Convict At Stillwater Prison Killed Guard: Charge

STILLWATER, MN — A prison inmate already serving time for a murder convection is accused of killing a corrections officer at the Stillwater state prison. Edward Johnson was charged Thursday with second-degree intentional murder of Joseph Gomm.

Investigators say Johnson struck Gomm with a hammer inside the prison workshop on the afternoon of July 18.

Investigators also located two homemade knives at the scene, one or both of which were used to stab Gomm, according to the criminal complaint.

Sign Up For Patch's Daily Newsletter and Breaking News Alerts in Your Neighborhood

Gomm was transported to Regions Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Johnson was sentenced for the 2002 murder of his girlfriend, Brooke Elizabeth Thompson, in a Bloomington apartment.

He is the son of two Chicago police officers. At age 12, Johnson watched his father shoot his mother six times before killing himself, the Pioneer Press reported.

While in prison, Johnson has spent 1,695 days in segregation for various offenses. He lost his right eye after a fellow inmate stabbed him there in a July 2004 fight, reports the Star Tribune.

Sign Up For Patch's Daily Newsletter and Breaking News Alerts in Your Neighborhood

Images via Minnesota Department of Corrections