The brother of a slain Florida father wants his alleged killer to spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Timmy Coulthart, 41, spoke out from New Jersey after fugitive Isabelle Rose Johnson, 38, was arrested Thursday in Cottondale, North Florida, on suspicion of murdering his brother Jason Coulthart, 43. The victim, an electrician and father to a 20-year-old son, had been missing since May 24 before his remains were discovered in a shallow grave in Freeport.
“Let her rot in jail,” Timmy Coulthart told The Post in an exclusive interview.
“I’m happy she’s caught. I just want her to answer a certain amount of questions and rot in jail for the rest of my life. That’s all I want.”
Asked to describe his brother, Timmy said Coulthart was “loving, caring and helped anyone who needed help.” The 43-year-old dad was last seen leaving the College Condominiums on East College Boulevard before he was reported missing. His body was not found until June 25, when detectives executing a search warrant uncovered human remains buried on a property off Sunset Lane in Freeport.
Johnson was sporting a black T-shirt saying “FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH” when deputies took her into custody about 60 miles northeast of the murder scene, according to police. The 38-year-old suspect had been on the run since June 25, the same day Coulthart’s body was discovered, and had used several aliases and a web of accomplices to evade capture during the month-long manhunt.
Coulthart was found with a zip tie around his neck and his shallow grave had been covered in concrete with a black Cadillac parked over it, cops said. An unidentified witness cited in a police report told investigators that Johnson killed the victim by placing the zip tie around his neck.
“She covered the body with cement so that the dog would not dig it up again,” the witness told investigators, according to the report.
As to Johnson’s potential motive, the witness told detectives that “he was aware of her ‘getting rid’ of a boy because he was ‘aggravating and irritating her.'” The witness added that the “boy” was also “threatening to interfere” with custody of her children.
Johnson was described by law enforcement as a “dangerous” swindler known for making up sob stories to extract money or favors from strangers. During the manhunt, authorities warned that she had dyed and cut her hair to alter her appearance and was actively using disguises to avoid detection.
Five people have already been arrested for accessory to murder after the fact for allegedly assisting Johnson in her flight from justice. Among them were Fort Walton Beach couple Martin and Sandra Leaverton, charged with accessory after the fact to capital murder for allegedly helping her avoid apprehension. Bobbi Wagstaff, 31, of Sunset Lane, was also arrested and charged with accessory to capital murder after the fact and possession of methamphetamine.
Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson vowed to pursue all accomplices in the case. “The next step in this investigation is to hold every single person involved in Jason’s death accountable,” Adkinson said in a statement earlier in the investigation. “If they knew, if they helped, or if they chose not to speak up, they will have to answer for their role in this.”
In the viral moment that sparked the manhunt, authorities announced on June 25 that they had found Coulthart’s body buried in a shallow grave on the Freeport property. The discovery came after detectives received information linking the location to the missing father. Investigators noted that the grave had been covered with concrete and a vehicle parked over it in an apparent effort to conceal the remains. The brutal nature of the killing — death by zip tie strangulation — and the elaborate cover-up shocked the Niceville community where Coulthart had lived and worked.
Johnson is expected to be extradited from Jackson County to Walton County.