CALIFORNIA — A 62-year-old man was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for killing four people during home invasion robberies in 2010, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
John Wesley Ewell of Los Angeles was given four consecutive LWOP sentences.
Ewell pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of first-degree residential robbery on May 15 in a negotiated plea agreement.
On Sept. 24, 2010, Ewell broke into the Hawthorne home of 80-year-old Hanna Marcos, whom he choked and hit before robbing the house. Marcos died of a heart attack as a result of his injuries.
On Oct. 13, 2010, Ewell broke into the Los Angeles residence of Denice Roberts, 53, and strangled her to death during a robbery. The home was near where Ewell was living at the time in the 12600 block of Hoover Street.
On Oct. 22, 2010, he broke into the Hawthorne home of Leamon Turnage, 69, and his wife Robyn Turnage, 57, robbing the house and then killing the couple by strangling and hitting them. Their house was a few blocks from Marcos’ residence.
Ewell was arrested within days of the last attack after he was caught on video using Robyn Turnage’s ATM card.
