Dale Ewell was a United States Air Force veteran turned multi-millionaire businessman who specialized in the sale of small airplanes with his company, Western Piper Sales, Inc.[3] Glee Ewell had devoted much of her life to philanthropy and public service, briefly acting as a Spanish translator for the CIA in the 1950s and later holding a seat at the State Bar of California committee that evaluated prospective judges.
1967), a few weeks shy of her 25th birthday at the time of her death, was a graduate student, while Dana Ewell himself had earned a finance degree from the Santa Clara University (SCU).
During Dana Ewell's time at college, he had been attributing his father Dale's accomplishments to himself, and he was posing as a wealthy entrepreneur when he actually had no business experience.
[6] A Santa Clara newspaper and SCU's yearbook both had printed stories on Ewell in 1990,[1] depicting him as "a self-made millionaire” who was enjoying the luxuries afforded by his nonexistent business success.
[7] Extended family believed that Dale Ewell planned on ending his financial support for his son after his college graduation, a possible motive for the murders.
Dale Ewell had also been involved in a troubled real estate development deal with his brother Ben, which threatened to cost investors millions in losses.
[3] Although Dana Ewell's alibi for the time of the murders included having spent the Easter weekend with his girlfriend and her family in San Francisco, some 200 miles away, authorities came to focus on him after eliminating other possible culprits.
A trustee was required to pay for Dana Ewell's care and expenses until the age of 25, while from 25 to 30 he was to receive dividends from investments, but had no access to the principal.
[1] The pair were reported to have made many cash purchases for items such as helicopter flight lessons (despite Radovcich being unemployed) and communicating via a complex system of pagers and pay telephone calls, seemingly designed to avoid being overheard.
In one instance, a detective wore a recording device and stood close to Radovcich at a pay phone in May 1993, overhearing him make comments such as "they don't have evidence.
"[1] Forensic analysis found the murder weapon was a high-end 9mm specialty rifle manufactured by Feather Industries in Trinidad, Colorado.
James Oppliger and Jeffrey Hammerschmidt of the Fresno County District Attorney's Office prosecuted Ewell and Radovcich in a jury trial that lasted more than eight months.
Ewell's attorneys, Ernest Kinney, Pete Jones, Mike Castro and Galatea DeLapp asserted their client was innocent.