By: Richard L. Smith
A federal inmate serving time at a New Jersey correctional facility is facing a murder charge after authorities said he admitted to choking his cellmate and repeatedly stabbing him, including through the eye with a pencil.
According to information released by U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer, William Vontrail Johnson, 39, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been charged in connection with the violent death of another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton.
Federal authorities said the incident came to light on March 4, 2025, when Bureau of Prisons personnel discovered Johnson’s cellmate unconscious in their cell, lying in a pool of blood.
The victim had no pulse and was not breathing when correctional staff found him. Emergency lifesaving efforts were immediately initiated before he was transported to a hospital.
The inmate was pronounced dead the following day.
An autopsy determined that the victim suffered multiple puncture wounds to his head, neck and chest. The medical examiner classified the death as a homicide.
According to federal court documents, Johnson allegedly provided FBI investigators with a disturbing account of the attack.
Investigators said Johnson admitted that he initially attempted to strangle his cellmate and released him after believing he had died.
When the victim began breathing again, Johnson allegedly continued attacking him using several methods, including stabbing him through the eye with a pencil.
At the time of the incident, Johnson was already serving a federal prison sentence for trafficking a minor for sexual exploitation following a conviction in Oklahoma.
Johnson appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden federal court on