Idaho
‘Hell on Earth’: Idaho prisoner sentenced for beating cellmate to death – East Idaho News
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Hallie Johnson used to watch crime shows with her husband, where they’d debate whether the accused killer should face the death penalty. Her husband argued for a life sentence, saying they should have to stew. Prison was the punishment, he would tell her, while she favored execution.
Then her brother was killed.
Milo Warnock was incarcerated at the Idaho State Correctional Center, a minimum and medium security prison for driving under the influence, but was moved to restrictive housing for hiding medication, his family previously told the Idaho Statesman; the Warnocks said he was saving it for the morning because it was keeping him awake. There, he roomed with 33-year-old James Johnson, who beat him to death in December 2023.
Faced with the reality of losing a loved one, Hallie Johnson said she didn’t want to see Johnson killed.
“I’ve surprised myself by not wanting terrible things for this person who murdered my brother heinously,” Hallie said in an interview Friday at the Ada County Courthouse.
“You have to put aside all of your desire for retribution and spite, and think about what’s the best thing for the community as a whole,” Hallie told the Statesman. “That might be, in a lot of cases, treatment, and love, and kindness, and the things that make people better.”
Fourth Judicial District Judge Nancy Baskin sentenced James Johnson to life in prison Friday, with the possibility of parole after 35 years. That’s if he’s able to stay out of trouble and seek the rehabilitation advised by not only Baskin but his own attorney.
James Johnson’s public defender, Amy Smith, argued during the sentencing that her client’s childhood trauma and untreated mental illness led him to “snap” and kill Warnock. She asked that he receive a minimum of 15 years in prison, with an additional 25 years he could spend in prison, on parole or both.
“That is the only thing that can explain why they were friends up until a moment that happened, and then all of a sudden, at the next count, Milo was killed in a brutal and senseless way,” Smith said. “This is not the work of a cognizant individual who planned a murder.”
James Johnson disputed that. In an over 15-minute-long rambling statement, which was at times incomprehensible, he denied any claim that he was mentally ill or that his abusive childhood factored into his mindset.
“All I’m saying is, you can’t paint a picture and say call it a mental illness,” he said. “I’m telling right now. The facts are, I killed Milo, and I regret it.”
James Johnson was serving a five-year sentence for fraud and grand theft and was scheduled to be released in February. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January, and as a part of the plea deal, the prosecution agreed to dismiss an additional felony against him for destruction of evidence.
Hallie Johnson told the Statesman she hoped James Johnson found his purpose in life. The decades Johnson would spend in prison won’t be the punishment for the “goodness he’s stolen,” she said, but she hoped he found the strength and maturity to “tame his demons” and give kindness to others.
“This is how he will repay me for what he had no right to take,” she said in court.
Warnock’s family filed tort against IDOC
Warnock’s family remembered him as a talented working man who had a good heart. His parents also spoke during the sentencing and in their statements expressed the pain of losing their son and anger with the Idaho Department of Correction for housing their him with James Johnson.
His family has filed a nearly $500,000 tort claim against the Idaho Department of Correction, its private medical provider and several employees. They have until December 2025 to file a lawsuit. Kathy Warnock, his mother, said he didn’t stand a chance.
Milo spent his last hours in anguish as James threatened him, and died in the “presence of evil, in that evil place,” Kathy said, referring to the prison. “No one in that hell on Earth had enough humanity to help him,” she said in court. “James committed the ultimate act of violence, but as bad as he is, he’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Milo’s father, Mike Warnock, said his son ended up being James’ cellmate because of “incompetent prison management.”
Hallie Johnson said James Johnson robbed her and her siblings of a brother, her parents of a son, her nephew of a father, and her son of an uncle. She told the Statesman that it “really hurts” to lose a loved one, and she couldn’t reconcile seeking the death penalty against someone who also has family that loves him.
“James had family here today,” she said. “He has people who care about him and love him. I can’t reconcile how I could say, ‘You killed my brother. Murder is wrong. You should die.’”
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Rapid population growth is reshaping Idaho’s politics and creating new tensions across the state, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said Wednesday to the Boise business community.
“If there’s anything to reflect on, it’s just how much Idaho is changing, the rate of growth that we are seeing, and the rate of growth we’re going to continue to see,” McGrane said at an event hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber.
According to data by the U.S. Census Bureau, Idaho had the second-highest population growth in 2025, which was the largest nationwide in the past five years. With a 10.4% increase comes people from all walks of life.
McGrane pointed to Boise’s evolving skyline and with that comes new business. Idaho business filings have increased from 425,000 in 2020 to roughly 650,000 in 2025 — a 50% increase.
But it isn’t just the economy driving these newcomers. Natural disasters and people exhausted from their home state’s politics are also a force.
Look no further than California: the largest group of migrants to Idaho. McGrane noted that northern Idaho farmers picture them as “blue-haired hippies from the Bay Area.” In fact, it’s the exact opposite.
Seventy-seven percent of Californians moving to the Gem State are registered Republicans.
“When you see the fires in LA, what I see is people moving to Idaho,” McGrane said. “Your home burned down, you’re probably not going to build it where you’ve just burned down, you’re going to find someplace else to move.”
It isn’t just California refugees contributing to the significant increase in Idaho’s Republican makeup. Migrants from all across the country are sharing similar sentiments, highlighting the 58% to 62% increase of registered Republicans since McGrane first took office in 2023.
Migration patterns are creating more of a divide within the Republican Party of Idaho, he said. Multi-generational Idahoans are concerned with agriculture and water rights, while newer residents are fixated on social and policy debates.
Voter turnout has been an issue nationwide, spilling into the Gem State. According to data from Idaho.gov, about 73% of its voting-age population is registered to vote. That means over a quarter of Idahoans who are eligible to vote aren’t registered.
To emphasize the importance of voter participation, McGrane pointed to a phrase often expressed by Gov. Brad Little: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
Just 12% of Idaho’s voting-age population participated in the primary election to select a party nominee for governor. That figure underscores how primaries carry lots of weight in Idaho.
“The overwhelming majority of decisions were just made on the May 19 election,” McGrane said.
Consequences of low voter turnout are often visible in tight-knit elections, he added. In 2020, there was a race for the Ada County Highway District commission, featuring Rebecca Arnold vs. Alexis Pickering.
The contest ultimately came down to two votes out of roughly 40,000 ballots cast. Around 10,000 voters skipped the race entirely, which illustrates how a small number of ballots can determine elections.
McGrane said those dynamics will continue shaping the fast-growing state’s political sphere.
“One of the biggest decisions that we have as a state is just who gets engaged, who participates and who votes in our elections,” McGrane said.
The Idaho State Police say that Robert Giesick, 40, from Billings is the man missing in a crash on State Highway 55 near Cascade, about 80 miles north of Boise.
A pick-up truck driven by Giesick ended up in the Payette River after a head-on crash with another pick-up truck.
Watch Idaho crash story here:
Idaho state troopers identify Billings man missing in traffic accident
“I was able to find some people that saw a male, an adult man, swimming for the shore from the truck,” said Idaho State Trooper Richard Knapp, who attempted to rescue Giesick. “Unfortunately he didn’t make it. He got swept downriver. Witnesses lost sight of him, and that was the last time anybody saw him.”
Knapp says search crews looked extensively for the 40-year-old, but after 24 hours, it became a recovery effort for the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit.
After that on Monday came the monumental task of removing the pickup truck from the raging water.
“It was an intensive a recovery, honestly, our operators were tested, their knowledge was tested,” said Mark Boisvert, Code Red Towing owner. “They said it was a very extreme recovery for them, more than usual.”
Idaho business owners have less than a month to decide how to comply with a new state law criminally banning trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.
The law is set to take effect July 1, which would make it a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses within five years.
It’s currently being challenged in federal court by the ACLU of Idaho.
On Tuesday, a panel sponsored by Idaho Employment Lawyers encouraged companies to prepare now as if the law will remain in effect as litigation continues.
Cody Earl, a lawyer for St. Luke’s Health System who spoke on the panel in his personal capacity, said there are several paths businesses can take.
Converting all bathrooms into single-use, gender-neutral facilities is one option, though it could be costly for larger businesses. Earl said companies could take other steps to make the transition more affordable.
“Even if it is a gender-specific restroom, [adding signage] that indicates where the closest gender-neutral restroom is so you could at least show that you’re giving employees an option or a choice,” he said.
Simply adding locks and only allowing one person at a time to a multi-stall bathroom is another choice, though panelists said that could be problematic for businesses with large amounts of customers, like restaurants and bars.
Idaho Employment Lawyers owner Pam Howland said companies also need to consider how this will affect their staff.
“This could definitely create some culture issues,” said Howland. “Do you have the policies you need to ensure your expectations as an employer of respect and civility are being followed? Possibly code of conduct provisions related to that? How about privacy?”
Those policies could include limiting or outright banning recording at the workplace.
Another legal wrinkle to complying with the law, the panel said, is that precedent in both the U.S. Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals prohibit discrimination based on someone’s gender identity.
Gender dysphoria, a mental health designation that causes severe distress to someone when their sex doesn’t align with their gender identity, has been considered a protected condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act in certain cases.
Republican state lawmakers argued earlier this year that Idaho needs to take this first-in-the-nation step to protect women and girls when they use the restroom in private businesses.
A 2025 study out of UCLA hasn’t found any increased risk to safety by allowing transgender people to use restrooms aligning with their gender identity.
A federal court in Boise will hear arguments over whether to approve or reject a preliminary injunction on June 5.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
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