerous interviews over the past few years, providing valuable insight and a unique first-hand perspective from someone who was in the courtroom opposite of Milton Johnson.

Frank Cservenyak, managing partner with the Joliet law firm of Rathbun, Cservenyak and Kozol. As I mention in the Prologue, it was Cservenyak who approached me about four years ago suggesting that I consider writing a true-crime book about Joliet serial killer Milton Johnson.

Terror Town, USA was released on July 27, and it's available in both E-Book and traditional paperback.

For more details on how to order your copy, visit the WildBlue Press website here.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Joliet Mass Murderer Terrorized Area 35 Years Ago

Joliet Serial Killer Milton Johnson Loses Another Appeal