Florida Mom’s Suspicious Death Exposed by Home Security Footage

"She's gone! Oh, God!" When a young mother is found dead in her own bedroom, "I don't know at this point." Police assume she shared a bed with her killer. "Why would you make that up?" "Ask him." Her husband blames her drug problem. "I can lower her and I will prove that this is the real story." But the truth lies somewhere in the middle. "My face is literally right here. Just straighten it on me." "It feels so bad, my face." "Joke up these videos." When sex, drugs, and lies lead to one woman's murder, and her six-year-old son helps crack the case. "We hope he doesn't kill you." "That'll take his death." "It's a family out here." "Why me?" "I will have my journey call you." "I will have my life call." "See, this is the backyard, and we got hammocks, and we got another huge ass hammock." Dude, I love it, because I look up at this cheese and see all the squirrels and the birdies. The Palm Coast Florida neighborhood, where 25-year-old Brandy Selenza lives, is normally quiet on Saturday mornings. So when a sudden scream echoes down the street on the morning of April 7th, 2018, Selenza's neighbors take notice. "Hello, how are you doing?" "Good to see you." "Good to see you." "You've been doing this today." "Yes, I have." "Now, your husband was telling me you heard a noise or something after nine?" "Yeah, and it was so brief, and I'm one that my here's dog being beaten or a child or anything." "I will call the police because I'm holding my finger." "So, and it was just a very breathing, and it was, I could tell, it was a child, but it wasn't a desperate, you know, like something really hurt." "It was just sort of a--" The sound wasn't a cry for help, but it was unusual, especially because it preceded another infrequent noise for neighbors on filter lane, police silence. At 10.37 a.m., law enforcement from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office responded to a 9-1-1 call at Salenza's address. Her husband, 36-year-old Keith Johansson, tells the dispatcher there was an accidental shooting inside the home. An indoor security camera captures a few seconds of the 9-1-1 call. "You got a shot? My wife's shot." "I was in a shower, and I've heard some gun shots, and I think that my wife had to go shot or something." Just minutes later, officers arrive. "It's my wife, man." Johansson and Salenza are newlyweds. They've recently moved into their new home on filter lane, along with Salenza's six-year-old son, from a previous relationship. All right, what's your name, man? Keith Johansson. Keith? Yep. What's your middle name? Jay. Where I'm John? Keith. What? What what what what's going on today? Nothing. You guys were talking? Yeah, man, we got up. I took his. Howers. He just made your coffee. Okay. We're not what you guys think it up. How are I here? We're boom, boom. My gun out. And she was laying on the floor with guns right next to him. I was like, "Go." So I called you guys immediately. What time did you. What time did you sleep at your home in my house now? Inside the master bedroom, police find Brandi Salenza lying on her back on the floor between the bed and the nightstand. At her feet are two handguns, one on either side of her body. A third gun is stuffed into a box to her right. Her shirt is stained with blood. Her face and body are almost entirely devoid of color, except for the bottoms of her hands and arms where Levitity has clearly begun to set in. Salenza is pronounced dead at the scene. You guys arguing anything? Nothing like that. Okay. Has she been depressed or anything? No. Has she made any kind of statements that she wanted to hurt herself or anything? No, man. We just got in this house. We're having a good, you know? We tried to start a new life. Right. So you got in the shower? How long were you in the shower, would you say? Maybe five minutes. Five minutes. Five minutes, boom. But I thought it was a boom. How many shots did you hear? Two. You heard two? And I thought it was a balloon at first. That I heard this Hagenberry shot. And I ran out there and stayed her lane. So I called you guys in the video. Where was a ******* in this room? The inside of the home is disorderly. Rooms, drawers, and cabinets are filled to the brim with trash. Guns, drugs, and pornographic material are scattered from room to room. Through the mess, police narrowed their search to the master bedroom and bathroom. Keith Johansson says he was in the shower when the gun went off. But when investigators begin their search, they become suspicious. The nightstand next to Celenza's body appears damaged as though there was an altercation nearby or perhaps was hit by a stray bullet. The state of the bathroom also leaves investigators with questions. There are clothes on the bathroom floor, but the only towel is neatly hung up. The shower walls don't appear to be wet and neither do the bars of soap inside. Police quickly noticed that Johansson himself also looks surprisingly dry. He's got a lot of scratches on him. Yeah. And he's not wet. Yeah. So he was in the shower. Yeah. Okay. Are they put in the back seat? Do we secure him? I mean, not at the moment now. He's going to have to talk to an interview. Before they can question Johansson any further, they want to create some distance between him and Celenza's six-year-old son. There's your son's. Right here. See you flip this. And that turns the lights on up top, see him? You want to sit in the car? What do you want to stand? I want to sit inside the car. You want to sit inside my car? Yeah. Okay. The little boy doesn't yet know what happened to his mom and police want to keep it that way for as long as they can. She's gone. Oh, God. Shut up. Shut up. Just have it. Are you serious? I'm sure. I don't want nobody to ever have a gun in this [bleep] family again. At this point, we don't want to. freaking out anymore than what's going on, okay? Oh, what do I do? I don't know at this point. All right. Why? I don't know. That's what we're trying to do. There's no God. Huh? There's no God. Where's the wife? You would do this to us. Was she having any kind of difficulties? None, man. We were fine. Was she? I mean, does she have any kind of like mental health issues? Not really. She gets depressed once in a while, but not. She wasn't having anything. No, nothing like mental health. Johansson insists that his wife Brandy was not struggling with mental illness. Even if she was, the gunshot wounds don't appear to be self-inflicted. Investigators note two major indicators that someone else likely pulled the trigger. The two firearms on the floor at Salenza's feet and perhaps most obviously the number of shots fired. Salenza died from two bullet wounds, one to the center of the chest and one to the breast. So she knows how to shoot. She's familiar with guns? Yeah. When was the last time you guys went shooting? I'll do it two weeks ago. Two weeks ago. Did you guys like go down there? We're talking regular states. Okay. Investigators are skeptical of Johansson's story. Once the scene is secure, they take him to the Sheriff's Office, where he spends the next 12 hours in an interrogation room. Just a lot. Yeah, just a lot. And I just don't know. You know, I'm going to move on. It's going to be one moment at a time. Yeah, I can't go back to that house. I don't know if I'm strong enough yet. Because it's all like a big nightmare to me. So hopefully that man, I'm starting to get help me so I'm strong enough. You don't have to go to church to have a relationship with that. Okay. You got to improve me. You know, and it's just, I know she's probably in a better place, but why couldn't she just stay with me longer? You know? Yeah. While Johansson talks to detectives, Selenza's son is in an interview room of his own, and what he tells investigators is shocking. So you said you lived with your mom and your dad and your cat and your lizard. And you have a ten-year-old sister, you know, to see? Yeah. And my mom went to the, um, she went to the hospital. Well, tell me about that. She was, um, my dad was in the, um, [BLANK_AUDIO] "My dad was in the shower, my mom was in her bedroom and she acted as a shot herself." "Who told you that?" "No, bro. I saw it. I didn't see it, but I heard the gunshots, and the ambulance came to my house." Okay. Selenza's son seems to actually corroborate Johansson's version of events, but the forensic interviewer wonders if there might be more to the story. "You're not in any trouble, okay? And there's nothing to be scared of, okay? Are you scared of anybody? You know, didn't anybody tell you to say something? No." So tell me, after what happened, after you heard the two bangs. "Oh, my dad called. He called the ambulance to me, but I couldn't because I don't have any younger than me. My mom's, my dad's, and my grandpas. I don't have any younger than me." Okay. Selenza's son may not have been told what to say, but investigators know that doesn't mean that someone didn't tell him exactly what happened. "So, did you hear anybody get mad at each other this morning?" "No." "Okay." "What happened?" "He accidentally shot herself by himself." "Who told you that, buddy?" "My dad, whenever after he called him, because I yelled why he said stay in my bedroom after he called him." "Okay." "Did, um, ***** come into the room, chill? No, no, no, no. It locks. There's no way, no, no, no. He always stay out of our room. Always. He knew it was not allowed in there. And, uh, he was watching TV. And I was on the phone with 911 and I was a****** stay in your room. You know, I mean, he's a plastic. I think you're my max of the n****** cat herself. And that's something else. And he's like, why are you my n****** cat, that ain't. "So, when your daddy yelled at you called the ambulance, what was daddy wearing?" "And I was wearing his coat." "Has what?" "His shirt." "His arm." "Cool shirt." "His knee has." His cool shirt. It's a small distinction between the two stories. But as investigators know, the devil is in the details. "I don't know what to go from here, guys. Like, like, it's like, almost not even real to me." "Right." "You know, and go ahead, fairly." "Is there any chance at all that something different happened that you have not told us?" "None, because that's what happened. I got no reason to lie to you guys. I mean, you guys are investigators for that sake. That's what I've seen, and that's what I heard." "Well, I mean, you said you have no reason to lie. I mean, I'm not saying that you're flat out lying to us. That's not what I'm saying at all. What I am saying is that what we have at the scene does not add up to what you're telling us. But this is your opportunity to help yourself and to lay it all out for us. Because there's a backstory. This isn't the story." "This is the story, and I get a lawyer, and I will prove that this is the real story." "Okay, and we're completely entitled to that." "Um, that's f*****. I mean, that's all that happened." "We did ask him, and you know what he told us? Do you want to know?" "Yeah, because I was up." He told us that he heard his mom scream. "I heard no screams at all." "She had a little scream." "Did you hear any noises or anything before that? Just that scream around nine o'clock?" "She heard that scream." "And then I heard too much noise." "I don't know, it was nobody with her. It was just her." As other witnesses begin to challenge Johansson's story, he becomes frustrated, but he doesn't get back down, and neither do detectives. "Why would he make that up?" "Ask him." "Is he a liar?" "He has been on to conferences." "Does he tell you on the regular that his mom screams in the bedroom?" "No." "I see, he ever told you that his mom screams and it was a lie." "No, not screaming, but he lies a lot. You can ask his real father." Detectives take Johansson up on that suggestion with a phone call to James, the little boy's biological father. And as it turns out, his son told him much of the same information he already shared with investigators. "Hello?" "Hey, how's it going, Mr. James? He's telling us to mention about what exactly happened and how peace hair wasn't wet and immediately after the gunshots. He came into his room, dressed in everything, saying anything to the showers. I mean, there's just a bunch of stuff going on." "Good, man." Investigators are getting the same feeling, especially when they consider that Salenza was no stranger to handling firearms. Miss firing into her chest twice seems unlikely. Salenza's friend, Joe, who was at her home the night before the shooting, tells investigators that Salenza knew how to defend herself and how to stay safe around a firearm. "She knew how to take the safety off and shoot and defend herself and then turn it back on." "Okay." "Turned her reloaded." Johansson is also experienced with guns. He and Salenza went to the shooting range often. And the pistols in the house, including the 9mm Salenza was shot with, were purchased by him. "I know we had three saves. And were they always shot when you went over there?" "Yes, always locked as well." And were the firearms always in them? "Yes, but one pistol. He kept at his side or on him at all times." The deeper investigators dig into Salenza's death, the more they discover about Keith Johansson. In 2015, two years before his marriage to Brandy Salenza, Johansson was accused of stalking a former girlfriend. A judge prohibited Johansson from coming within 500 feet of the woman. Nine months later, she reported that Johansson had violated the order and alleged that Salenza aided him in contacting her through Facebook. The case was dropped before Johansson was formally charged, but his ex and her family have information about Keith Johansson that they'd like to share with investigators. "So recently we actually have come down, which is so that we can have a quick conversation about, I believe, Keith, Johansson. He's your daughter's ex, is that correct?" So why would you think that, first of all, why do you think that if his wife did die, that he would be capable of doing that? "I mean, I know in the article." "He feels like to leave but be as my daughter." He hasn't passed? "Yes, I moved her out of that relationship and moved her in her house to keep her away from him." And his face was literally right here, just screaming on me, he could feel a spit on my face, and he just like pushed me and I pushed him back and flexed on me, and I just, I rocked away. I was like, I'm not doing this. If I had stayed with him, it would be a different situation right now. And that's what scares me." A thorough search of Salenza's and Johansson's filter street home reveals that the couple had indoor security cameras in several rooms. Some of the footage from the day Salenza died appears to be manipulated or possibly deleted, but police are able to obtain footage from the day's leading up that seems to corroborate Johansson's ex-girlfriend's experience. It also presents investigators with a possible motive for Johansson to kill his wife and a fair. There are hours of footage that show volatile arguments between the Johansen appears angry and emotional in one video he even pulls out a gun. You know what? I'm going to leave it here once you want. Maybe one day you will. You wouldn't leave a f***ing dead. Um, I would never do anything like that. Um, accident I have to be a kind of offended. I feel offended too if we're going to go to that level. If you do many f***ing answers, man, two, and you. Joh, cop these videos. I'll give f***ing. I just thought that of my box and told you stuff. And that, you know? Sure. And I don't know how you're telling me that that's not what happened. Let's f***s. Investigators tell Johansen they plan to access the home security footage to see if it captured Celens' death. Then at Johansen's suggestion, detected swab his hands for gunshot residue. Evidence at the crime scene shows that he might have already tried to wash his hands, but investigators are doing everything they can to uncover the truth about Brandy Celens' death. Just like Keith Johansen is doing everything he can to convince detectives he didn't pull the trigger despite the proof he threatened to do exactly that. This makes me so upset I'm willing to live or leave everything I've worked for. Just a good way so I don't f***ing go to jail. I heard you. I have somebody else to hurt you. This guy knows you deserve it. I hope that thing was worth your f***ing f***. With the footage, the evidence at the scene and the damning witness statements from Celens' friends and son, investigators are certain they have their guide. After 12 hours of interrogation, Johansen requests a lawyer and calls for reinforcements. Just don't say anything to us. No more. Just you're just going to have to lay on the table and go to jail. You're just going to have to relax. I know, but you're going to have to relax. You're going to have to be strong. Should we leave on the number of the lawyer? You guys will do that. Well, you need to have it too. I got it on my phone. On April 19, accompanied by his lawyer, Johansen goes back to the sheriff's office to give investigators his email password and other phone data. Despite already having told detectives, he only had one phone. He now admits that he has multiple. I'm trying to work with you guys. You know, it's most impossible. And I'm trying to get to the bottom of all this. Alright, okay. Maybe try. It takes investigators more than a week to gather enough evidence to make an official arrest. Let me see your hands. Step off here. Step off. Here I go. Here I go. Here I go. On April 27, 2018, Keith Johansen is arrested for the murder of his wife of two years, Brandy Salenza, and charged with second degree murder. Over time, Johansen's story slowly shifts from claiming Salenza accidentally shot herself to suggesting she took her own life. By the time he takes the stand at his trial in October 2021, Johansen finally admits he is the one who killed his wife. Though now he claims it was in self-defense. After she acted out in a meth-fueled rage caused by a 10-day binge. Witness statements in the search of the home support Johansen's claim that he and Salenza used drugs together. But in video from a home security camera that captured some of Salenza's final minutes, she appears to be crying, not enraged. Johansen's testimony just wasn't enough for the jury to side with him. In 2021, Keith Johansen has found guilty of the murder of Brandy Salenza and his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For Long Crime Investigates, I'm Kristen Thorn. [BLANK_AUDIO]