Crime Documentary - The Dana Ewell story
- 7 years ago
Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
Dana James Ewell (born January 28, 1971) is a convicted American murderer who was sentenced to three life sentences for ordering the killing of his father, mother, and sister in 1992.
Ewell's father, businessman and multimillionaire Dale Ewell, his mother Glee and his older sister Tiffany were murdered on April 19, 1992, in their Sunnyside, California, home, near Fresno. At the time of the murders, Dana Ewell lived in the family home. Although he had an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the murders, authorities suspected his involvement when Ewell expressed anger at learning that he would not inherit his family's wealth until age 35. Ewell's father, Dale, who had built his airplane sales company from scratch, discovered that Dana had been attributing himself to his father's accomplishments. Dale immediately increased Dana's age of inheritance from twenty-one to thirty-five. Dana did not discover what his father had done until Dale's will was read; Dana asked angrily how his father could increase his age of inheritance.[citation needed] Investigators considered and dismissed a number of other possible suspects (including Dale's business associates) before focusing on Dana, who was suspected of arranging his parents' deaths to obtain the family's estimated $7.9 million fortune.
Police eventually determined that Ernest Jack Ponce, a friend of Ewell's college classmate Joel Radovcich, bought a 9 mm assault rifle shortly before the murders and concealed evidence (making him an accessory in the case). In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Ponce agreed to testify against Ewell and Radovcich. Radovcich used a homemade silencer on the rifle, lying in wait for the Ewells in their home in California's Central Valley as they returned from a long weekend on the Pacific coast.
The case was investigated by Fresno County Sheriff's Office homicide detectives John Souza and Chris Curtice. Fresno County Assistant District Attorneys James Oppliger and Jeffrey Hammerschmidt prosecuted Ewell and Radovcich in a jury trial which lasted over eight months. Ewell and Radovcich, who was promised a part of the family fortune in return for the killings, were sentenced on July 20, 1998. They are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, and all appeals have been denied. Ewell is in the Protective Housing Unit of California State Prison, Corcoran with Charles Manson, Juan Corona and other murderers requiring isolation from the general prison population.
Dana James Ewell (born January 28, 1971) is a convicted American murderer who was sentenced to three life sentences for ordering the killing of his father, mother, and sister in 1992.
Ewell's father, businessman and multimillionaire Dale Ewell, his mother Glee and his older sister Tiffany were murdered on April 19, 1992, in their Sunnyside, California, home, near Fresno. At the time of the murders, Dana Ewell lived in the family home. Although he had an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the murders, authorities suspected his involvement when Ewell expressed anger at learning that he would not inherit his family's wealth until age 35. Ewell's father, Dale, who had built his airplane sales company from scratch, discovered that Dana had been attributing himself to his father's accomplishments. Dale immediately increased Dana's age of inheritance from twenty-one to thirty-five. Dana did not discover what his father had done until Dale's will was read; Dana asked angrily how his father could increase his age of inheritance.[citation needed] Investigators considered and dismissed a number of other possible suspects (including Dale's business associates) before focusing on Dana, who was suspected of arranging his parents' deaths to obtain the family's estimated $7.9 million fortune.
Police eventually determined that Ernest Jack Ponce, a friend of Ewell's college classmate Joel Radovcich, bought a 9 mm assault rifle shortly before the murders and concealed evidence (making him an accessory in the case). In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Ponce agreed to testify against Ewell and Radovcich. Radovcich used a homemade silencer on the rifle, lying in wait for the Ewells in their home in California's Central Valley as they returned from a long weekend on the Pacific coast.
The case was investigated by Fresno County Sheriff's Office homicide detectives John Souza and Chris Curtice. Fresno County Assistant District Attorneys James Oppliger and Jeffrey Hammerschmidt prosecuted Ewell and Radovcich in a jury trial which lasted over eight months. Ewell and Radovcich, who was promised a part of the family fortune in return for the killings, were sentenced on July 20, 1998. They are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, and all appeals have been denied. Ewell is in the Protective Housing Unit of California State Prison, Corcoran with Charles Manson, Juan Corona and other murderers requiring isolation from the general prison population.