Johnnie Daniel was a good Christian woman who had an open-door policy at her home in a quiet subdivision of Houston, Texas.
The 84-year-old widow, the great aunt of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, wouldn’t hesitate to provide money, food, and shelter to those in need, no matter who they were or where they’d come from.
But Daniel’s lifelong commitment to unconditional kindness was rewarded with a vicious and brutal end.
She was found dead in her living room on August 17, 2006, her face bashed in with a claw hammer, and a copy of the New Testament and a green pencil placed upon her chest.
Police struggled to find a motive for the horrifying crime, but eventually charged Edric Wilson, a troubled 29-year-old already in custody on separate aggravated assault charges, with her murder, after his DNA was matched to material found beneath Daniel’s fingernails.
The case against Wilson would languish in legal limbo for 18 years before he was eventually released from custody in March, having never made it to trial, after the DNA evidence against him was found to be far weaker than originally believed.
Now, almost 20 years after Daniel’s death, officials in Houston have reopened her case, hoping that advances in forensic technology will help identify her killer once and for all.
Johnnie Daniel, 84, the aunt of Osteen’s mother, Dodie Osteen, was found dead in her home in eastern Harris County in August 2006
Joel Osteen is considered one of the country’s most famous megachurch pastors
In a statement over the weekend, Senior Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Gilliland confirmed that Daniel’s case is ‘open and very much active.’
A spokesperson for Joel Osteen has not yet responded to a comment request from the Daily Mail. Wilson has also been contacted but without reply.
Wilson was charged with Daniel’s murder within weeks of her body being found.
At the time, he was living with his then-wife and three children in nearby Channelview.
He had a criminal record and was wanted in connection with the stabbing of his neighbor, which had taken place a few months earlier.
But he wasn’t on anyone’s radar for Johnnie Daniel’s murder – at least not until he was finally arrested for the stabbing incident that September.
As part of the booking process, Wilson was ordered to submit a DNA sample, which was entered into a national database.
It came back as a possible match to genetic material found beneath Daniel’s fingernails, according to court records.
However, such findings are never certain. In Wilson’s case, forensic analysts reported at the time that his DNA profile appeared to be similar to a profile recovered from under Daniel’s fingernails, sharing that there was a 1 in 73.1 million chance it wasn’t him.
The probability offered a compelling result. But, in the years that followed, DNA labs across Houston were hit with multiple scandals, and the methodology for identifying possible matches between DNA profiles has changed dramatically over the last two decades.
A mistake in the Daniel’s investigation wouldn’t be realized for several years yet.
Edric Wilson was originally arrested for the crime and spent 18 years behind bars before he was released
In the meantime, Wilson was left to molder behind bars without bond, for a trial that never came, after his case suffered repeated delays and numerous setbacks.
His defense attorneys – supported by several experts – believed he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
A judge ultimately agreed, and the state’s focus shifted away from prosecuting Wilson and towards restoring his competency.
What followed was a succession – and seemingly never-ending cycle – of psychological assessments and waitlists for treatment beds while attorneys argued over his mental capabilities.
But Wilson insists he was never suffering from mental illness, and the claims of incompetence were concocted by his lawyers as part of an elaborate ‘stall tactic.’
‘I kept arguing, there’s nothing wrong with me,’ Wilson told the Houston Chronicle.
He said his lawyers responded: ‘“Don’t you want to be in a mental hospital? It’s an easier time. It’s better than you getting a life sentence or the death penalty.”’
While the tactic played out, the incentive to investigate Wilson’s claims of innocence became secondary, as did any plans to re-test the strength of the DNA test against him.
Had his case gone to trial as Wilson wanted, it’s possible the weakness of some of the evidence that originally tied him to Daniel’s killing might have been discovered sooner.
That breakthrough finally came last spring, after lab technicians re-examined the initial test results against Wilson and came to a drastically different conclusion from that of their forensic peers in 2006.
The chance that the DNA found under Daniel’s fingernails could belong to an ‘unrelated’ person and not Wilson was now 1 in 15,830, which is enough uncertainty for it to be considered an accidental match.
Osteen has spoken sparingly of his late great aunt over the last 19 years. He told The Guardian in 2010 that her death reaffirmed his faith
Prosecutors found that the DNA that linked Wilson to the scene was not as strong as they initially thought and are now back at square one
The case against Wilson almost rested solely on that DNA profile.
In August, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the capital murder charge against Wilson, citing insufficient evidence.
He has since been released on parole in connection with the unrelated assault case.
Sean Teare, who was sworn in as Harris County District Attorney a few months after the charges were dropped, said Wilson’s case had suffered ‘failures at every level.’
‘It’s a tragic case, and the thing that it spells out is people can fall through the cracks,’ he added.
Speaking after his release, Wilson lamented the time he’d lost idling in his cell, waiting for his day in court.
‘If my bond had been lower and at a reasonable level, which the law requires, I could have been out with my family, out working, out living my life,’ he told reporters in March.
‘In reality, I was stuck. I was living a life sentence as a guilty person. Not innocent until proven guilty, but guilty until proven innocent.’
Now, investigators are back to square one.
No further details about the direction of their renewed probe have been shared, but Harris County Deputy Gilliland pledged this week that his department ‘remains steadfast in its commitment to securing justice for the Daniel family.’
Osteen has spoken sparingly of his late great aunt over the last 19 years.
He is the leader of Lakewood Church and is considered to be one of the best-known televangelists in the US.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2010, Osteen said Daniel’s death only affirmed his faith in a higher power, rather than causing him to question it.
‘I don’t want to sound like I’m super spiritual or anything but… I don’t… I haven’t… From the time that I was little, I’ve had a good sense of trust and confidence that God was in control. Even with my great aunt. I believe part of faith is trusting,’ he shared.
‘Maybe this would be a better example. We had a good friend and their 16-year-old boy left one night and he wasn’t supposed to take the car.
‘He hit a tree and killed himself. They’re still not over it. And you know, they’re good people.
‘It’s hard to explain, but… I believe that God can keep you… that you won’t leave this earth until you’re supposed to go.’
Osteen has amassed a net-worth of around $100 million and has been criticized in the part for his lavish lifestyle while preaching the importance of generosity
Despite the shocking nature of her death and her relationship to one of the country’s best-known pastors, Daniel’s killing barely registered beyond the local news cycle
Wilson was left to molder behind bars without bond, for a trial that never came, after his case suffered repeated delays and numerous setbacks
Despite the shocking nature of her death and her relationship to one of the country’s best-known pastors, Daniel’s killing barely registered beyond local headlines, casting only the faintest shadow over Osteen’s gilded public life.
As the case faded from public consciousness, Osteen continued to assail the ranks of evangelical fame, transforming his Lakewood Church into a stadium-sized, spiritual juggernaut.
His sermons reached millions, his books became bestsellers, and he amassed a fortune of an estimated $100 million.
But his rise to prominence hasn’t been without controversy.
Osteen is often criticized in Christian circles for his peddling of what’s known as the prosperity gospel, the idea that God will bless true believers with wealth if they have unwavering faith and give generously to their church.
Others within Christianity argue that Osteen’s teachings are antithetical to those of Jesus, and even potentially harmful to those experiencing hardship or poverty, who are encouraged to give what little they have with the promise of material returns that can’t be guaranteed.
He came under mounting scrutiny in 2017 when Lakewood hesitated to open its doors to flood victims in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, with critics blasting the flashy pastor for seemingly caring more about his wealth than the welfare of his fellow man.
Three years later, the church drew renewed scrutiny once again when Osteen accepted $4.4million in federal COVID relief funds, despite his considerable personal wealth and the church’s tax-exempt status.
Amidst the backlash, Osteen was skewered for his opulent lifestyle, which included splurging $300,000 on a Ferrari sports car and a $10.5 million mansion in Houston’s much-desired River Oaks neighborhood.
Both the car and the home became lightning rods for accusations of hypocrisy, with critics charging Osteen with preaching generosity while practicing greed.
All the while, the murder of his elderly great-aunt – a woman who is said to have lived out the very principles of generosity and sacrifice he so often preaches – remains an unresolved footnote, with investigators now back where they began, almost 20 years on.
