Background
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.
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. In exchange for immunity from prosecution Ponce agreed to testify against Ewell and Radovcich, who attended Santa Clara University.
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" General’ 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.
The case is covered in the Forensic Files episode "Two in a Million" (season 12, episode 12, aired September 5, 2007), The New Detectives episode "Family Plots" (season 5, episode 9, aired January 25, 2000) and the Dominick Dunne"s Power, Privilege, and Justice episode "Tailspin" (season 3, episode 5, aired September 5, 2003).