65 witnesses against him. Among them were many of the inmates to whom Honken had confessed, including Fred Tokars. Tokars testified that Honken described strangling Lori Duncan and Greg Nicholson, and killed the children since "they could have been witnesses." In 2005, Tokars stopped an attempted escape by Honken, in which he plotted to escape with the help of white supremacists and murder witnesses. Ron McIntosh said Honken told him he killed the children since they "wouldn't be quiet, or wouldn't shut up." Dennis Putzier said Honken had bragged about murdering witnesses in 1993. Another inmate said Honken killed "rats" and children "raised by rats". Prosecutors played a tape in which Honken was recorded saying that he liked killing people and compared the feeling to getting high on drug. During cross-examination, a defense attorney questioned why someone like Honken would confide in "a couple of crackheads who steal hogs" for a living. "They are people who have no future," referring to the inmates. He said Honken was "a young man infatuated with drug manufacturing, basically a nerd.” Honken's sentencing On October 14, 2004, Honken was convicted of all 17 counts against him, including five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. During the sentencing phase, the prosecution said Honken, who they described as an "evil mastermind", deserved to die since he had committed mass murder, killed children, killed a second time months after committing the four initial murders, showed no remorse, and had continued to try to escape prison and commit even more murders while in maximum security prisons. Honken's defense presented testimony from his family, and pointed to his age and lack of prior violent convictions as mitigating factors. On October 27, 2004, jurors recommended life sentences for Honken for killing the adult victims and death sentences for killing the children. He was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005. Johnson's trial, sentencing, and commutation In 2005, Johnson was found guilty of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Prosecutors said she deserved to die since she willingly participated in the murder of children and lacked remorse. Johnson's defense team pointed to her dysfunctional upbringing and argued that she did not know Honken was going to kill the victims. Johnson admitted that she was involved in Honken's crimes, but blamed him for the murders and said he had manipulated her. In