WARNING: This story contains graphic material, including crime scene photographs and descriptions of murder, which some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Early on the morning of Sunday, September 5th, 1982, in the suburb of West Des Moines, Iowa, 12-year-old paperboy Johnny Gosch left his home to begin his morning paper route.
Usually, the seventh grader was accompanied by his father, but, this morning, he took only the family dog with him. Gosch went to the newspaper office to get his deliveries, then left on his bicycle to begin his route.
That morning, a motorist later reported seeing a boy matching Gosch's description talking to an unidentified individual in a blue car with Nebraska license plates. He didn't stay around to see what happened next.
That was the last time anyone saw Johnny Gosch, dead or alive.
In the years since Johnny Gosch's disappearance, he has been the subject of many elaborate conspiracy theories, often surrounding a secretive pedophile ring. Unfortunately, no evidence has been found to corroborate any of these theories.
Now, I am no forensic scientist, nor am I an expert criminologist, but, reading about the circumstances of Johnny Gosch's disappearance, I couldn't help but notice some striking similarities to another case in the nearby state of Nebraska.
Having studied the Gosch disappearance, I believe that Johnny Gosch may possibly have been the victim of none other than John Joubert, the sadistic, psychopathic serial killer who preyed on young boys and, for over a year, terrorized the states of Maine and Nebraska.
John Joubert: Born Evil
John Joseph Joubert IV was born on July 2nd, 1963, in the town of Lawrence, Massachusetts, to a working-class family. For a while, the family remained in Massachusetts, but, when his parents divorced, Joubert's mother took her son to live in Portland, Maine, and cut all ties with her ex-husband.
From an early age, Joubert proved to be a highly gifted and intelligent child, with an above-average IQ of 123. By age 3, Joubert was reading books, and by age 5 he would visit the public library.
Seeking to be more involved in the community, Joubert joined the Boy Scouts as a youth. He excelled in that field, earning many medals and later becoming an Eagle Scout. Joubert was very friendly and very charming with his fellow scouts, and he volunteered his time to assist his scoutmaster.
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| Joubert in his Boy Scout uniform |
But, underneath Joubert's intelligent, charming exterior, there lurked a dark, evil monster who had sadistic, gruesome fantasies involving torture, cannibalism, and mass murder. Despite his high intelligence, Joubert was, in all aspects, a vile, evil psychopath who took sadistic pleasure out of inflicting pain on other people, particularly young children.
Joubert began displaying numerous psychopathic traits from a very early age. By the time he was just 6 years old, Joubert was fantasizing about stabbing, torturing, and eating a teenage girl who babysat him. By age 8, Joubert's fantasies had escalated to daydreams about mass murder, and he began fantasizing about abducting, tying up, gagging, torturing, and murdering strangers in the streets, tormenting them until they begged for the pain to stop.
It wasn't long before Joubert's sadistic tendencies turned from fantasy to reality. In school, Joubert was known to be a bully, tormenting smaller and younger children, and using his skills in charm and manipulation to avoid getting caught.
One day, when Joubert was 13, he walked up to a 9-year-old girl and stabbed her with a sharpened pencil. When the girl screamed in pain, Joubert became sexually aroused. The following day, Joubert slashed another girl with a razor blade as she biked passed him. Again, when she screamed in pain, Joubert felt sexually stimulated.
Throughout his teenage years, Joubert continued to engage in sadistic acts of violence against children. On two occasions, when he was 16, Joubert brutally beat and choked two eight-year-old boys (nearly killing one of them) and stole their money and belongings.
In 1982, however, Joubert's crimes would escalate yet another level. This time, he would commit his first known murder.
Victim 1: Ricky Stetson, age 11
On the afternoon of August 22, 1982 (just eleven days before the disappearance of Johnny Gosch), 11-year-old Ricky Stetson went for a jog through Portland, Maine. It was routine for Stetson to do a quick evening run before dinner, but, this time, he never returned home.
Witnesses later recalled seeing Stetson jogging on a popular bike path in the city, but they had no idea what could have happened to the boy. All they could remember was that Stetson was being closely followed by a young man, in his late teens or early twenties, on a bicycle.
The following day, a motorist driving down highway I-295 saw a figure lying in a grassy patch just off to the side of the road. He stopped his car and got out to take a look. To his horror, he found the mutilated corpse of a young boy, lying face-up on the ground, and covered with blood.
Police quickly recognized the boy as none other than 11-year-old Ricky Stetson. He had been missing for less than 36 hours, and was found only a few yards away from the jogging path he was last seen on.
Medical examiners determined that Stetson had suffered a violent death. He had been asphyxiated, choked, beaten, and strangled with a ligature, but the cause of death had been numerous stab wounds to the abdomen. Investigators also discovered numerous bite wounds on Stetson's body, but the murderer had cut and slashed the bite wounds with a knife, possibly to prevent police from using the teeth marks to identify him.
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| The body of 11-year-old Ricky Stetson was found lying in a grassy area just off of a major highway |
To police, the murder of Ricky Stetson seemed eerily similar to a series of unsolved slashings in the Oakdale section of Portland, Maine, a few years earlier. Back in 1980, numerous young boys in Oakdale had been randomly stabbed, slashed, or otherwise attacked by an assailant with a knife. No one had been killed, but many had had close calls.
That assailant, nicknamed "The Oakdale Slasher", had never been identified, although, like the man seen following Ricky Stetson on his bike, the Oakdale Slasher had been described as a medium-built white male in his late teens or early twenties with dark hair.
Police scoured the records of known sex offenders in the area, searching for any people who fit that description. Despite months of investigation, no viable suspects emerged and, by 1983, the case had gone cold.
The Portland Police Department didn't know it yet, but John Joubert had just committed his first known murder. The next known place Joubert would strike would be in the small town of Bellevue, Nebraska, over 1500 miles away.
Victim 2: Danny Joe Eberle, age 13
At about 6:00 AM on Sunday morning, September 18, 1983, 13-year-old Danny Joe Eberle left his home in the small town of Bellevue, Nebraska, to begin his early morning paper route to deliver copies of the Omaha World-Herald.
Danny Joe was a bright, lively, happy young boy with wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He had gotten a job as a newspaper boy in order to raise money to buy accessories for his most prized possession: his shiny blue bicycle.
Usually, the boy was accompanied by his older brother, who also worked as a paperboy, but on this day Danny Joe was alone. Unfortunately for Danny Joe Eberle, this would prove to be a fatal mistake.
At about 8:30 AM, the offices of the Omaha World-Herald began receiving calls from residents complaining that they hadn't received their newspapers. The editor-in-chief was confused. Danny Joe Eberle was a devoted employee with a good work ethic. He was always punctual about doing his job right. Right away, he knew something was wrong.
The Eberle family began calling Danny Joe's friends and neighbors, but none of them had seen the young boy that day. Worried about what had happened, the Eberle family drove along Danny Joe's paper route to look for him.
They didn't have to travel long. At a home where Danny Joe delivered newspapers to, his parents found his beloved bicycle lying abandoned against a stone wall. There was no sign of a struggle or kidnapping. It appeared as if the boy had simply vanished into thin air.
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| Danny Joe Eberle's bicycle was found abandoned outside a house where he delivered newspapers to |
Bellevue authorities contacted the FBI, and a multi-state manhunt was immediately initiated. Police searched the entire state of Nebraska for the young boy. When no clues turned up, they expanded their search to the states of Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota. Missing persons fliers were posted and television stations in the area broadcast his picture and his description, urging anyone with any information to call authorities immediately. As hundreds of investigators and volunteers searched for their son, the Eberle family held out hope that Danny Joe was still alive.
But those hopes proved to be in vain. Three days later, on September 21st, 1983, searchers found the bound, gagged, partially-clothed body of a young white male lying face-down in a field just off the side of an isolated gravel road. Medical examiners positively identified the boy as 13-year-old Danny Joe Eberle. He was found only four miles away from his abandoned bicycle.
Like Ricky Stetson, Danny Joe Eberle had died a violent death. He had been stripped down to his underwear, choked, beaten, bitten, and finally stabbed to death. Medical examiners found a total of nine fatal stab wounds to his torso, which had punctured his lungs, liver, and heart.
Additionally, whoever had killed Danny Joe had also mutilated his body, slashing and carving a giant star-shaped symbol into his chest. Medical examiners were unable to determine whether or not the boy had been alive when the mutilation occurred.
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| Danny Joe Eberle lies dead in the field where he was found |
Most interesting to investigators, however, was the rope that had been used to tie up Danny Joe's hands and feet. The rope was unlike anything the FBI's forensic scientists had ever seen before. It consisted of an outer shell of common white nylon, but the inside of the rope consisted of over 106 differently colored yarns, made out of 26 different types of fibers. The rope was so unique that the forensic scientists told Bellevue authorities that if they found that same kind of rope in the possession of a suspect, it was tantamount to a fingerprint.
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| The multi-colored rope used to bind Danny Joe Eberle's hands and feet was highly unusual, and would later lead police to his killer |
Danny Joe Eberle's murder left the entire town of Bellevue in shock. Bellevue was a small, rural community, sheltered from the crime and violence of the inner cities. Nearly everybody in the town had personally known the young boy. The fact that someone would commit such a heinous crime was almost impossible to comprehend.
In the aftermath of the gruesome killing, children in the Bellevue area never went outside alone. Playgrounds were deserted, newsboys quit their jobs, and parents were warned to watch their children more carefully than ever before.
But just two month later, despite the whirlwind of panic and the increased precautions, the serial killer struck again, this time in Papillion, Nebraska, less than ten miles away.
Victim 3: Christopher Walden, age 12
On Friday morning, December 2, 1983, in the town of Papillion, Nebraska, 12-year-old Christopher Walden left his house to walk to his middle school. Despite knowing about the murder of Danny Joe Eberle, Christopher had walked this path many times before without incident, and likely didn't expect anything to happen to him.
But, unfortunately for the 12-year-old boy, John Joubert was on the prowl that morning, searching for another victim. The handsome, blonde-haired schoolboy caught Joubert's attention, and he closed in for the kill.
An elderly woman later reported seeing a tan car pull up alongside Christopher Walden, who was now about eight blocks away from his house. A young man got out of the tan car, brandished a knife, quickly grabbed the boy, and forced him into his vehicle before speeding off. The crime happened so fast that at first the woman wasn't sure she had seen what she thought she saw, and she didn't immediately call the police.
When Walden didn't show up to school, administrators contacted his parents. Immediately, the Walden family suspected the worst. The murder of Danny Joe Eberle less than two months earlier had left everyone on edge, and there was little doubt to investigators as to what had happened. They were certain the killer had returned.
Once again, police organized a massive search for Christopher Walden. The investigators didn't have high hopes that their case would end well. The night Walden disappeared, the outside temperature dropped well below zero. Even if Walden had somehow escaped his kidnapper, police believed he would have died from the frigid cold.
After three days of fruitless searching, two pheasant hunters roaming a rural part of Sarpy County, Nebraska, came upon the frozen, snow-covered body of a young adolescent boy lying in a grove of trees. Medical examiners confirmed the body was that of Christopher Walden. He had been found only three miles away from where Danny Joe Eberle was murdered. To police, there was no question that the same person was responsible for both brutal killings.
Like Danny Joe Eberle, Christopher Walden had been stabbed to death. His throat was slashed so deeply that he had almost been decapitated. Like Danny Joe, Christopher was found wearing only his underwear. His clothing was lying neatly next to him, covered in snow. Also, as he had done with Danny Joe, the killer had also severely mutilated Walden's body, slashing the same star-shaped pattern into his chest with a knife. Medical examiners determined that Walden was incapacitated but likely still alive when the mutilation occurred.
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| The frozen, snow-covered body of 12-year-old Christopher Walden was found by a group of bird hunters three days after his abduction |
During a press conference that night, the local sheriff, Patrick Thomas, overcome with anger, openly issued a message to the killer:
"I think that the individual who's responsible for these acts is very sick, spineless, [and] a coward", Sheriff Thomas said, "and I would urge him to call a minister, a priest, or me."
Later that week, during a meeting of the local Boy Scout troop, the troop's scoutmaster discussed the murders of Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden, warning the young Scouts about the danger of meeting strangers and advising them to be extremely cautious.
"Well, guys," interjected the assistant scoutmaster with a smile, "as long as we look out for one another, we'll have nothing to worry about, okay?"
That assistant scoutmaster's name was John Joubert.
The Profile
Soon after Christopher Walden's body was discovered. police interviewed the woman who witnessed Walden's abduction to try and get information about the alleged killer. She described the suspect as a young white male, between 18 and 25, wearing a ski cap, and driving a tan car with a license plate starting with the letter "R", followed by several numbers.
Using her description of the assailant, police created a composite sketch of the suspected kidnapper and distributed it to the local media stations.
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| Police developed this sketch of the man who abducted Christopher Walden based on eyewitness descriptions |
As part of the investigation, famed FBI criminologist Robert Ressler was called in to create a behavioral profile of the serial killer. Ressler deduced that the serial killer probably had a job that put him in close proximity to young males, possibly as a soccer coach or scoutmaster.
Because the killer had gouged the bite wounds on his victims with a knife, Ressler also believed he read police and detective magazines discussing forensic science. He also believed that the killer would be intently watching the news coverage of his crimes, and would be eager to talk about the murders.
Police interviewed dozens of suspects and followed hundreds of leads, but none panned out. The serial killer was still on the loose, and, as long as he was at large, no one was safe.
But it would be the killer himself who would unwittingly give investigators the break they were waiting for.
Joubert's Mistake
On the night of January 10th, 1984, preschool teacher Barbara Weaver went to her local church to say some evening prayers. At the church, Weaver began praying for the capture of the serial killer who had terrorized eastern Nebraska for the past four months. She prayed for his soul, and for the souls of the dead boys he had brutally murdered. She prayed for the grieving families of Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden, and, in her prayers, she offered herself as a victim in the place of another child.
Early the following morning, on January 11th, 1984, Weaver drove to her place of work at Aldersgate Community Church, which housed the preschool where she taught. As she began preparing her classroom for the day, she looked out the window and noticed something odd.
A blue car, a Citation to be exact, was circling the church, almost as if it were surveying the area.
Weaver made eye contact with the driver. He looked eerily similar to the police sketch of the suspected serial killer. Quickly, Weaver memorized the license plate number, 59-L5154, and began writing it down.
As she wrote down the number, the driver exited his car and walked into the preschool. The young man walked over to her and, in a soft voice, asked "Can you tell me how to get to 48th Street?"
As Weaver began to respond, the man brandished a serrated knife and lunged at her. "Come here!", he snarled. As the terrified woman headed for the door, he screamed "Get back here or I'll kill you!"
Weaver decided to run for her life. Brushing by her knife-wielding assailant, she fled across the street to a neighboring house. As the killer made a run for it, driving away in his car, Weaver called police and reported the man's license plate number.
Police ran the license plate number, 59-L5154, through their database, and they got a hit.
The plates belonged to a car owned by an airman stationed at nearby Offutt Air Force Base. His name was John Joseph Joubert.
Less than two hours after the attack on Barbara Weaver, military police arrested John Joubert in his barracks room at Offutt Air Force Base, holding him on charges of trespassing and menacing. Joubert was taken to the county jail to await interrogation while police searched his room and his car.
Police immediately noticed that Joubert fit the FBI's profile almost to a T. As the profile had predicted, Joubert volunteered his time as an assistant scoutmaster. He was 20 years old, slightly built, and had an interest in softcore pornography and police and detective magazines.
During the search of Joubert's car, police uncovered numerous incriminating pieces of evidence. They found several head hairs on the floor of the car, which were sent to the FBI for forensic analysis, but the most damning piece of evidence was a piece of rope found in the car's storage compartment. The rope consisted of a shell of white nylon, with an inner core of over 106 different colored yarns. It was identical to the rope used to bind the wrists and feet of Danny Joe Eberle.
Interrogation
While the police searched Joubert's car, a pair of detectives interrogated the young man at the police station. Initially, they only discussed the incident at the Aldersgate Preschool, and didn't mention the Eberle/Walden murders. The goal was to get Joubert relaxed enough to start talking.
"What were you doing at the Aldersgate School this morning?", detective Jim Sanderson asked Joubert.
The young man sighed. "I was desperate", he said. "I needed money."
"So you were out to rob her?", continued the detective.
"Yeah", responded Joubert, nodding his head.
The detectives took a break to get a drink. Then, after they read Joubert his rights, they confronted him about the murders.
"Well, John", said Sanderson, "are you aware of the Eberle and Walden homicides?"
Joubert paused. "I've read about them, yes.", he responded with a smile.
The detective laid out some photographs of the boys. "Have you ever seen their pictures?", he asked.
"Yes", the young man responded. "But I had nothing to do with what happened, if that's what you're saying."
"Show him the rope", said the other detective.
Sanderson reached into his pocket and took out the piece of rope used to bind Danny Joe Eberle and laid it on the table. "One of the boys was tied up with this rope", he said. "It's a rare piece of rope. We've looked all over the world for it without success."
Joubert stiffened.
"Well, until now, that is", continued the detective. "We just found pieces of the same rope in your bag".
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| Police found this piece of rope in Joubert's car, identical to the rope used to bind Danny Joe Eberle |
Joubert's face went pale. "That rope's not rare!", he stuttered. "I've seen it everywhere!"
"We've searched every other country, John. We even went to Scotland Yard", continued Sanderson. "Where did you get it?", the detective asked.
Joubert explained that he had been given the rope by his scoutmaster, but he adamantly denied any part in the murders.
Sanderson continued to press Joubert. He knew he was only a few questions away from getting a confession. "Why don't you just tell me about it?", he calmly asked the young man, who was now nervously fidgeting in his chair, rocking back and forth. "Take it easy, John.", he said. He leaned in, staring into Joubert's eyes. "What is it?"
Finally, Joubert broke down. He let out a big groan. "I did it. I killed those boys", he sighed.
"Go on, John", said Sanderson, listening intently. "Let it out."
"Let me tell you about the second boy first", Joubert said, "because it's fresher in my mind".
Joubert began telling the detectives the details of the murders of Christopher Walden and Danny Joe Eberle. His confession lasted more than an hour and was tape-recorded.
Joubert relayed to detectives that he had forced Christopher Walden into his car at knifepoint before driving him to a remote area out of town. He had led the 12-year-old through the snow into a patch of woods, where he ordered Walden to strip down to his underwear. Walden had done so, but, when Joubert ordered him to lie down, the boy refused and decided to make a run for it. Joubert had wrestled him to the ground and, during the fight, had slit Walden's throat with his knife before slashing his chest open in a sadistic frenzy.
Joubert also told detectives about the murder of Danny Joe Eberle. He told police that, like he had done with Christopher Walden, he had abducted Danny Joe at knifepoint and had forced him into his car.
After driving to a remote area, Joubert ordered Eberle out of the car, and forced him to strip to his underwear before tying his hands and feet with rope. Joubert told police that, when he brandished his knife, the thirteen-year-old boy began to panic. He calmly relayed how Eberle had cried and begged for his life when Joubert stabbed him in the back. As the boy lay on the ground, bleeding, he pleaded for Joubert to take him to a hospital, promising that he would never tell police.
But Danny Joe's pleas for mercy only aroused Joubert more. He forced the boy to roll over, then stabbed him again and again until he stopped moving. To make sure the boy was dead, Joubert slashed Eberle's neck and leg, and slashed open his chest cavity.
Then he wiped the blood off of his knife using Danny Joe's shirt, got into his car, and drove to a nearby McDonalds. He washed the blood off his hands in the restroom and then ordered some breakfast.
Joubert's cold, emotionless retelling of the murders stunned the detectives. Detective Sanderson struggled to control his temper while listening to Joubert. Sanderson was the father of two small children, and he was thoroughly appalled and disgusted by Joubert. That son-of-a-bitch, the detective seethed to himself. I should ram my pencil through this bastard's eye.
As the interrogation wound down, an FBI agent listening in asked Joubert why he had committed the murders. "Did you dislike the boys in any way?", he asked Joubert.
The killer shrugged. "How could I dislike them?", he said. "I didn't even know them!"
Trials and Tribulations
The following day, on January 12, 1984, John Joubert was formally charged in Sarpy County Court with two counts of first-degree murder. Despite the evidence against him, Joubert pleaded not guilty to all charges and was ordered to be held without bail pending trial. Due to the horrendous nature of Joubert's crimes, prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty.
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| Police escort John Joubert to his arraignment in Sarpy County Court |
While Joubert awaited trial in Nebraska, investigators linked him to the Oakdale stabbings and the murder of Ricky Stetson in Maine. When confronted by police, Joubert confessed to being the Oakdale Slasher, but did not directly confess to the murder of Ricky Stetson. Nevertheless, authorities were convinced that Joubert was responsible for that killing as well, since records showed that Joubert was living in Portland, Maine, at the time of the murders, and had moved shortly afterwards.
As Joubert's trial approached, his defense attorneys told him that the evidence against him was too overwhelming to make a substantial defense in court. A judge likely wouldn't permit his defense in court, and the prosecution was unwilling to grant him a plea deal.
This left John Joubert with only one option: plead guilty and pray that the judges would grant him mercy.
On July 3rd, 1984, one day after his 21st birthday, John Joubert again appeared in the Sarpy County Courthouse. In court, Joubert pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Danny Joe Eberle and the first-degree murder of Christopher Walden. In doing so, he waived his right to a jury trial and admitted his guilt. Now his trial would proceed directly to the penalty phase.
On October 9th, 1984, a three-judge panel, after carefully considering the aggravating and mitigating factors concerning Joubert's crimes, determined that John Joubert deserved no mercy for his horrific acts of violence.
Citing the murders of Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden as "especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel", and finding that the circumstances of the murders represented "exceptional depravity" on the part of the defendant, the panel unanimously sentenced John Joubert to death in the electric chair.
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| Police escort John Joubert from the courthouse after a judge panel sentenced him to death |
There would be one more victory for the families of Joubert's victims before he would be sent to await execution on Nebraska's death row. In 1989, Joubert was extradited to Maine to stand trial for the murder of Ricky Stetson, after bite marks on Stetson's body were found to match Joubert's teeth. On October 15, 1990, a Portland jury found Joubert guilty of that crime as well, and sentenced him to life in prison.
Death Row
For twelve years, John Joubert remained on death row at Nebraska State Penitentiary, one of about a dozen or so inmates awaiting a date with the electric chair. He was in good company, surrounded by many other heinous killers such as notorious poisoner Steven Roy Harper and sadistic cult leader Michael Wayne Ryan.
Joubert appealed his conviction and death sentence in 1995, claiming that the aggravating factors cited by the judge panel were unconstitutionally vague. The court agreed and vacated his death sentence, but the sentences were reinstated when the Federal District Court of Nebraska overruled the lower court's decision.
All of Joubert's appeals and requests for a new trial were rejected. In 1996, Joubert received an execution date. He would die in the electric chair on July 17, 1996.
A week before his scheduled execution, Joubert was interviewed by a Nebraska television station. He admitted his guilt, but claimed the murders were the result of a "troubled childhood". He told the reporter interviewing him that he had undergone counseling and no longer had violent fantasies. He said that he was a "changed man", and wanted to tutor younger prisoners.
"I believe that I would never kill anyone again", he told the reporter. "I know that I could never harm anyone ever again".
This statement, however was a far cry from the one Joubert gave to Sheriff Patrick Thomas when he visited Joubert in prison at around the same time. Thomas had asked Joubert "If I were to let you out of jail, do you think you'd have learned your lesson never to hurt anyone again?"
Joubert's response was chilling. "No", he responded. "No, I don't think I'd be able to help myself".
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| While on death row, John Joubert sketched numerous disturbing drawings of young boys being tortured, such as this one |
FBI profiler Robert Ressler also visited Joubert in prison. Like he had done with the reporter, Joubert told Ressler that he was a changed man and no longer the sadistic, cruel killer that he was twelve years prior.
Before Ressler left, however, Joubert gave him an odd request. "I've been fair to you, Mr. Ressler," he said, "so can you do me a favor? Get me a set of the crime scene photos. There's something I need to work out in my mind."
To Ressler, the purpose of this request was all too clear. Joubert wanted the photos of the crime scenes for masturbatory purposes. He hadn't changed. He wasn't reformed. John Joubert was the same evil, sadistic, psychopathic killer he had always been.
As Ressler later wrote, "I left the interview having gained the sad understanding that John Joubert's sadistic fantasy would likely not die until he did."
Judgement Day
On the evening of July 16, 1996, John Joubert was moved to a death watch cell in the basement of Nebraska State Penitentiary. Just down the hall from his cell, prison officials tested the electric chair in preparation for the execution.
Joubert spent most of his final hours with his pen-pal-turned-fiance, Teresa O'Brien. He ordered a last meal consisting of pizza with green peppers and onions, a giant bottle of Coca-Cola, and strawberry cheesecake.
Just after midnight, at 12:04 AM on July 17, 1996, John Joubert's head was shaved, and he was led from his death watch cell into Nebraska State Penitentiary's execution chamber, where the electric chair sat waiting for him.
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| John Joubert died in this electric chair at Nebraska State Penitentiary on July 17, 1996 |
At 12:10 AM, a brown curtain separating the witness room from the execution chamber parted, revealing Joubert standing in front of the chair. "Inmate Joubert", said the warden, "do you wish to make a final statement?"
Joubert stared into the witness room. "I just want to say that, again, I am sorry for what I have done", he said. "I do not know if my death will change anything or if it will bring anyone peace, and I just ask the families of Danny Eberle and Christopher Walden and Richard Stetson to please try to find some peace and ask the people of Nebraska to forgive me. That's all"
The warden then read the death warrant to Joubert before closing the curtain in order to conceal the identities of the execution team. When the curtain parted again, Joubert had been seated in the electric chair. A leather belt was put across his waist, two restraints were pulled across his chest, and two were put across his legs. His ankles, elbows, and wrists were bound to the chair by leather straps. An electrode had been attached to his left leg, and he wore a metal headpiece.
Joubert looked towards Teresa O'Brien, who was sitting in the witness room. As they made eye contact, he smiled and mouthed "I love you" as a guard put a leather mask over his face.
At 12:14 AM, in a nearby control room, the executioner activated the transformer and turned a rotary switch, sending 2,450 volts of electricity surging into Joubert's body for eight seconds before deactivating the current. After a five-second wait, the executioner switched the rotary dial and activated the second electric current; a 22-second jolt of electricity at 480 volts.
At 12:22 AM, 33-year-old John Joubert was formally pronounced dead. He was the second-to-last person to die in Nebraska's electric chair. Less than twelve years later, the state of Nebraska outlawed electrocution as a means of capital punishment, and the chair was dismantled and put into storage.
The Mystery: Did John Joubert Abduct Johnny Gosch?
In the years since his execution, John Joubert has faded into history, condemned to be remembered as another vile serial killer from the annals of criminal justice. For the people of Bellevue, Nebraska, however, Joubert's crimes still haunt them. For years afterwards, the mayor of Bellevue regularly visited the graves of Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden, leaving flowers and saying prayers over their tombstones.
But, unfortunately, the family of 12-year-old Johnny Gosch will never have that sort of closure. There is no gravestone for Noreen and John Gosch to visit. Despite the many theories, speculations, and hypotheses surrounding the Gosch disappearance, the truth is that we will never truly know what happened to the 12-year-old boy.
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| 12-year-old Johnny Gosch, pictured the same year he disappeared |
When I first read about the Gosch disappearance, the circumstances of his case immediately rang a bell. I have studied the Joubert case for years, and I have developed a possible theory as to what may have happened to Johnny Gosch.
Again, however, I must emphasize that my theory is based on no more than speculation. There are still many questions that have not been and may never be answered.
But there are numerous similarities between Gosch and the victims of John Joubert. Like Joubert's victims, Johnny Gosch was a young white male in his early adolescence. Like Joubert's victims, Gosch worked as a paperboy, and was abducted while out on his own. Johnny Gosch was also believed to have been last seen talking to a man in a blue car with Nebraska license plates, a description which closely matches John Joubert's car.
Additionally, the location of Gosch's disappearance is important. Gosch disappeared from West Des Moines, Iowa, and Joubert's known killings in the Midwest occurred across the Nebraska-Iowa border. It is not inconceivable that Joubert could have abducted Gosch from West Des Moines, especially since he was known to have been in Nebraska in late 1982.
The circumstantial evidence tying Joubert to the disappearance of Gosch is compelling. Of course, there are some holes. The murder of Ricky Stetson in Maine took place only ten days before Johnny Gosch disappeared, and Johnny Gosch disappeared in Iowa, far away from Maine. While it is known for certain that John Joubert left Maine almost immediately after killing Stetson, his exact whereabouts for the next several days are still unclear. Military records indicate he was transferred to Offutt Air Force Base in 1983, ten months after Gosch disappeared, but there is some evidence that Joubert was already in the Nebraska area before the transfer, as he was known to visit Texas and Oklahoma.
Iowa authorities also told reporters that Joubert was not considered a viable suspect in Gosch's disappearance, but didn't elaborate as to how they came to that conclusion.
Furthermore, West Des Moines suffered a similar disappearance of another paperboy, Eugene Martin, in August of 1984. Joubert was already in police custody at the time of the incident, which would exclude him as a possible suspect in Martin's disappearance. However, despite the similarities, police were unable to link the Martin disappearance with Gosch's case, and it is possible that the Martin disappearance was a copycat crime.
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| Bellevue, NE, where Joubert's murders occurred, is less than a three-hour drive from West Des Moines, IA, where Johnny Gosch disappeared |
So what happened to Johnny Gosch? Could it be that he was a victim of John Joubert? Could it be that Joubert killed more people than was previously thought? Could this be the answer to the decades-long question of what happened to the 12-year-old paperboy?
It's possible. It may be that the answer to Noreen and John Gosch's questions may lie with John Joubert.
But, unfortunately, we will never know for sure. John Joubert is dead, and Johnny Gosch has never been found, either dead or alive. All we can do is keep asking questions, and maybe my analysis can help provide some sense of closure, and maybe even a possible answer, to this long, painful, mysterious case.
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