Two besotted teenagers who dismissed an unusual odour in their home as a “sewage issue” to party guests, were actually concealing a gruesome secret.
Cassandra Bjorge, 17, and her boyfriend, Johnny Hiro Rider, 19, had prepared for their gathering by purchasing groceries, tidying the upstairs rooms, and attempting to eliminate a persistent smell.
Cassandra had doused the bathroom floor with bleach, while Johnny had sealed the door to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
Despite their efforts, guests at the subsequent house party complained about a foul smell emanating from upstairs.
Johnny brushed it off as a plumbing issue, claiming that the toilet was out of order and waste had been accumulating for days.
However, when police arrived at the unassuming suburban property in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2017, they uncovered the horrifying truth.
Two bodies had been left in separate rooms. One man had been brutally beaten and stabbed, his throat slit, surrounded by bloody footprints from a savage attack that included stomping on his face and torso.
A second body, a woman who had also been brutally beaten and had her throat cut, was found in the sealed bathroom. The entire upstairs area was soaked in blood, reports the Mirror.
It transpired that the home was Casssandra’s, and the corpses were those of her grandparents, Wendy and Randall Bjorge. Police reports indicate they had met their cruel end by being stabbed and battered with a tyre iron, hammer, baseball bat and butcher knives.
There was a chilling voicemail left to Johnny’s mother the day after this gruesome discovery. Stephanie Soo from the Rotten Mango podcast provided the content of his disturbing message.
Johnny said: “Hey, Ma; it’s Johnny. I’m okay. I’m evil. I’m sorry. Tell Mindy I’m sorry. Tell Kevin I’m sorry. I’m not well. I’m dying as we speak. I love you. I’ll see you later, okay? I love you; bye.”
Subsequently, Cassandra and Johnny were found unconscious lying on a bathroom floor and were rushed to the hospital. After coming around, Cassandra was questioned by detectives about the events.
She confessed she tried taking her own life because she couldn’t bear her reality any longer. Feeling immensely “angry and depressed”, she described her world as “collapsing” in on her.
When further questioned, Cassandra shockingly claimed her boyfriend used a knife on her grandfather in her presence, stating “we” had slit his throat.
Upon realising she had unintentionally admitted complicity in her grandparents’ murder, the teenager immediately attempted to retract her statement.
In a chilling hospital recording, Cassandra confessed: “I wasn’t the one who intentionally thought about it, thought about doing that.” A police officer is heard probing: “Thought about doing what?”
“Say it. Once you say it, it’s out,” urged an officer, prompting Cassandra to admit: “Killing my grandparents.” The harrowing details of the murder night began to unfold.
Wendy was in her room with Cassandra around midnight while Randall slept separately when they heard grunts and the sound of blows from the next room.
Johnny was savagely attacking her grandfather. In a moment of cold-blooded decision-making, Cassandra grabbed a tyre iron and struck Wendy on the head, then dragged her into the adjoining room to continue the assault.
They had brought a backpack with a tyre iron and duct tape, and Cassandra bound Wendy’s hands, ankles, and mouth.
Cassandra fetched three large knives, handing them to Johnny as they interrogated Wendy while Johnny repeatedly stabbed Randall.
After obtaining the grandparents’ safe code, Cassandra opened it and took approximately $1,000 in cash before Johnny delivered a fatal cut to Randall’s throat.
Wendy was found lying motionless on the floor, but Johnny, thinking she was pretending to be dead, struck her at the base of her neck with a tyre iron before slashing her throat.
Afterwards, they cleaned themselves up, washing off the blood and changing their clothes before taking Randall’s car to a local supermarket and returning home with groceries.
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
For several days following the murder, Cassandra and Johnny stayed in the house with the bodies still inside. They sealed the doors to mask the odour and even invited friends over for a cannabis session.
In 2018, both culprits were sentenced to life imprisonment after admitting to the murders.
