{"id":337004,"date":"2026-07-11T15:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/337004\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T15:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:57:07","slug":"nw-florida-authorities-make-two-more-arrests-in-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/337004\/","title":{"rendered":"NW Florida authorities make two more arrests in murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WALA<\/a>) – The Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Florida posted on its Facebook page Saturday the latest arrests in the murder of Jason Coulthart.<\/p>\n

Here is the post:<\/p>\n

TWO ADDITIONAL ARRESTS IN JASON COULTHART HOMICIDE; JOHNSON STILL AT LARGE<\/p>\n

WALTON COUNTY, FLA \u2014 The Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office has made two additional arrests in connection with the murder of Jason Coulthart, marking the fourth and fifth individuals charged in relation to the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n

On July 10, 2026, Michael Ray White, 74, and Kathleen Morris, 59, of Santa Rosa Beach, were arrested for accessory to a capital felony after the fact and obstruction. <\/p>\n

According to investigators, White knowingly provided assistance to Johnson as she evaded law enforcement between June 25 and June 30, 2026. <\/p>\n

Evidence shows White initially denied knowing Johnson while talking to investigators but later admitted she was at his home on multiple occasions during that period.<\/p>\n

White also allowed Johnson and a second suspect, Martin Leaverton, to stay at the home, provided supplies, and later coordinated moving Johnson to a second location. <\/p>\n

Morris, who resides at the same address, was also arrested in connection with the case after admitting she assisted Johnson by transporting her, providing supplies, and misleading deputies regarding Johnson\u2019s presence at the residence. <\/p>\n

Text messages recovered from Morris\u2019s phone further corroborate her involvement in helping Johnson avoid capture. <\/p>\n

Interviews with additional witnesses, including Martin and Sandra Leaverton, provided further confirmation that both White and Morris knowingly sheltered Johnson and assisted her efforts to elude law enforcement. <\/p>\n

The Leavertons admitted retrieving Johnson\u2019s belongings, supplying her with a cell phone, and attempting to find out\u2011of\u2011state refuge for her. They are still behind bars at the Walton County Jail.<\/p>\n

The discovery of Coulthart\u2019s remains occurred on June 25, 2026, following two independent statements provided to the Niceville Police Department<\/a> regarding a body located on a property on Sunset Lane in Freeport. <\/p>\n

A residential search warrant was executed that same day, leading to the discovery of human remains. An arrest warrant for Johnson was issued on June 26, 2026. This week, the remains were confirmed to belong to Jason Coulthart. <\/p>\n

Johnson remains at large. She is considered dangerous, and anyone who has seen her or has information on her whereabouts is urged to contact the Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone found to have helped or is still assisting Isabelle Johnson avoid arrest will be charged accordingly,\u201d said Sheriff Michael Adkinson. \u201cIf you give her a place to stay, help her hide, or lie for her, you will face consequences. This is a homicide case. We will not allow anyone to get in the way of this investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone with information is asked to call the Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office at (850) 892\u20118111 or contact Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers<\/a> at (850) 863\u2011TIPS. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WALA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WALA) – The Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Florida posted on its Facebook page Saturday the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-337004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}