Dana Ewell

People

• Dana Ewell (born January 28, 1971, Fresno, California) — American convicted triple murderer; son of Dale and Glee Ewell; older sister Tiffany Ewell’s brother; convicted of ordering the killing of his mother, father, and sister.
• Dale Ewell — businessman and multi-millionaire; Dana Ewell’s father; victim (59).
• Glee Ewell (née Mitchell) — Dana Ewell’s mother; victim (57).
• Tiffany Ewell — Dana Ewell’s older sister; victim (24).
• Joel Radovcich — Dana Ewell’s roommate at Santa Clara University; college friend and classmate; arrested and charged in connection with the murders; sentenced alongside Dana Ewell; serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
• Ernest Jack Ponce — roommate and friend connections to Radovcich; charged with the murders; obtained a dismissal in exchange for testimony; later licensed as an attorney.
• James Oppliger — Fresno County Assistant District Attorney; prosecuted Ewell and Radovcich in a jury trial.
• Jeffrey Hammerschmidt — prosecutor; Prosecutor Hammerschmidt prosecuted Ewell and Radovcich in a jury trial.
• Ernest Kinney — attorney for Dana Ewell.
• Phillip Cherney (also spelled Phil Cherney) — attorney for Joel Radovcich.
• Frank J. Creede — judge who imposed a gag order in the case and denied a request for a change of venue.
• Mike Elder — jury foreman.
• Don Fischbach — Fresno attorney, former president of the State Bar and friend of Ewell’s mother, Glee.
• Chris Curtice — former Fresno County homicide investigator.
• John Zent — FBI agent; family member of Dana’s girlfriend; Dana had dinner with Monica’s family including John Zent.
• Monica Zent — Dana Ewell’s girlfriend; law student at the University of San Diego.
• Richard Berman — lawyer for Dana Ewell.
• Peter Jones — defense lawyer for Dana Ewell of the Fresno County public defender’s office.
• Ernest S. Kinney — defense counsel named in trial coverage.
• Ernie Burk — Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective.
• Detective John Souza — detective quoted about investigation.
• James Oppliger and Jeffrey Ham-merschmidt — referenced together as prosecutors presenting evidence to the jury.
• Peter Radovcich — Joel Radovcich’s brother; arrested in connection with the case and later released.
• Linda Fischbach — babysat the Ewell children when she was younger.
• Corin Hoggard — author of the ABClocal.go.com material included in the scrape.
• Kathleen O. Beitiks — author of the California Bar Journal material included in the scrape.
• Mark Arax — author of the Los Angeles Times material included in the scrape.
• Corcoran State Prison — holding facility for Dana Ewell.

Timeline

• April 19, 1992 — Dana Ewell ordered the killing of his mother, father, and sister; the murders occurred on Sunday in their home after returning from a long weekend on the coast.
• Easter Sunday, 1992 — Dale Ewell, Glee Ewell, and Tiffany Ewell were murdered in their home.
• 1992 — The murders took place at the Ewell home in the Central Valley as they returned from a long weekend on the coast.
• 1995 — Dana Ewell and Joel Radovcich were arrested; Dana turned himself in in southern California after discovering he was sought by the Fresno County sheriff.
• May 12, 1998 — Dana Ewell was sentenced to life in prison without parole; he was sentenced alongside Joel Radovcich.
• April 30, 2012 — Action News material included in the scrape referenced “20 years” after the murders and described ongoing incarceration.
• March 22, 1993 — Los Angeles Times material included in the scrape discussed the investigation and Dana Ewell’s suspicion status during that time.
• May 1997 — California Bar Journal material included in the scrape discussed pre-trial proceedings and suppression issues.
• June 1998 — California Bar Journal material included in the scrape discussed conviction timing and background.

Background

Dana Ewell was born on January 28, 1971, in Fresno, California. At the time of the murders in 1992, he still lived at home in the family’s Sunnyside-area home near Fresno. During his freshman year at San Joaquin Memorial High School, Dana Ewell claimed his goal was to be a multi-millionaire by age 25, but at age 21 he was still supported by his parents. He claimed to friends that he was personally financially successful and told stories about being a stock-market wiz and owning his own airplane transport company. Dana’s father found out Dana had been lying and bragging and told him that he was getting cut off financially that summer, when he was expected to graduate from Santa Clara University. Dana was angry and plotted the murders.

During the reading of his father’s will, it was revealed that his father instructed that the family fortune be given to Dana but in installments. Dana’s furious reaction to not gaining his full inheritance and his lack of grief over the deaths of his parents and sister led to his uncles informing investigators about the possibility that Dana was behind the murders.

The murders were tied to access to the family fortune. Dana Ewell stood to inherit millions and became the sole heir to an $8 million fortune, according to the included material. At the time of the murders, the family’s Easter weekend vacation was at their home in Pajaro Dunes, a coastal development outside Watsonville.

Glee Ewell served from 1985-91 on the State Bar Board of Governors and was described as a well-known civic activist in Fresno. Her public service stints included involvement in Valley Children’s Hospital, the civil service commission, county grand jury, museums and other charities. At the time of her death, she was a member of the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission and had been appointed to the State Bar Board of Governors as a public member by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1985 and reappointed for another three-year term in 1988. Don Fischbach said Glee convinced him to run for a seat. Linda Fischbach babysat the Ewell children when she was younger and was devastated by the news of the family’s tragedy.

The offence

Dana Ewell was convicted of ordering the killing of his mother, father, and sister. The murders occurred on Easter Sunday in their home in the Central Valley as they returned from a long weekend on the coast. A 9-mm pistol with a homemade silencer was used by Ewell’s roommate at Santa Clara University, Joel Radovcich, to murder the family on Easter Sunday in their home as they returned. Another firearm was described in the coverage as Radovcich’s AT-9 rifle being used in the slayings; prosecutors showed the jury that the bullets most likely came from a 20-year-old box of ammunition from Dale Ewell’s nightstand.

Glee and Tiffany were shot, and Tiffany was the first victim to be shot as described by Ernest Jack Ponce’s testimony. Glee was shot four times and was found with her arm shielding her eyes. Dale Ewell was shot once from behind as he walked into the house from the garage a while later. Investigators also described the murders as involving gunmen inside the home, with no sign of forced entry at the Ewell house in the upper-middle-class Sunnyside neighborhood. The included material stated that Mother and daughter may have been confronted before they walked in the door. Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Ernie Burk said: “It was quick and it was clean.”

In pre-trial and investigative material, authorities and detectives also discussed whether more than one gunman was involved, while stating that details of the shooting were being refused.

Investigation

Fresno County sheriff’s detectives were initially baffled by the murders, noting that it appeared the Ewell home had been ransacked in an attempt to make the killings look like the result of a botched burglary. The investigation involved 4,700 pages of sheriff’s reports and at least 1,000 pages from Jeff Hammerschmidt’s office during the delays described in the included material.

Investigators discounted early speculation about possible ties to wealthy businessman involvement in drug dealing or disgruntled Filipino investors. The focus shifted to the lone surviving son, Dana Ewell, who was described as the main focus in recent months. Detectives traveled to Southern California and Utah and spent time at Santa Clara University trying to glean information about Dana Ewell and a college buddy, Joel P. Radovcich, a San Fernando Valley native. Investigators said they were trying to find Radovcich to question him again.

Fresno police mostly discounted ties to wealthy businessman to drug dealing or disgruntled Filipino investors, and investigators said they were focusing on Dana Ewell. Searching court records, detectives learned that Dale Ewell had sold planes for aircraft dealer Frank Lambe, who in 1971 oversaw a large Mexico-to-Fresno drug smuggling venture. Investigators pursued a theory of bad blood between Lambe and Ewell and speculated Dana might have been involved in a ring and more recent drug smuggling, but Detective John Souza said: “We’ve pretty much ruled out any fallout from the old Lambe ring. And as far as we can tell, Ewell’s fortune came from hard work and shrewd investments in farming. He didn’t need drug smuggling.”

The investigation also involved discovery of activity in Dana Ewell’s bank accounts. Jeff Hammerschmidt traced activity in Ewell’s 47 bank accounts to prove funneling money to Radovcich. A complicated timeline covering the length of a hallway was described as outlining their contacts.

Officials also discussed probate and financial transactions and the freezing of assets from the estate leaving Dana Ewell without funds and eligible for representation by the county public defender. It was stated that after Dana Ewell took control, the grandmother’s $400,000 trust account dwindled to less than $2,000, with hundreds of transactions during a three-year period used to support the lifestyles of Dana Ewell, Radovcich, and Monica Zent. Financial records included a $17,014 check to the University of San Diego, about $40,000 in checks payable to Zent, $11,320 for flying lessons for Ewell and Radovcich, and more than $200,000 to retain a lawyer for Ewell after he was arrested. Investigators found more than 25 accounts in 14 different banks, with some accounts in Dana Ewell’s name and others held jointly with his grandmother or his girlfriend. The included material stated that most funds were returned and observers said transactions were not necessarily illegal.

Arrest

Dana Ewell and Joel Radovcich were arrested in 1995 after a friend of Radovcich gave a detailed account of the killings that he said he learned from Radovcich. It was stated that Dana Ewell turned himself in to authorities in southern California when he discovered he was sought by the Fresno County sheriff.

Trial

Ewell and Radovcich were prosecuted in a jury trial that lasted more than eight months. One article described the jury trial as taking more than four months of testimony and more than 100 witnesses, and that a Fresno County Superior Court jury deliberated for 11 days, finding both guilty on three counts of first-degree murder for the 1992 slayings.

The jury found Dana Ewell hired his college friend Joel Radovcich to kill his family so they could split the family’s fortune. The included material stated that the conviction on three counts of first-degree murder in the 1992 slayings meant they were eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors argued that Ewell and Radovcich wanted to be millionaires by the time they turned 25. Prosecutors presented evidence including that Radovcich’s AT-9 rifle was used and that bullets most likely came from a 20-year-old box of ammunition from Dale Ewell’s nightstand. Neither defendant took the stand.

Defense counsel Ernest Kinney said Dana Ewell was not involved and that Ponce and Radovcich plotted the slayings by themselves. Kinney accused Ponce of being the killer. Radovcich’s lawyer, Phillip Cherney, did not deny his client’s involvement but instead painted Radovcich as a victim.

In pre-trial proceedings, the parties were awaiting a ruling from the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno on suppression issues and whether Ewell and Radovcich could be tried separately. A decision was made to try Ewell and Radovcich together.

A gag order was imposed in the case by Judge Frank J. Creede. A request by defense lawyers to change venue was denied, and the included material described plans to ask for another change of venue when the trial got started, which was expected to fall on deaf ears. Peter Jones said: “This case has more discovery by far than any capital case I’ve seen.” Jones also referred to the case as “a quagmire.”

Sentencing

Dana Ewell was sentenced on May 12, 1998, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was sentenced alongside Joel Radovcich, who also received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The included material states that both men exhausted their appeals and will die in prison, with Dana Ewell housed in the Protective Housing Unit of California State Prison, Corcoran.

Appeals

The included material stated that Ewell and Radovcich’s appeals were denied and exhausted. It also described that they will die in prison after exhausting appeals.

Outcome

Dana Ewell was convicted of murdering his parents and sister with the help of a college dorm mate in a plot to inherit the family’s $8 million estate. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 12, 1998.

Joel Radovcich was convicted alongside Dana Ewell and was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Ernest Jack Ponce was charged with the murders but obtained a dismissal in exchange for his testimony and was later licensed as an attorney, with Ponce described as passing a lie detector test in the included material.

Aftermath

Media coverage mentioned in the included material included:

• A one-hour show of Dominick Dunne’s investigative show Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege, and Justice.
• A truTV network-aired episode of Forensic Files, episode 282, titled “Two in a Million”.
• A truTV network-aired episode of American Justice, episode 170, titled “Millions Of Reasons To Kill”.
• A brief coverage in E! Investigates in the episode “Rich Kids Who Kill” (Season 1, Episode 13).
• An episode of The New Detectives titled “Family Plots”.
• Solved on the Discovery Channel.
• Behind Mansion Walls episode “The Perfect Crime”.
• Killer Instinct episode “Fatal Family Reunion”.

The included material stated that Dana Ewell was isolated at Corcoran State Prison. It described juror comments, including from jury foreman Mike Elder. Elder said: “Dana actually scared people. They would look over at him and he had this look on his face. You just thought any minute these horns were going to come up.” The material also stated: “Dana actually scared people,” and referenced that jurors sympathized with Radovcich because they saw him as a broken being used as means to an end.

Other details

Alibi and timing

One article stated that Dana Ewell, then 21, remained at the coast to have dinner with his girlfriend’s family, including her FBI agent father, John Zent. Another included material stated that at the time of the murders, Dana was having dinner in Morgan Hill with his girlfriend Monica’s family, including her FBI agent father John Zent. Glee and Tiffany drove back to Fresno while Dale flew home in his airplane, according to the included material.

Discovery of bodies

The included material stated that the bodies of Glee, Dale, and Tiffany were found by the family’s cleaning woman and a neighbor, who had been called by Dana when he couldn’t reach his parents after Easter.

Reward and attorney action

The included material stated that Dana Ewell contributed half of the $50,000 reward fund and then hired a criminal attorney. Lawyer Richard Berman said he and his client were not discussing the case with reporters. Berman wrote in a letter to sheriff’s officials: “adamantly denies any participation in this heinous crime.”

Additional arrest-related persons

At the same time Dana Ewell and Radovcich were arrested, Radovcich’s brother Peter and his friend Ponce also were arrested in connection with the case, and Ponce agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for immunity.

Expert statements and quotes

Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Ernie Burk said: “It was quick and it was clean.” Former prosecutor Jeff Hammerschmidt said: “I’m sure when she saw who it was, she knew her son was murdering her.” Curtice said: “The shooter actually went and straddled her and shot her at close range.” Hammerschmidt said Dana’s reaction to the will read included: “When the will was read, he pounded his fist and said, 'how could my father do that to me?' and maybe his father was wondering the same thing -- how his son could do that to him.”

Ponce testimony quoted

Ernest Jack Ponce testified that Radovcich told him Tiffany Ewell was the first victim to be shot and that Tiffany “walked by the room he was waiting in and he shot her. . . . He said he shot her in the head,” as quoted in the included material. Ponce testified that Radovcich shot the mother several times, changed magazines in the gun and put on fresh gloves while waiting for Dale Ewell to come home, and that the father “came in the door, and he waited until he shut the door and waited until the father walked past the room he was in and then he stepped out and shot him,” as quoted in the included material.

Ponce also testified that he purchased the assault rifle Radovcich used in the killings and helped dispose of gun parts, fired shells, a silencer and tennis shoes, as described in the included material.

Jury and trial context

The included material stated that 12 people found both suspects guilty of the three murders and rarely spoke about the case. It also described that the bodies were found in the house with no forced entry, that the case became exceedingly complicated, and that it involved probate issues and complex financial transactions.

Estate and probate disputes

The wills of Glee and Dale Ewell were described as specifying that the bulk of their estate would be held in trust and distributed on Dana Ewell’s 25th, 30th, and 35th birthdays, but that because of murder charges assets from the estate had been frozen. The included material also stated that Dale’s three brothers attempted to prevent Dana from receiving any funds. It further described Dana’s involvement as executor of his grandmother’s trust account after his family was killed, with the trust account declining to less than $2,000 and transactions tied to support for Dana, Radovcich, and Monica Zent.

Death penalty eligibility vs final outcome

The included material stated that the convictions meant Ewell and Radovcich were eligible for the death penalty, but the final sentencing described in the case status was life in prison without parole on May 12, 1998.