DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (Court TV) — A judge is weighing whether to grant bond to a woman charged with killing a man who was found naked, zip-tied and dismembered under concrete on her property.
Isabelle Johnson, 38, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Jason Coulthart, 43, who was first reported missing in early June 2026 — three weeks before his body was found.
Isabelle Johnson appears in court for a bond hearing on Aug. 26, 2026. (Court TV)
Investigators searching for the victim received a tip from a witness who reported that Johnson had admitted to killing the victim “by placing a zip tie around his neck” before burying him in her yard. After burying the victim, Johnson allegedly went to Georgia, but returned to Florida when her roommate reported that a dog on the property had dug up the body and asked Johnson to return to clean up the problem.
Deputies with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant after receiving the tip and found a body buried in a shallow grave and covered with “partially fresh concrete.” Inside the residence on the property, investigators found the victim’s credit cards alongside other zip ties.
Investigators said the victim was strangled with the zip tie; he was buried naked with both legs severed.
Walton County Sheriff’s Office investigator Conner Dunn testified at a pretrial detention hearing on Wednesday that digital evidence showed the victim arriving at the defendant’s home on May 26, 2026, but nothing thereafter. In a text to another person later that evening, Johnson said, “I’m actually trying not to go to prison. I have everything; I’m just trying to clear everything up. I’ll call you as soon as I’m in the van headed to you.”
Johnson allegedly told multiple acquaintances that she had killed Coulthart because “he was coercing her to perform criminal acts for him and that the victim was abusive because he wanted more from the relationship than she wanted to give,” investigators wrote in reports reviewed by Court TV.
Johnson wasn’t arrested for nearly two months after prosecutors filed charges against her; in court on Wednesday, Sgt. Eric Welton testified that she eluded police by using disguises and multiple names. “She jokes on jail phone calls about having someone obtain a fake pregnancy belly and wigs from where she was found,” Welton said. He added that she “also jokes about having male facial hair as well.” In that jail call, Johnson allegedly asked someone to remove evidence of the disguises from the property where she was found.
“When she flees, she changes her identity, she changes her looks, she tries to use a pregnancy belly,” Assistant State Attorney Joshua Mitchell said as he urged the judge to keep Johnson behind bars. “Based upon that, the State believes that any cash or professional bond that this court was to entertain is essentially going to guarantee that she would flee.”
Johnson’s attorney, Russell Ramsey, argued that prosecutors presented no evidence that the defendant posed any danger to the community. “My client is looking forward to aggressively pursuing her defense in this case; she’s not a risk to flee.”
Judge J. Ryan Love said he would issue a written order with his decision.
