The Clocktree
Click below to learn more about those who knew Denise and the people who were connected to the case.
Click below to learn more about those who knew Denise and the people who were connected to the case.
Denise was murdered during the early morning hours inside her home in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina on July 13th 1997. She was stabbed and the killer set multiple fires inside her house. Her homicide remains unsolved.
Glenn is a former KIll Devil HIlls firefighter who was the first responder on scene to Denise’s house fire. Glenn found Denise and moved her body to the front yard. He saw her fatal wounds and has long believed a woman inflicted them. He also believes the murderer is an arsonist who had personal ties to Denise.
First appears on Episode 1
Mark is a former Kill Devil Hills police captain who was working as a patrol officer in 1997. He was the first police officer to respond to Denise’s home on Norfolk Street. Evans stood in and observed the state medical examiner’s autopsy of Denise in 1997. Evans retired from the Kill Devil Hills police force in 2019 but remains interested in the case and believes someone with critical information who is living on the Outer Banks can help solve it.
First appears on Episode 1
Donnie is one of Denise’s eldest sisters who remains determined to find her sister’s killer. Donnie previously worked for Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and for years has stayed on law enforcement to keep it from going cold.
First appears on Episode 1
Chris is a former homicide detective with the Raleigh Police Department. He is an experienced major crimes and cold case investigator who weighs in on the puzzling circumstances around Denise’s case.
First appears on Episode 1
John is a current captain with the Kill Devil Hills police department who spearheaded an effort in 2012 to revive leads on the cold case. He is familiar with Denise’s cold case and says the department still considers it an active homicide investigation.
First appears on Episode 2
Jim was the former lead Kill Devil Hills Police detective on the Denise Johnson homicide case. He passed away in 2015. Jim worked the case diligently from the moment it happened in 1997 until he later retired from the department.
First appears on Episode 2
Barbara is the widow of former Kill Devil Hills Police detective Jim Mulford. Barbara still remembers her late husband’s haunting defeat of never solving the case before his death. She got an inside look at things that always bothered Jim about the case.
First appears on Episode 2
This man was the first person to notice Denise’s house on fire. He passed by in his truck while on his way to pick up Rob Constantineau for work.
First appears on Episode 3
Rob was one of Denise’s neighbors who lived on Norfolk Street. In the early morning hours of July 13th 1997, Rob was waiting for a ride to work from a friend. His friend would become the first eyewitness to Denise’s house fire and eventually police’s intended person of interest in the case, despite no evidence against him. Rob believes his former friend knows more that could aid investigators.
First appears on Episode 3
Daryl is a former Outer Banks Sentinel newspaper reporter who covered the Denise Johnson homicide for years. He compiled many theories and notes on the case. He interviewed key witnesses and years after the murder was invited by law enforcement to consult on the case. He remains frustrated it has not been solved.
First appears on Episode 3
Karen is the former short-term roommate of Denise’s who lived with her in July 1997. Karen’s alibi is that she was at work in the early morning hours of July 13th and decided to go to a friend’s home for the night instead returning to 2014 Norfolk Street. Karen believes a next door neighbor of Denise’s name Eric is somehow involved in the crime or knows the person who committed the murder.
First appears on Episode 4
Eric was next door neighbors with Denise. According to multiple sources he had been having a sexual relationship on and off with Denise shortly before her murder. Teresa was Eric’s on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend.
First appears on Episode 4
Durisa is the next eldest sister in the Johnson family to Denise. She and Donnie Johnson remain sure someone who knew their sister is involved in the crime.
First appears on Episode 4
Vicki is the ex-wife of the man who first saw the house fire. Her ex-husband would eventually become someone police questioned heavily and focused their investigation around. Vicki claims her ex-husband rarely spoke of the crime and she does not believe he was involved, despite being pressured by police for many years.
First appears on Episode 4
Andrew and Donna Smithson – The Smithson’s are the brother and sister who lived at 2012 Norfolk Street. They knew Denise as a neighbor and rented the downstairs portion of their home to a man named Eric. They remember Denise and Eric having a sexual relationship. Donna remembers a police raid on the downstairs apartment in the weeks after the murder and that officers supposedly interviewed Eric and his ex-girlfriend Teresa for further information about the crime.
First appears on Episode 5
Ray was the acting police chief of Kill Devil Hills Police department when Denise was murdered in 1997. He had been on the job in a community that was new to him only 11 months when the crime happened.
First appears on Episode 6
Jim is the former long-time police chief of Kill Devil Hills Police Department. He retired in 1996, not long before the murder. His curiosity about the crime and familiarity with the Johnson family drew him to the crime scene on July 13th., 1997. Jim says he was allowed to enter the crime scene in the hours after the crime because of camaraderie with the detectives.
First appears on Episode 6
Bill is a former Kill Devil HIlls Police detective who was the right hand man to Jim Mulford on the Denise Johnson homicide. He joined the investigation 4 months late due to a back injury. He remembers details of the crime scene, went to FBI headquarters with Ray Davis and Jim Mulford for assistance in 1997 and remains frustrated the case has gone unsolved for so many years.
First appears on Episode 6
Lori was a friend of Denise’s and former co-worker. Lori saw Denise at a party in the weeks and days before her murder. She remembers Denise talking about having problems with someone from Virginia. She believes the killer is still alive and remains in North Carolina.
First appears on Episode 7
Theresa Rogers- Theresa was the night-shift clerk at the gas station Denise was last seen at purchasing items. Theresa remembers a strange blonde woman following Denise around the store and eventually out into the parking lot. Theresa believes that woman is involved in the crime.
First appears on Episode 7
Amelia is a former employee of Denise’s next door neighbor Eric. Amelia remembers Eric’s ex-girlfriend as an abusive unstable woman who frequently attacked him in jealousy over seeing other women. Amelia provided Kill Devil Hills police with a statement when officers visited Eric’s store shortly after the crime.
First appears on Episode 7
Amy is a former roommate of Eric and Teresa. Amy lived with Eric and Teresa in the winter of 1996 and remained friends with them until right after the murder. Amy remembers a toxic relationship between the couple and believes Teresa was the last person to see Denise alive at the gas station and afterwards in a fit of jealousy murdered her.
First appears on Episode 7
Denise Johnson’s nephew. Mike still struggles with not knowing who killed his aunt and living in the Outer Banks where the killer could still be residing. Mike provided a box of photographs of Denise and her boyfriends to CounterClock in 2019 after discovering them abandoned in his mother’s garage.
First appears on Episode 8
Forensics evidence expert who was formerly with the Raleigh Police Department and worked for the CCBI (City-County Bureau of Identification).
First appears on Episode 8
Suzanne is a practicing medical examiner in Sarasota County, Florida. In 2018 at CounterClock’s request Utley reviewed documents available in public record regarding Denise’s autopsy and toxicology report. Utley is sure Denise was alive for a significant amount of time while the fires were burning inside her home before she eventually died or received a fatal wound.
First appears on Episode 8
Greg is the current owner of 2014 Norfolk Street. Greg purchased Denise’s home in 2000. He formerly worked with Denise at the Sanderling Resort. He and his family have been the only people to live in the Norfolk Street home after the murder. Greg says much of the original house from the crime scene still exists beneath floors and walls he has done renovations on.
First appears on Episode 8
Denise’s Ex-Boyfriend from Kill Devil Hills. Jeff was someone Denise dated for significant periods of time. They had an on-again off-again relationship and remained friends. Police spoke to Jeff several times and cleared him as a suspect.
First appears on Episode 10
Bob is Denise’s former brother-in-law. He married one of Denise’s oldest sisters and according to Donnie Johnson was tasked with helping retrieve Denise from Florida in the late 1980’s after a sexual assault. Bob does not recall that but does remember details of the investigation and police showing up as his and his now ex-wife’s front door the morning of the crime.
First appears on Episode 10
Denise’s Ex-boyfriend from Kill Devil Hills. Chip and Denise dated in the early 1990’s and went on trips to Florida together. A photograph of them was taken and years later ended up with CounterClock. Chipremembers Denise had problems with a man in Florida who wrote her letters from prison, harassing her.
First appears on Episode 10
Paul is another ex-boyfriend of Denise’s from the mid 1980’s. Paul and Denise dated only a few months but he was devastated to hear about Denise’s murder.. Paul helped put on fundraisers for Denise’s funeral expenses. He wrote a song in her honor and played it at a memorial gathering.
First appears on Episode 10
Brenda is the operator of Davis Monument Company where Denise’s tombstone was made. Brenda knew the Johnson family 1997 and never imagined she’d one day make Denise’s granite tombstone.
First appears on Episode 11
Joel is the current police chief at the Kitty Hawk Police department. Joel and his sergeants headed up an investigation in 2018 to determine how Denise Johnson’s tombstone was damaged. Joel sent remnants of the grave marker that appeared to be melted and torched to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation crime lab for fume testing. Joel remains unsettled by the unexplainable and seemingly targeted vandalism to Denise’s gravestone that occurred in recent years.
First appears on Episode 11
Mark Wiseman worked for Eric in the summer of 1997. He knew Denise Johnson and lived at 2012 Norfolk Street up until 2 days before the murder. He remembers a complicated relationship between Eric, Teresa and at one time, Denise.
First appears on Episode 12
The district attorney of Dare County. Womble is an elected official who is the chief law enforcement of Northeastern North Carolina. He’s been in office seven years. Womble was unfamiliar with the details and status of the Denise Johnson homicide that occurred in his jurisdiction 22 years ago, until CounterClock interviewed him in 2019.
First appears on Episode 13
Spencer is a Florida-based criminal defense attorney who weighs in on the circumstances of the botched police investigation at Denise’s crime scene and how viable evidence could be in court if an arrest were ever made.
First appears on Episode 13
Donnie is a former North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) agent who assisted Kill Devil Hills police detectives on the Denise Johnson homicide. Donnie remained interested and actively working the case until his duties took him elsewhere. He is still haunted by the unsolved case and believes it’s possible they may have interviewed the suspect in 1997 but were unaware at the time.
First appears on Episode 2