Wheels of justice grind slowly in Ewell murders

By Kathleen O. Beitiks - California Bar Journal

May 1997

Five years after the brutal murder of former State Bar Board of Governors member Glee Ewell, a prime suspect -- her son -- sits in jail awaiting trial.

Dana Ewell, 26, and his college buddy, Joel Radovcich, 26, were arrested two years ago and have pleaded innocent to the charges that they killed Glee Ewell, 57, her husband Dale, 59, and their daughter Tiffany, 24, on Easter Sunday in 1992.

The case has become exceedingly complicated, involving a multitude of lawyers, millions of dollars, probate issues and complex financial transactions.

In the latest development, all parties involved are awaiting a ruling from the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno on suppression issues and whether or not Ewell and Radovcich can be tried separately.

That ruling could come any day or as far away as July, says Jeff Hammerschmidt, one of the prosecutors in the case.

Meanwhile, in commenting on the multitude of delays, Hammerschmidt said investigation of the case has generated 4,700 pages of sheriff's reports and at least 1,000 pages from his office.

Because this is a death penalty case, "it's a long and tedious process," said Hammerschmidt. "It's unusual, but all parties want to get to trial as soon as we can," he said.

The Ewell case has been of particular interest, said Hammerschmidt, because of its unusual circumstances and the prominence of the Fresno family. "This is not the type of victim we usually see. We usually deal with gangs," he said.

Dana Ewell's defense lawyer, Peter Jones of the Fresno County public defender's office, also is anxious to get the trial moving, but acknowledges that the complexity of the case is bogging it down. "It's a quagmire," says Jones. "This case has more discovery by far than any capital case I've seen."

Fresno lawyer Ernest S. Kinney recently volunteered to help defend Ewell, but with the mound of paperwork involved, he is still immersed in documents trying to get up to speed, said Jones.

Jones is especially concerned about the publicity the case has generated and plans to ask for another change of venue when the trial gets started, "but it will probably fall on deaf ears." His original request was denied by the court.

Jones is troubled by the results of surveys from his office which indicate that 85 percent of Fresno area residents have heard of the case and 60 percent have already made up their minds.

Of even more concern is the prospect that a book being written about the Ewell case may be released before or during the trial, he said.

Officials speculate that Dana Ewell, who was 24 at the time of the murders, hired his friend Radovcich to kill his mother, father and sister, in order to gain control over the family's estimated $7 million estate.

Ernest Jack Ponce, 26, of San Bernardino and Joel Radovcich's brother, Peter Radovcich, 26, of West Hills also were arrested in connection with the murders but later released. Ponce reportedly supplied the weapon to Joel, and Peter Radovcich allegedly helped destroy it. Ponce agreed to testify for the prosecution.

The wills

Glee and Dale Ewell's will specified that in the event of their deaths, the bulk of their estate would be held in trust and distributed on Dana Ewell's 25th, 30th and 35th birthdays.

But because of the murder charges, assets from the estate have been frozen, leaving Dana Ewell without funds and eligible for representation by the county public defender.

According to reports in the Fresno Bee, Dana Ewell also became the executor of his grandmother's $400,000 trust account after his family was killed. The account was set up in the 1970s for Glee Ewell's mother, Glee Mitchell, who is now 93 and lives in a rest home.

Investigators, however, discovered that in the years since Dana Ewell took control, the trust account dwindled to less than $2,000. Financial records showed hundreds of transactions during a three-year period, which officials believe were used to support the lifestyles of Ewell, Radovcich and Ewell's girlfriend, Monica Zent, a law student at the University of San Diego.

The Fresno Bee reports that court documents show transactions involving Ewell's grandmother's trust account 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 also found more than 25 accounts in 14 different banks. Some of the accounts were in Dana Ewell's name, while others were held jointly with his grandmother or his girlfriend.

Most of the funds were eventually returned to the accounts and, although the transactions were considerably tangled and complicated, some observers say they were not necessarily illegal.

Dana Ewell was to have inherited the bulk of his family's estate had his parent and sister died naturally.

However, because the family was murdered, Dale Ewell's three brothers have attempted to prevent their nephew from receiving any of the funds.

According to Jones, more complications have arisen since 1994, when Dana Ewell's grandfather died in a basement explosion in his home in Ohio, which fire officials have attributed to an unsafe gas generator. Meanwhile, his estate is still unsettled.

The Ewell family spent Easter weekend 1992 at their vacation home in Pajaro Dunes, a coastal development outside Watsonville.

On that Sunday, Glee and Tiffany, a graduate student at Fresno State University, drove back to their Fresno home while Dale returned in his airplane. Dale was a rancher and owner of Western Piper Sales Inc., selling general aviation aircraft.

Sheriff's officials believe the killer was in the Ewell home and shot Glee and Tiffany when they arrived. Dale was killed about 30 minutes later after he entered the house from the garage.

At the time of the murders, Dana was having dinner in Morgan Hill with his girlfriend's family, including her FBI agent father, John Zent.

Arrested in 1995

After nearly three years of a frustrating investigation, Fresno County sheriff's officials arrested Ewell and Radovcich in March 1995.

Ewell turned himself in to authorities in southern California when he discovered he was sought by the Fresno County sheriff.

According to The Bee, money was a driving factor in Dana Ewell's life. He had expensive taste in clothes and cars, driving a gold Mercedes Benz. In addition, his relationship with his father, a hard-driving businessman, was on rocky grounds.

Ewell attended the University of Santa Clara and was the subject of a college yearbook feature after he convinced staff members that he owned a company which grossed $2.7 million. He told of playing the stock market in high school, becoming a stockbroker at the age of 18, an aircraft salesman and president of his own aircraft company.

The bogus story was picked up by the San Jose Mercury News, much to the dismay of his family, who kept quiet about the incident.

Glee Ewell, a former teacher, was a popular and very visible 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, Ewell was a member of the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission. She was 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.

The State Bar's first president from Fresno, Don Fischbach, attributes his interest in the board of governors to Ewell, who convinced him to run for a seat. Fischbach's wife, Linda, babysat the Ewell children when she was younger and was devastated by the news of the family's tragedy.

Even today, five years later, the Fresno community remembers Glee Ewell and her upbeat personality. Prosecutor Hammerschmidt never knew her, but he said her name comes up frequently.

"I've heard lots of people tell me what a sweet lady she was," he said.