Probable Cause Statement Outlines Case Against Johansen and Winters In Bishop's Murders; Funeral Arrangements Announced:

Louise and Christina Bishop

The Arkansas State Crime Lab has positively identified human remains found near Garfield last month as those of Louise and Christina Bishop-Johansen.

The Ozarks Sentinel has obtained the probable cause affidavits that outlines the state of Arkansas case against Nicholas James Johansen and Michael Shane Winters for the murders of the two women.

Nicholas Johansen is Christina's son, and Louise's grandson. Winters is a family friend who lived with Johansen at his father's home at 15226 Sugar Creek Road in Garfield, AR at the time of the Bishop's disappearance. He had also lived on the property next door to the Johansen's at one time.

The women were reported missing on June 21, 2009, by George Skupien, Louise's nephew.

Skupien told police that he had last heard from his relatives on June 18th. He told investigators he went to the women's house at 2910 SE J Street in Bentonville after not hearing from them for three days, which was unusual, and found it unlocked, the alarm unarmed and purchases the women made at Sam's Club on the 18th still on the counter.

The women's purses, cell phones and truck were missing. Medication that they needed on a daily basis was left behind according to Detective Tom Boyle.

Cops and Skupien knew something bad had happened to the women when they found a partial plate of dentures and Louise Bishop's glasses in the foyer of the family home. They also recovered blood from inside and outside the Bishop's house that was consistent with that of the 81 year-old women in June.

In July, the women's truck was found in the parking lot of Club Hots in Jane, MO with the message, Free car just tow scrawled across the windshield.

Nicholas Johansen was arrested and charged with hindering prosecution or an apprehension last November after allegedly giving investigators conflicting stories about what happened to his mom and grandmother.

In the 20-page probable cause affidavit, Benton County prosecutor Van Stone says that Winters' girlfriend -- Susan Martin, who is also Johansen's half sister -- came to the Bentonville Police Department on February 14th to talk about what happened to the women "because it had been bothering her to hold it in and she did not think she could take it anymore."

According to court documents, Martin lived with both Johansen and Winters and told police the two had gone to the Bishop's house to rob Louise Bishop. Louise Bishop was known to keep a large amount of money in the house.

Nicholas Johansen

Martin told investigators that the day after the Bishop's were last seen "Michael was able to pay
their cell phone bill of nearly $400.00 and had $100.00 left over. Susan asked him where
he got the money and he told her not to worry about it."

Martin says that Winters told her exactly what happened the night the women disappeared,

"Reportedly, Michael and Nick left the residence at 15226 Sugar Creek Road on June 18,2009,
sometime between 2100 to 2200 hours. They both rode Nick's motorcycle to Louise's
residence. Upon arrival, Nick called Christina Bishop and told her he needed to talk to her. She ultimately met him outside the residence. As they were talking, Nick began acting like he was going to give Christina a backrub. However, at some point, Nick started to strangle Christina.

As Nick was strangling Christina, Louise opened the door and must have seen what was occurring. Reportedly, Louise started to go back in the house so Nick went after Louise and Michael continued to strangle Christina. According to Susan, Nick entered the residence and started to strangle Louise. However, Nick was unable to actually kill her; therefore, Michad entered the residence and strangled Louise.

Michael Shane Winters

Michael and Nick then placed both bodies in the bed of the truck Nick rode in the back to hold the bodies in place while Michael drove back to their residence on Sugar Creek Road. They drug the bodies up the hill in the woods on the property owned by the Johansen's. They then stashed the truck on an ATV trail just west of the residence. It stayed there for a few days and was then driven to Club Hots, an adult entertainment establishment in McDonald County, Missouri, and left in their parking lot.

Michael told Susan they were able to locate $500.00, which they stole from the residence. Susan said this was the money used to pay her phone bill the following day, They were also able to find some jewelry, which included the watch and matching bracelet Susan later found amongst her property. Michael told her that he got the watch from the Bishop's house and gave it to her."

Police found two bodies buried in a shallow graves near the Johansen home on Sugar Creek Road on February 16th.





Johansen property @ 15226 Sugar Creek Road

Court documents reveal that investigators found two purses belonging to Louise and Christina Bishop in the woods near where the women were buried.

Winters, who has been in the Benton County jail on several charges unrelated to the murders of the two women, accompanied officers to the Johansen property and allegedly pointed to an area where investigators, "immediately discovered vertebrae and rib bones on top of the ground, which were consistent with human bones."

Also recovered were several pieces of additional evidence on the property related to the crime, including a roll of duct tape, two ski masks and rubber gloves in the back pocket of a pair of jeans that was found inside a plastic bag behind the house Johansen and Winters had lived in. Detectives found a receipt for two ski masks and a box of rubber gloves dated May 30th in Nick Johansen's bedroom during their search.

A wake for the Bishops will take place on Friday March 5, 2010, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Benton County Funeral Home in Rogers. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday the 6th at 10 a.m. at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Rogers. Both are open to the public.

Johansen and Winters, who have been charged with capital murder, are being held in the Benton County jail without bond. They are both due back in court on March 29.