14-02-2026, 02:08 AM
Quote:The **humiliation** that Carl Ericsson claimed drove him to murder Norman Johnson (after more than 50 years) was a high school locker room prank from the 1950s.
According to Ericsson's own statements to police and in court:
- Norman Johnson (a popular star athlete on the track team at Madison High School) allegedly pulled a **jockstrap** (an athletic supporter) over Ericsson's head in front of other students.
- Ericsson was the student sports manager (a non-athlete role helping with the team), which already put him in a lower social position.
- He described it as deeply humiliating and embarrassing at the time, something that planted a seed of lifelong resentment.
This single incident — which no one else (including classmates or Johnson's family) ever corroborated or even remembered — festered in Ericsson's mind for decades. He never mentioned it publicly or to his wife of over 40 years until after the killing.
In January 2012, at age 73, Ericsson drove to Johnson's home in South Dakota, asked him to confirm his identity at the door, then shot him twice in the face with a .45-caliber pistol. Ericsson later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder (citing long-term depression and anxiety), and received a life sentence.
@MVP
