Taxpayer Kills Self After Assault

SAN BERNARDINO —  A taxpayer committed suicide after sexually assaulting a female Internal Revenue Service agent who arrived at his home to audit his taxes, sheriff’s deputies said today. The nude body of Clifton Charles Johnson, 37, a self-employed computer programmer, was found Wednesday in a sleeping bag near the backyard pool at his home. He died of a shotgun wound to the head, San Bernardino County sheriff’s Sgt. Phil Danna said.

The IRS agent in her 20s arrived around 1 p.m. and was confronted with a shotgun, Danna said. Johnson handcuffed her and removed her clothing, then placed her on a bed and attacked her, the sergeant said. “She was sexually assaulted, not raped,” sheriff’s spokesman Jim Bryant said. But then Johnson appeared to “change his mind” and released her, Danna said. She quickly dressed and left the house around 1:15 p.m., then heard a gunshot, Danna said.