Russell Maurice Johnson (born 1947), dubbed the Bedroom Strangler, is a rapist and serial killer who sexually assaulted and murdered several women in the late 1970s in London, Ontario and Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the murders of three women in 1978, and is incarcerated at the Oak Ridge maximum-security facility of the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene, Ontario. He has confessed to seven additional murders and 17 attacks.

He would often watch his victims sleep for hours before attacking them. He worked in an auto factory during the day and bouncer by night. He would stalk potential victims, climbing up to 13 stories on the sides of buildings to attack them. He is currently awaiting transfer to the Brockville, Ontario Mental Health Centre Medium Secure Forensic Unit.

Russell Johnson

One of the most alarming cases in Canada's criminal history, Johnson literally got away with murder four times.

In the 1970s, the cities of London and Guelph in the province of Ontario, were hosts to four cases of women found dead in their homes with no suspicion of foul play. What transpired to be four undetected murders took place over a ten-month period, and in each case the victim apparently died peacefully in her sleep.

The first of the four was twenty-year-old student Mary Hicks, found dead in bed in London on 19 October 1973; she was in a natural sleeping position and there were no obvious marks of violence on her body. A pillow partly covering her face was not considered suspicious. As there was no sign of forced entry into her apartment, Miss Hicks' death was attributed to suffocation caused by a reaction to a prescription drug

One month later, Alice Ralston, forty-two years old, was found dead in bed in her Guelph apartment; again there was no visible sign of violence. Miss Ralston was known to have suffered from hardening of the arteries, and this was thought to have caused her untimely death.

On 4 March 1974, Eleanor Hartwick died at her home in London and, as in the case of Alice Ralston, her death was put down to a reaction to prescription drugs.

It was not until August that the last of the deaths was reported, this time of forty-nine-year-old Doris Brown. On this occasion a pathologist found minor abrasions and some blood in her throat and rectum, but the police were not called in to investigate, and death was certified as from pulmonary edema.

Then a killing occurred about which there could be no doubt. On 31 December, Diane Beitz was found strangled with her own brassiere in her apartment in Guelph. She had been sexually assaulted after death.

In April 1977, Louella Jeanne George was strangled and robbed of some jewellery and underwear which were later found dumped in a garbage can a few blocks away.

Finally, twenty-two- year-old Donna Veldboom was found strangled in her apartment just a short distance from the previous murder site. This time the victim had been slashed in the chest with a knife.

When police investigating the killing of Donna Veldboom compared a list of tenants of the apartment block with details of sexual deviants on record, the name Russell Johnson emerged. Johnson had also once lived in the building where Louelia George had been strangled. Further inquiries established a number of non-fatal sexual assaults on women by Johnson, both before and after he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital diagnosed as a compulsive sex attacker.

At his trial in February 1978, Johnson was charged with the Beitz, George and Veldboom murders, and found not guilty by reason of insanity; he was committed to the maximum-security wing of the Ontario Mental Health Centre.

Following the trial, police authorities published a complete dossier on the crimes admitted by Johnson, including the four 'natural' deaths.

"The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers," by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg.

Russell Johnson | London / Guelph Ontario Serial Killer

UnsolvedCanada.ca

His name was/is Russell Johnson. He operated in London/Guelph. He killed 7 women but is suspected in 10 other deaths. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to Oak Ridge maximum security wing at the Ontario Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene. As far as I know, he is still there.

The first 4 murders were seen as natural deaths at first but were attributed to him after he was caught and confessed. He used to scale the balconies to gain access to the apartments. The police later released all the cases to the public that they believed he had been involved in. If you check the papers from Guelph or London, you might be able to find something. Following are the names and dates of his known victims.

Mary Hicks - London - October 1973
Alice Ralston - Guelph - November 1973
Eleanor Hartwick - London - March 1974
Doris Brown - Guelph - August 1974
Diane Beitz - Guelph - December 1974
Luella George - London - April 1977
Donna Veldboom - London - July 1977

He started attacking and raping in 1969 and it progressed to murder. He strangled the first 6 and stabbed the last one. In between 5 and 6 there were al least 2 attacks but the women survived. They later identified Russell as the person who attacked them and probably would have been killed also but in both instances, he was interrupted and fled.