Jimmie Johnson ‘devastated’ after mother-in-law shot dead husband grandson in murder-suicide
- Nascar star Jimmie Johnson says family is ‘devastated’ by loss of his in-laws and nephew killed in murder-suicide
- Johnson shared a heartbreaking post on Instagram saying: ‘We have been humbled by the outpouring of love and support during this unthinkably sad time’
NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson says family is ‘devastated’ by loss of his in-laws and nephew killed in murder-suicide.
The bodies of Jack Janway, 69, his wife Terry Janway, 68, and their grandson Dalton Janway, 11, were discovered in late June in Muskogee, Oklahoma, about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.
‘Our family is devastated by the profound loss of Lynn, Jack and Dalton Janway,’ the heartbreaking post on Johnson’s Instagram on Friday read, the first time he’s spoken out since the horrific tragedy.
‘We have been humbled by the outpouring of love and support during this unthinkably sad time and remain grateful for all of your compassion.’
Muskogee police spokesperson Lynn Hamlin said Terry Janway shot and killed her husband and grandson before shooting herself. Terry and Jack Janway are Johnson’s wife, Chandra’s, parents. Dalton was her nephew.
NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson (right) says family is ‘devastated’ by loss of his in-laws and nephew killed in murder-suicide
Terry Lynn Janway, 68, (left) shot her husband Jack, 69, and 11-year-old grandson Dalton Janway dead before turning the gun on herself at the couple’s home in Muskogee
Police responded to the home after a woman called 911 to report a disturbance with a gun before hanging up, Hamlin said.
Video footage in the wake of the horrific incident showed police officers at the scene commenting that they could see Jack Janway’s body in the living room of the home under a blanket.
They then move to enter the home, after announcing themselves as police officers when a single gunshot can be heard.
Johnson withdrew from a NASCAR event in Chicago shortly after the incident. Neither the driver nor his wife have made a public statement following the shooting.
‘We are saddened by the tragic deaths of members of Chandra Johnson’s family,’ NASCAR said in a statement.
‘The entire NASCAR family extends its deepest support and condolences during this difficult time to Chandra, Jimmie and the entire Johnson & Janway families.’
In the 911 call, a woman, believed to be Terry Janway, said that she needed the police because there was someone in her home with a gun, reports Fox8.
Terry relays the address to the dispatcher and when asked if she knew who the person with the gun was, she hung up.
At the time of the shooting, police were quick to confirm that the incident had been a murder-suicide and that there was no further threat to the community.
Muskogee Mayor Marlon Coleman said at the time that he knew the Janway family and that he had been a patient at Jack Janway’s chiropractor practice.
‘It was traumatizing to find out that a long-standing family who had made so many contributions to our community was involved in this type of incident. It was even more bone-chilling to find out there was a child involved,’ Coleman said.
‘Just knowing that it was him and his family took a different toll on me.’
Last month, DailyMail.com revealed that the Janway family once fell $475,000 into debt.
Police responded to the home after a woman called 911 to report a disturbance with a gun before hanging up
DailyMail.com also revealed that Terry snapped after secretly suffering depression over the son she lost nine years ago in a freak skydiving accident
At the time of the shooting, police were quick to confirm that the incident had been a murder suicide and that there was no further threat to the community
Jack and Terry Janway owed almost $175,000 on 15 credit cards as they battled in vain to keep their heads above water, but had a combined average monthly income of just $3,993 to pay them off.
Five years after their daughter Chandra wed racecar driver Johnson – now worth a reported $160million – the couple applied for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
DailyMail.com also revealed that Terry snapped after secretly suffering depression over the son she lost nine years ago in a freak skydiving accident.
Jack ran a leading chiropractor practice in Muskogee, however the filing was not related to the business and the couple were classified as two individual debtors.
According to their voluntary petition drawn up in May 2009, they had amassed $174,478 in credit card debt while juggling a variety of companies to stay afloat.
This included $22,629 owed to Bank of America, $22,931 on one Chase card and $16,060 on another, $19,086 to Choice Visa, $17,800 to MBNA, $11,881 to HSBC and $9,548 on one Citi card with $11,226 on another.
Their total assets were logged at $304,654, including ‘real property’ of $248,787 – referring to their home at the time which was different to the murder scene, a tract of land and Jack’s business office.
The rest was made up of $55,867 personal property, which included just $7.04 in a Bank of America savings account, $750 in two Bank of America checking accounts, $3,300 in furniture and household goods – and $775 listed as ‘guns and camera.’
Three vehicles, including a two-year-old Jeep Cherokee worth $20,000, helped push up the total, along with a $13,000 Dutchman travel trailer.
However total liabilities were logged as $475,477, with a secured claim of $265,565 referring to their home and land, $35,433 for ‘other debts owed to government units’ and the credit card debts making up the rest.
The Janways’ bankruptcy was discharged in February 2010, but the final decree was not lodged until October 2011.
Jack ran a leading chiropractor practice in Muskogee, however the bankruptcy filing was not related to the business and the couple were classified as two individual debtors
The Janway family home where the tragedy took place in Muskogee, Oklahoma shortly after the horror unfolded
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is regarded as a second chance for people to regain their finances by having credit card debt and unsecured loans discharged by the court.
Muskogee police have been quoted as saying investigating officers may never know why, years later, Terry killed her husband and one of her grandsons.
However, DailyMail.com was told exclusively by a nephew of 47-year-old racecar legend Johnson that she never got over losing son Jordan, 27, in a freak skydiving accident in San Diego, California, in 2004.
High school student Seth Robison – who is also Terry’s grandson and victim Dalton’s beloved half-brother – revealed : ‘My grandmother, she was a very sweet lady. If you met her she was the nicest person you ever met in your life.
‘And I guess unknown to me, and quite a lot of other people, she had been struggling with depression and stuff we didn’t know about until it was too late.
‘About nine years ago my grandparents lost their son, my uncle in a skydiving accident, and I now believe that’s what started her descent into depression.’
Speaking with remarkable composure, the 16-year-old added: ‘I believe that she had never intended to harm the other two.
‘It just happened and I have spoken to some people who have had experience of this kind of thing and they said once people snap they aren’t really their former self anymore.’
Seth and Dalton were close and had the same mother, Marianne Janway, 40, who is the sister 44-year-old wife Chandra, but had different fathers.
The younger sibling had lived with his grandparents since the age of two after Marianne sought treatment for drug issues, Seth said.
And the mom, who now lives in California, posted an agonizing message on Facebook about her parents and young son after the tragedy, saying: ‘Please tell me this isn’t really happening, please god someone.’
Seth also revealed he broke the news of the horror to Chandra Johnson during an emotion-charged phone call to the celebrity couple’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina, hours after it happened.
Officers received a 911 call from a woman believed to be Terry reporting a disturbance at her home and that a gun was involved. They then arrived to find the couple and their grandson dead from gunshot wounds
The Janways’ chiropractic practice’s front door now bears a note saying the office is closed due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’
‘I was the one that had to break the news to my aunt Channie,’ he said. ‘About all I could do was tell her to find a place to sit down. I just then had to tell her straight up that they were gone.
‘She took it pretty hard, but I think she held herself together pretty well.
‘But she was just in shock, she didn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t either.
‘My grandma, she was an amazing woman and I wouldn’t have thought that could possibly happen. It didn’t seem like it was possible.’
Chandra, who wed seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson in 2004, flew in on Tuesday night ‘here to handle affairs, get everything in order, handle the funerals,’ added Seth. ‘She’s the oldest relative.’
Seth also revealed he broke the news of the horror to Chandra Johnson during an emotion-charged phone call to the celebrity couple’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina, hours after it happened.
‘I was the one that had to break the news to my aunt Channie,’ he said. ‘About all I could do was tell her to find a place to sit down. I just then had to tell her straight up that they were gone.
Terry’s descent into depression is believed to have started after the death of her 27-year-old Jordan Janway who was killed in a skydiving accident in San Diego in 2004
‘She took it pretty hard, but I think she held herself together pretty well.
‘But she was just in shock, she didn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t either.
‘My grandma, she was an amazing woman and I wouldn’t have thought that could possibly happen. It didn’t seem like it was possible.’
Chandra, who wed seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson in 2004, flew in on Tuesday night ‘here to handle affairs, get everything in order, handle the funerals,’ added Seth. ‘She’s the oldest relative.’
Speaking more of the reasons why Dalton was taken in by his grandparents, Seth said: ‘Growing up, mom had a little bit of drug abuse. She struggled with that for a long time and she went to get help a few years ago. That was her problem.
‘Dalton’s father kind of wasn’t there for most of his life and my mom had to travel elsewhere to get some help. My grandparents were there to take care of him.’
‘He had lived with them basically his whole life. First time I ever met him he was around two, three years old. That’s when they first brought him in, adopted him.’
Marianne has an extensive rap sheet according to records seen by DailyMail.com.
It includes guilty pleas to the felonies of obtaining a controlled drug by fraud and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
Seth lives with his father John Robison, roughly three miles from the horror scene.
He said he learned something had happened at the house when a friend who lives a few door away called him – but he didn’t know the extent of the horror.
‘All my friend told me was that there was an active shooter and my grandpa was injured. So I got over there as quickly as I could,’ he said.
‘Police and ambulance were already there so I couldn’t get close to the house. But I didn’t hear the news of what really happened until my dad John got there because the officers wanted to speak with an adult.’
The student revealed he last saw his brother on Tuesday last week when the pair went to the younger sibling’s first baseball game – Tulsa Drillers, the AA affiliate of the LA Dodgers, versus the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
‘Dalton liked it, and that he got a signed ball from one of the players,’ he said. ‘I believe the ball is still in the house.’
The older brother added poignantly: ‘I am devastated. It’s just a terrible thing to think about.
The elder couple’s older grandson, Seth Robison, 16, spoke to DailyMail.com in the wake of the tragedy, revealing his grandmother had been struggling with long-term depression
Chandra, who shares two daughters with NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson, flew into Muskogee Tuesday ‘to handle affairs’ and the funerals, her nephew said
‘I was close to my brother and my grandparents. I saw them a lot. I have been reconnecting with them pretty good these past few years, hanging out with my little brother.’
Seth also paid respects to his grandfather as well as his grandmother, saying: ‘Grandpa was just as amazing. He was the town’s leading chiropractor, he always wanted to help people anyway he could.
‘I was actually working a summer job for him at the time before this happened. My job was to operate any of the machines and physical labor anything he didn’t have to.’
Seth revealed there were many weapons in the house. ‘My grandpa was a big gun owner, everybody is around here,’ he said.
‘He had hunting weapons and some were just for household protection. I don’t know which weapon my grandmother used.’
Detectives were seen going house to house around the neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, interviewing neighbors. Two unmarked white police cars were stationed outside the 2,136sq ft home.
Officers, who also later visited the offices of Jack’s chiropractor practice, did not appear to take anything out of the family property.
Police responded to the scene on Monday at 9:03pm, according to the case report obtained by DailyMail.com. The description under the title offenses are ‘murder, first degree’ and ‘death investigation’.
Officers received a 911 call from a woman believed to be Terry reporting a disturbance at her home and that a gun was involved.
When cops arrived they found Jack dead in the hallway near the front door and then heard a single gunshot farther inside the house. Other officers entered and discovered the bodies of Terry and Dalton.
The skydiving accident Seth believes triggered the latest tragedy happened when his uncle Jordan, who had completed almost 1,000 jumps, collided with another jumper at between 10,000 and 6,000ft.
He was knocked unconscious mid-air which rendered him unable to release his parachute.
On his last fatal jump, he did not have a chip at the top of his parachute bag that automatically deploys the chute if the jumper is falling too fast.
His chip was undergoing maintenance and because of his experience he was allowed to jump without it. The other skydiver reached ground safely.
Johnson paid tribute to his brother in law in the local Oklahoman newspaper saying: ‘He was a free spirit. He was a very adventurous guy – base-jumping and parachuting wearing the squirrel suits, like you see the guys flying along the cliff sides, that’s what he did.
‘A tragic death, for sure. But he was doing something he loved. He was very passionate about it.
‘He never met a stranger, very warm, caring young man and he’s definitely going to be missed.’
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