Inmate Name: Patricia Joellen Johnson
Charge: First degree murder
Sentence: 29 years to life -- then changed to 15 years to life
Prison: California Institution for Women

Patricia Joellen Johnson, known as Joellen, grew up in Mattoon, Illinois with her parents and her older brother. When she was six, her father walked out on the family.
When she graduated high school, she went to Eastern Illinois University and met her first husband Craig Castle. They had two sons but were divorced after 21 years of marriage.

She met her second husband Stan, who, she claimed, had a horrible temper. She then filed for divorce.

In 1987 she met the twice-divorced Peter Johnson, living in Solano Beach California, through a personal ad, and quickly fell in love with the charismatic, country clubbing biomedical executive. She said they had a fairy tale life including boating and skiing in Utah. But when they moved in together, Joellen alleges she discovered Peter was cheating on her and would insult her when she challenged him on his infidelity. After two years of trying to make the relationship work, Joellen left Peter and went to Florida. But a year later, Peter persuaded Joellen to try again, and in 1990 they were married.

Soon after, however, according to Joellen, Peter's behavior became increasingly bizarre, as he established a protocol of list making and punishments whenever Joellen did something Peter didn't like. By 1991, Joellen says the conflicts in her marriage had reached a boiling point. On February 25th, Joellen found a letter on the kitchen table addressed to her from Peter in which he demanded $3,000 and declared that from that point on she would have to pay all her own living expenses. That night an argument between the couple escalated until Joellen called 911 but according to Joellen, Peter wrenched the phone out of the socket and the phone went dead. At that point, Joellen took a gun and shot Peter twice. The police arrived and Peter was taken to the hospital but he died two hours after Joellen shot him.

Joellen was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and sent to the California Institution for Women. She appealed her case and her sentence was changed to 15 years to life. She says she has not given up hope that someday she will be free.