How A Teenager Raised By Grandparents Killed Them, Then Partied Hard With Her Boyfriend For Days

In April of 2017, the Gwinnett County Police Department recorded the most harrowing cases of twin murders committed in cold blood by a pair of teenagers. The victims, Randall and Wendy Bjorge, were brutally killed by their own granddaughter, Cassandra Bjorge, and her boyfriend, Johnny Rider.

​The duo were charged with murder and aggravated assault by the police, and they later received a sentence of life in prison. While they pleaded guilty to the crimes, the investigators were still left clueless about the true motive behind the murders.

The 63-year-old couple, Randall and Wendy, were residents of an otherwise peaceful neighborhood of Lawrenceville. They were also the primary caregivers to their seventeen-year-old granddaughter, Cassandra, who reportedly had a rough history with her grandparents.​

According to authorities, the Bjorge home had been the subject of multiple welfare checks by the Gwinnett County Police Department, particularly during incidents in which Cassandra was reported as a runaway by her grandmother.

A call for reporting assault was received by the authorities once more on April 8, 2017, at around 10:00 p.m. Upon arrival, the officers found Randall and Wendy brutally killed with multiple blunt force injuries and their throats slit. The medical examiner declared their deaths as possible homicide.

Besides the killings, police said they also responded that same day to a separate assault report at 1685 Rambling Woods. Officers found a woman and her boyfriend severely beaten with baseball bats. The woman told investigators that her brother, Johnny Rider, was responsible for the attack and had stolen their vehicle.

While canvassing the area, officers located another vehicle parked nearby that was registered to Wendy Bjorge. Investigators eventually concluded that Cassandra Bjorge and Rider were connected to both incidents, including the killings of Wendy and Randall Bjorge.

Authorities later tracked the stolen vehicle belonging to Rider’s sister to an apartment complex on McGinnis Ferry Road. A SWAT operation was carried out, and both teenagers were found inside the residence suffering from what police described as self-inflicted wrist injuries. The pair were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Cassandra Bjorge and Johnny Rider were initially taken into custody on suspicion of murder and assault. During questioning, investigators said Cassandra later described how she and Rider allegedly planned the killings.

According to authorities, the 17-year-old told investigators that Rider suggested they could live their “dream life” if they killed their family members. Cassandra allegedly admitted that she was initially hesitant about killing her grandparents but eventually agreed to the plan.

Investigators said the couple arrived at the Bjorge home around 11:30 p.m. on April 8. Authorities alleged that Cassandra knew when her grandmother, Wendy Bjorge, usually went to sleep, and the timing was planned accordingly. Prosecutors said the pair waited in the carport until the lights inside the house went out before carrying out the attack.

Cassandra alleged that her boyfriend carried a black bag which consisted of a tire iron, gloves, a hammer and other necessary items required for killing her grandparents. While Johnny proceeded to murder Randall, Cassandra went to kill her grandmother, Wendy.

​The couple brutally killed the elderly couple, before which Cassandra managed to loot her grandmother’s safe of all the money it had. They then stowed their bodies inside one room and tightly caulked its doors and windows, so that no malodour would leak.​

​For several days thereafter, Cassandra and Johnny partied using smoking pots at the same residence where the bodies of Randall and Wendy were kept. They invited a few of their friends and used the money stolen from the 63-year-old woman.

As Cassandra admitted to the crime, she revealed that her boyfriend even had plans to kill every member of their respective families. However, he backed out of it soon enough. After the murders, Cassandra even revealed she used her grandmother’s phone and messaged close family and friends pretending that everything was alright. To her friends, she claimed that her grandparents had gone on a two-week vacation.

The duo managed to cover up the crime for almost two weeks. While they were served a lifetime prison sentence, it was Johnny Rider who turned emotional and delivered a statement. He said, “I would like to express my deepest apologies to the Bjorge family. I'm so sorry for the pain and grief I have caused all of you." Cassandra, however, remained silent.