BRONX MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER IN THE STABBING DEATHS OF
THREE YOUNG GIRLS IN PARKCHESTER BETWEEN 1988 AND 1990

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 40 year old convict
admitted brutally murdering three young girls, one during a robbery following a drug binge in
1988 and two during a robbery in 1990. All three murders occurred in the Parkchester section of
the Bronx.

James Johnson, a.k.a. James Buie, pled guilty to three counts of Murder in the 2nd degree
in the stabbing deaths of Joanna Acosta, 13, Michelle Ross,15, and Sharon Sadhoo, 17. Under
terms of the plea agreement, Acting State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett will sentence
Johnson to 30 years to life imprisonment. Johnson will receive two concurrent terms of 15 years
to life for the murders of Michelle Ross and Sharon Sadhoo, which will run consecutive to a term
of 15 years to life for the murder of Joanna Acosta. Sentence will be imposed in State Supreme
Court Part 60 in February 2007, on a date to be set by the court.

The first of the three murders occurred on September 15, 1988 when Acosta, 13, left her
apartment to throw away some garbage and was confronted by Johnson who had been on the
roof of the building smoking crack. Johnson forced her back inside the apartment on
Metropolitan Avenue, tied her hands and feet, and stabbed her numerous times. More than two
years later on November 6, 1990, Johnson followed Ross, 15, and Sadhoo, 17, into another
building in the vicinity of Metropolitan Avenue and forced his way into Ross’ apartment where
the girls were bound and stabbed multiple times.

More than a decade and a half later in July 2005, Johnson finally was charged and
indicted for the murders as a result of partial fingerprints left at the murder scenes, advances in
technology, and the persistence of Detectives Ronald Pereira of the 43rd Precinct and Daniel
Perruzza of the NYPD Latent Print Section. Over the years, the development of new technology
has made it easier for investigators to match partial fingerprints with full fingerprints. When the
evidence in the murder cases finally came together in 2005, Johnson was already in state prison
serving time for an armed robbery that he had committed ten years earlier in 1995.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Edward Talty, Chief of the
Gangs / Major Case Bureau.