Gary Johnson found guilty in Kmart robbery and kidnapping

Gary Joh Johnson

Calhoun County jurors convicted a man Wednesday for the 2010 robbery of a pharmacy and kidnapping of two employees.

The jury found 53-year-old Gary Joe Johnson guilty of first degree kidnapping of a Kmart pharmacist who escaped and second degree kidnapping of a pharmacist technician whom Johnson released when the woman fainted.  He faces life in prison for the first degree conviction and 10-to-20 years on the second degree charge.

Johnson could also receive a life sentence for pharmacy robbery.  The victims and some of their co-workers

He went to the Anniston Kmart in September 2010 and took knife and duct tape from the store's shelves.  Johnson held the knife against the neck of the technician, and used the duct tape to tie up her and the pharmacist.  He demanded Oxycontin, and when the pharmacist said there wasn't any in the store, Johnson accepted several tablets of oxycodone.

The focus of the defense attorney's case was that Johnson was suicidal and wanted to overdose.  However, chief assistant district attorney Lynn Hammond said in her final closing argument that if Johnson were truly suicidal, he had plenty of other options.

The defense did not call any witnesses.  Both victims testified, along with some of their former coworkers.

Johnson has three previous felony convictions.  He twice committed first degree assault, and also spent several years in prison for manslaughter.  That conviction came in Baldwin County, connected to a fatal wreck caused by Johnson riding his motorcycle more than 100 miles per hour.  The Kmart incident happened soon after his release from prison for the manslaughter case.