Inside Lucille Johnson’s Brutal Murder, Solved with Help of Scattered Legos

Detectives investigating the brutal murder of a Utah grandmother in 1991 were perplexed when they found Lego pieces scattered in the entryway of her home, on her living room floor and in the driveway.

Lucille Johnson, 78, kept toys in her Holladay home for her grandchildren, but would never leave them lying on the floor like the way they were found, family members told police, KSL.com reported.

The investigation came after Johnson’s daughter found her mother bludgeoned to death inside her home on Feb. 1, 1991, police said at the time.

The attack left her with a fractured skull, 24 broken ribs, and “numerous blows to her head,” according to court documents at the time, KSL.com reported.

The killer covered her bloody face with a pillow, police said, according to Reuters.

No one had any idea who would want to murder a woman who was known for her kindness: Just before her murder, Johnson had visited a neighbor who was in the hospital and brought food to another neighbor who was sick, KSL.com reported.

For years, the case was cold. Then, more than 20 years later, clues found on the plastic Lego pieces detectives found at Johnson’s house helped catch her killer.

In 2013, detectives used advances in DNA technology to take a new look at the unsolved murder. 

DNA testing revealed that residue found under Johnson’s nails belonged to John Sansing, authorities said, ABC News reported.

Then came a chilling revelation about the Lego pieces.

“While in that home, it is clear Mr. Sansing bludgeoned Lucille to death, leaving his 5-year-old apparently in the living room to play with Legos,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said at a news conference at the time, Fox 3 reported.

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“On those Legos were the fingerprints of Mr. Sansing’s juvenile son,” he said.

Sansing was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Johnson’s death. He was already a death row inmate in Arizona after admitting to murdering and raping a woman in 1998.

Sansing and his wife, Kara Kay Sansing, tied up, stabbed and beat a woman named Elizabeth Calabrese who brought the family food from a church pantry, police said, Deseret News reports. 

Calabrese, the mother of two children, became unconscious when she was struck in the head with a club, Kara testified, Reuters reported.

She was conscious when Sansing raped her, she said. She was then fatally stabbed, AZ Central reports.

The Sansings’ four children were home when Calabrese was killed and said they witnessed some of the slaying, police said.

Kara was sentenced to life in prison, according to AZ Central.

“Occasionally we encounter people who are evil,” Sheriff Winder said in 2014, according to ABC News.

“The individual who perpetrated this is nothing short of that. When you hear the details of this particular case, you will see that this individual is barely human.”