A jury was selected Tuesday in Bowie County to decide if a 56-year-old woman is guilty of stabbing a man to death in August 2015.
Shirley Ann Falkowski is accused of killing James Earl Johnson at his residence in DeKalb, Texas, where his body was discovered Aug. 5, 2015. She allegedly confessed during an interview with Texas Rangers in February 2019.
Witnesses allegedly reported seeing Johnson and Falkowski together Aug. 4, 2015, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Banking records allegedly show Falkowski attempted to use Johnson’s debit card in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 2015, the same day Johnson’s body was found.
Falkowski was first interviewed by Texas Rangers on Aug. 7, 2015. At that time she allegedly claimed Johnson had given her his debit card to get cash for cigarettes but said that it did not work because she didn’t have the correct PIN number. Investigators tracked down the white car she was seen driving at the bank and spoke to the owner.
The owner allegedly reported that he had loaned Falkowski his white four-door Pontiac because she needed it for a move. The car was seized by investigators and a search revealed a blood stain. A sample of the stain allegedly matched Johnson’s DNA.
Falkowski was interviewed a second time Feb. 12, 2019, by Texas Ranger Greg Wilson at the DeKalb police department. Falkowski allegedly confessed to stabbing Johnson in August 2015 at the February 2019 interview.
Online sources show Falkowski pleaded guilty and received a 12-year term for second-degree murder in St. Louis, Mo., in September 1998.
Falkowski has been in the Bowie County jail since February 2019. Her bond is set at $500,000.
