Brian White Convicted of the Murder of Useless Wooden Toys' Singer Christopher Johnson

Thursday the jury came to a verdict of guilty for Brian P. White, in the June 2008 stabbing death of Useless Wooden Toys' singer, Christopher Johnson.

When Useless Wooden Toys, a skate thrash band from Minneapolis, played a show at a house in Bloomington, Indiana in late June 2008 they never imagined that this show might be their last or that they would lose one of their lead singers that night.

Brian White, of Bloomington, was at the house party.  White repeatedly groped Bonnie Bergling, who was a childhood friend of several members of Useless Wooden Toys.  Chris Johnson intervened, first with words and when words failed a physical fight broke out.

Brian White lost the fight, and was asked to leave because of his behavior.  White, however, did not leave.  Witnesses said he went from room to room in the house, obviously upset from losing the initial fight.

Later, White exited the house and approached Chris Johnson a second time.  According to Bonnie Bergling, “Chris was saying, ‘The fight’s over with, we don’t want any more trouble.’ Chris put his arm around his shoulder and said, ‘Let’s get over it, it’s done.’ Then he (White) said, ‘You shouldn’t have f----- with me,’ and he stabbed him.”

With one blow, White severed Johnson's aorta.  Although the pocket knife used by White was only 3 inches in length, White used so much force the knife plunged in Johnson's chest an extra half inch (past the blade itself).  White also suffered a cut on his hand from his own knife because of the force he exerted while stabbing Johnson.

White fled the scene, and was caught hours later hiding in the cellar of a nearby house.

White was arrested and has remained in custody since.  After numerous delays, the trial began Monday April 27th.

Closing arguments were heard Thursday, and the jury had a quick deliberation before they reported their guilty verdict.

According to Bloomington's Herald Times, "Indiana law defines murder as the knowing or intentional killing of another person, and it carries a jail term or 45 to 65 years. Voluntary manslaughter can be a lesser included offense if the killing involved sudden heat; the penalty for that crime is 20 to 50 years."

The friends and family of Christopher Johnson felt some relief after the guilty verdict was announced.  Sentencing will be determined in 30 days.

Friends and acquaintances can still write in to have an impact on White's sentancing.

From Michele Riordan Johnson, Chris's widow:

please write a letter to the prosecuting attourneys office with positive memories of chris. we want your voices to be heard in court!!!!