John Ewell

Last updated
John Ewell
John Ewell.jpg
Ewell's 2010 mugshot
Born
John Wesley Ewell

1957or1958(age 66–67)
Criminal status Incarcerated
Conviction(s) First degree murder with special circumstances (4 counts)
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment without parole
Details
Victims4
Span of crimes
September –October 2010
CountryUnited States
State(s) California
Date apprehended
October 23, 2010
Imprisoned at Valley State Prison

John Wesley Ewell (born 1956/1957) is an American serial killer and former activist who murdered four people in Hawthorne, California, in late 2010. Ewell rose to prominence in the 1990s and 2000s when he advocated against California's "3-strikes" law. In 2006, he appeared on an episode of The Montel Williams Show to express his opinion. [1] Following a guilty plea in 2019, he was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without parole. [2]

Contents

Early life

Not much is known about his childhood, but throughout his life, he had a lengthy criminal record. In 1985, Ewell was arrested for forcing a woman to withdraw money from an ATM at gunpoint, and was also separately arrested after forcing a man out of a parked truck, binding him, and stealing his wallet. [1]

In 1989 he was convicted of robbery and burglary. In 1995, he was arrested and charged with check forgery. Under California's 3-strike law, he was made available for a possible 25-year to life sentence. However, under the agreement of a plea deal, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. [3]

After his release, he found a job as a hairdresser and worked partially as a handyman. [1] He also starting advocating in protest against the 3-strike law. In 2006, Ewell was one of several guests to appear in an episode of Montel Williams's talk show "The Montel Williams Show", where he indicated his fear of going to prison forever. [4] In 2010, Ewell was arrested in Huntington Park after committing a burglary. He pleaded guilty to the crime. He remained free awaiting sentencing when he was again detained, this time for shoplifting. For that crime, he was released on $20,000 bail. [5]

Murders

Ewell committed his first murder on September 24, 2010, when he broke into the home of 80-year-old Hanna Morcos in Hawthrone. He bound Morcos' hands behind his back using a window cord, and subsequently began to beat him with his fists and a blunt object. The beating ultimately made Marcos suffer a fatal heart attack. [6] Later that day in the afternoon, a family member entered his home and found Marcos' body face down. [7]

Under a month later, on October 13, Ewell traveled two homes down from where he lived and broke into the home of 53-year-old Denise Roberts. [6] Once again, Ewell bound Roberts' hands behind her back, gagged, and strangled her to death. [8] He robbed the place, before once again leaving. [6]

Nine days later, on October 21, Ewell, posing as a utility man, entered the home of Leamon Caroll Turnage and his wife Robyn, both 69 and 57, respectively, who had earlier returned from vacation in Florida. [9] Ewell bound the couple one by one, strangled them to death before once again, robbing the house and taking jewelry. [10] Their bodies were discovered by police officers doing a welfare check a few days later after they had failed to contact family members. While investigating the Turnage's deaths, police discovered a surveillance video of a man looting an ATM with Robyn's credit card. [5] [11]

On October 23, Ewell attempted to use the Tunage's ATM card outside a Shell service station in Gardena. He did not wear a mask and CCTV cams captured images of his face. He was arrested, and by the time of his capture, the four murders had attracted local media attention and fear had been widening among residents. [12] His vehicle was also searched, and police uncovered a newspaper article covering the arrest of Lonnie David Franklin Jr.. Franklin Jr. had been arrested in July 2010, in connection with the murders of ten people in South Los Angeles since 1984. [13]

Court proceedings

Ewell was to remain in jail until his preliminary hearing, which was continually postponed due to unknown circumstances. [5] As evidence emerged, his lawyers stated that Ewell could have been in jail during some of the killings, however that argument was dismissed. [14]

In January 2013, Ewell was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of robbery. He denied committing the crimes and pleaded not guilty. [5] Due to an immediate grand jury indictment, the case was due to head to trial shortly after. Ewell faced a possible death sentence if the case were to go to trial and he was found guilty. [2] In May 2019, Ewell, who up to that point denied being responsible for the murders, accepted a plea deal that allowed him to plead guilty to all four murders in exchange for the death penalty to be taken away. Thus, on July 18, he was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. [2] Ewell was transferred to Valley State Prison in August 2019 to serve his sentence.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wah Mee massacre</span> 1983 robbery and mass murder in Seattle, Washington

The Wah Mee massacre was a mass shooting that occurred during the night of February 18–19, 1983, in the Wah Mee gambling club at the Louisa Hotel in Seattle, Washington, United States. Fourteen people were bound, robbed and shot by three gunmen, 22-year-old Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, 20-year old Keung Kin "Benjamin" Ng and 25-year-old Wai Chiu "Tony" Ng. Thirteen of the victims died, but 61-year-old Wai Yok Chin, a former U.S. Navy sailor and Pai Gow dealer at the Wah Mee, survived to testify against the three in the separate high-profile trials held between 1983 and 1985.

A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching intent of a hot prowl burglary can be theft, robbery, assault, sexual assault, murder, kidnapping, or another crime, either by stealth or direct force. Hot prowl burglaries are considered especially dangerous by law enforcement because of the potential for a violent confrontation between the occupant and the offender.

Gerald Fiten Mason was an American convicted murderer and rapist. Mason's 2003 arrest and prosecution for the 1957 murders of two El Segundo, California police officers made national headlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Turner</span> American serial killer (born 1966)

Chester Dewayne Turner is an American serial killer and sex offender who was sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and murdering fourteen women and an unborn baby in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Goudeau</span> American serial killer and rapist on death row

Mark Goudeau is an American serial killer, kidnapper, thief and rapist. Goudeau terrorized victims in the Phoenix metro area between August 2005 and June 2006; coincidentally, Goudeau was active at the same time as two other Phoenix serial killers, jointly known as the "Serial Shooters.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O. J. Simpson robbery case</span> 2008 US criminal case

State of Nevada v. Orenthal James Simpson, et al, Case Number: 07C237890-4. was a criminal case prosecuted in 2007–2008 in the U.S. state of Nevada, primarily involving the retired American football player O. J. Simpson.

Dana James Ewell is a convicted American murderer who was sentenced to three life sentences for ordering the killing of his father, mother, and sister in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Jan Pawel and Quiana Jenkins Pietrzak</span> Murder and Sexual Assault Case of a US Marine and his wife by four other marines

On October 15, 2008, United States Marine Corps Sergeant Jan Paweł Pietrzak and his wife Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak were tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered by four American Marines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Floyd Thomas Jr.</span> Convicted American serial killer

John Floyd Thomas Jr. is an American serial killer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven white women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.

Jose Luis Saenz, known as Joe Saenz, is an American gangster and former fugitive charged with four murders, rape, kidnapping, parole violation and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. On October 19, 2009, he was named by the FBI as the 492nd fugitive to be placed on the list of FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On November 22, 2012, he was found and arrested in Guadalajara, Mexico by the Federal Police.

Crime in California refers to crime occurring within the U.S. state of California.

Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Joseph McGhee</span> American mass murderer on death row

Timothy Joseph McGhee is a convicted serial killer and Toonerville Rifa 13 gang member from the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He is alleged to be responsible for at least 12 homicides between 1997 and 2001, three of which led to convictions. McGhee is also suspected of at least ten attempted murders, four of which led to convictions. In 2018, the Los Angeles Times named McGhee one of the top 20 most notorious killers in the history of California, a list that included the likes of Charles Manson, the Golden State Killer, and the Night Stalker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu</span> On April 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, US

The murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu occurred on April 11, 2012, when two African-American men shot and murdered two Chinese graduate students from USC who were sitting in their 2003 BMW parked 1 mile (1.6 km) outside of the University of Southern California (USC) campus in Los Angeles, California. It sparked safety concerns around the campus in South Los Angeles, an area notorious for its history of crime-ridden neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of XXXTentacion</span> Murder in Deerfield Beach, Florida, US

On June 18, 2018, 20-year-old American rapper and singer-songwriter Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, known professionally as XXXTentacion, was murdered in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Onfroy was fatally shot and killed by 22-year-old Michael Boatwright after being robbed in his car by Boatwright and his accomplices Trayvon Newsome, Dedrick Williams, and Robert Allen outside RIVA Motorsports, an upscale seller of motorcycles and watercraft in Deerfield Beach. Authorities charged the four men with first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.

The 2019 Nevada killing spree was a series of murders in January 2019 in which an assailant broke into three homes in Douglas and Washoe Counties in northwestern Nevada, murdered the elderly inhabitants, and made off with valuables. Reports of the crimes terrified area residents for several days until a police manhunt identified and apprehended Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman. The sheriff's report states that Martinez-Guzman later confessed.

Juan Chavez was a Mexican serial killer who, between 1986 and 1990, killed at least six gay men in three cities in Los Angeles County, California. On June 21, 1999, he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, but he committed suicide by hanging himself at Folsom State Prison just two months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramon Escobar (serial killer)</span> Salvadoran serial killer

Ramon Alberto Escobar is a Salvadoran serial killer who killed seven people during a month-long killing spree between Texas and California in 2018, most of whom were homeless. After pleading guilty, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, committing a suspected eighth murder while in prison in 2023.

Alexander Hernandez is an American serial killer who murdered five people during a series of drive-by shootings in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area of California between March and August 2014. He targeted random people and dogs, murdering five people, injuring 11 others, and killing two dogs. He was later convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rebecca Cathcart (December 1, 2010). "3-Strikes Challenger Is Charged With 4 Murders". New York Times .
  2. 1 2 3 Erika Martin (July 19, 2019). "L.A. Man Gets 4 Life Sentences for 2010 Series of Violent Home-Invasion Robbery Killings". KTLA.
  3. ↑ Jack Leonard & Richard Winton (December 10, 2010). "First three-strikes case (1995)". Los Angeles Times .
  4. ↑ Richard Winton & Jack Leonard (December 1, 2010). "Multiple murder suspect had benefited from three-strikes leniency". Los Angeles Times .
  5. 1 2 3 4 Larry Altman (January 22, 2013). "Ex-con John Wesley Ewell indicted in Hawthorne robbery-killings". Daily Breeze.
  6. 1 2 3 T. Grant Benson (July 21, 2019). "John Ewell Gets Life Without Parole In L.A. Murder Spree". Breaking911.
  7. ↑ "The Homicide Report; Hanna Morcos, 80". Los Angeles Times . September 29, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Homicide Report; Denice Roberts, 53". Los Angeles Times . October 10, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  9. ↑ Eddie Jimenez (October 28, 2010). "Sanger couple slain in SoCal home". The Fresno Bee.
  10. ↑ "The Homicide Report; Leamon Carrol Turnage, 69". Los Angeles Times . October 25, 2010. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  11. ↑ Carlin Miller (November 4, 2010). "John Wesley Ewell Charged with Four Home Invasion Murders in Suburban L.A." CBS News.
  12. ↑ Ching-Ching Ni & Richard Winton (November 4, 2010). "Suspect in 4 killings was liked by neighbors". Los Angeles Times .
  13. ↑ Richard Winton (November 6, 2010). "Suspect in multiple slayings had newspaper article about 'Grim Sleeper' in his car". Los Angeles Times .
  14. ↑ Dennis Romero (December 1, 2010). "JOHN WESLEY EWELL, SUSPECTED IN SOUTH BAY MURDER SPREE, COULD HAVE BEEN BEHIND BARS AT THE TIME BUT HAD LENIENT PROSECUTORS, JUDGE". LA Weekly.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.