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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The yellow roses and the box of candy would not change Jane Johnston’s mind this time.

Neither would the promises, the pressure, the phone calls, which Johnston’s co-workers estimated to number as many as 50 calls that day alone.

It had taken Johnston, 42, months to gather the courage to leave what had been a toxic, troubling roller-coaster ride of a relationship with Karl Knapp, a man she had known most of her life but to whom she had become romantically involved with less than three years before.

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That had been a mistake for both of them.

Murder TV

“The Mind of a Murderer” airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday on Investigation Discovery (Channel 111 on Comcast, 285 on DirecTV, 192 on Dish).

On Jan. 3, 2003, it became a bigger mistake for many more. Because after the flowers and the candy and the calls came the bullets and the blood, and not only was Johnston dead but so were two men in one of the worst workplace violence incidents in Albuquerque history.

Maybe you remember. And if you don’t, you will get a chance to educate yourself Thursday when the Investigation Discovery channel presents the case as part of its new series, “The Mind of a Murderer.”

The show (in which I make a brief appearance) is another in a long line of true crime cable TV shows – and, not surprisingly, Albuquerque has been featured in many of them. The hook here is host Michelle Ward’s journey into the mind of the criminal.

For this episode, Knapp, 60, was interviewed at the Lea County Correctional Facility near Hobbs, where he has served a dozen of the 76 years he was sentenced to for the murders of Johnston; Steven Goodwin, 49, her boss at Posh Limited; and Greg Maguire, also 49, manager at neighboring business, Poulin Design Remodeling.

I’ve not been given an advance copy of the script, but from what the producers tell me, Knapp isn’t contrite.

Perhaps that should be no surprise for a man whose drinking and methamphetamine use had begun to rot his mind and whose jealous rages had begun to rot his heart. Four months before he gunned down Johnston, police reports indicate, he had slashed her tires, rammed her car and threatened her repeatedly, telling her the last thing she would ever see was his face.

“Mr. Knapp, I don’t think probably you ever will understand what went down,” state District Judge Albert S. “Pat” Murdoch said before sentencing Knapp to the maximum sentence. “January 3rd was a nightmare most people will probably never wake up from.”

I’ll not give away what I know about the show’s interviews with family members of those killed that day in a quiet retail center near Washington and Menaul NE, but suffice it to say Murdoch’s words were prophetic.

So were Knapp’s.

Attorneys at trial described Knapp and Johnston as impetuous souls with a taste for meth. When things turned violent, Johnston left. But she came back, again and again.

In summer 2002, she gathered the courage to move out from the couple’s apartment and into her sister’s home. She dreamed of moving to Florida and having custody again of her three children because her ex-husband was dying, according to testimony.

In November 2002, Johnston cried when she got the job at Posh, a window furnishing store on Adams NE. It was a good job with good people, she told others. It was her way out.

By then, Knapp was back in.

That December, he was charged with battery against Johnston. Yet records show she posted his bail and asked that a restraining order she had against him be lifted.

After work Jan. 2, 2003, Johnston asked Goodwin, her boss, what to do about Knapp.

“He told her to move away and not tell anyone where she was going,” Goodwin’s wife, Roberta Goodwin, testified.

Domestic violence experts say the most dangerous time for a woman is when she finally decides to leave and when her abuser realizes he no longer wields the power. What happened to Johnston is a tragic example of that.

The day after her talk with her boss, Johnston seemed stronger and resolute, co-workers said. She gave away the flowers Knapp had sent; the candy was saved for co-workers to share. The calls were rejected.

Knapp didn’t relent. Fueled by beer, rage and rejection, he stormed into Posh with a loaded 9 mm handgun. Steven Goodwin was shot before he could get up from his desk.

Johnston ran outside as Maguire opened the door for her at Poulin. Both were shot near the entrance.

Knapp later barricaded himself in a nearby pawnshop and shot himself in the abdomen. He survived his wound. Nobody else did that day.

It will be interesting to learn more about the mind of this murderer, I suppose. But the better lesson lies, I think, with the victims – the good men who tried to help and the woman who tried to leave and the family members and friends whose hearts were shattered in a half-hour span of violence.

Let this TV program be added incentive to those who must make up their minds to break free from domestic violence, who must find their strength, reach out for help and leave before it’s too late for them, for others.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to ABQjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.