BREAKING NEWS: Suspect caught in two Hawthorne killings
City News Service
A man accused of killing a Hawthorne couple, and also suspected in a fatal home invasion robbery in that city, was in custody today on $1 million bail pending his first court appearance
tomorrow.
John Wesley Ewell, 53, was arrested Saturday and booked on suspicion of murdering Robyn
Turnage, 57, and her husband Leamon Turnage, 69.
They were found dead about 3:45 p.m. Friday in their home in the 4100 block of West 142nd
Street.
Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman said the victims were beaten and strangled after returning to the
Southland from a trip to Florida to visit their son and daughter-in-law for the birth of their first
grandchild.
Ewell is also suspected in a home-invasion robbery last month in which an 80-year-old man
died of a heart attack, according to sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
A $10,000 reward was recently offered for information leading to a conviction in the death of
Hanna Morcos, a retired county employee who was attacked in his home in the 4100 block of
West 137th Street about 3:40 p.m. on Sept. 24. His wife was in the house, but was
uninjured.
Ewell was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at the Airport Courthouse.
A man accused of killing a Hawthorne couple, and also suspected in a fatal home invasion robbery in that city, was in custody today on $1 million bail pending his first court appearance
tomorrow.
John Wesley Ewell, 53, was arrested Saturday and booked on suspicion of murdering Robyn
Turnage, 57, and her husband Leamon Turnage, 69.
They were found dead about 3:45 p.m. Friday in their home in the 4100 block of West 142nd
Street.
Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman said the victims were beaten and strangled after returning to the
Southland from a trip to Florida to visit their son and daughter-in-law for the birth of their first
grandchild.
Ewell is also suspected in a home-invasion robbery last month in which an 80-year-old man
died of a heart attack, according to sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
A $10,000 reward was recently offered for information leading to a conviction in the death of
Hanna Morcos, a retired county employee who was attacked in his home in the 4100 block of
West 137th Street about 3:40 p.m. on Sept. 24. His wife was in the house, but was
uninjured.
Ewell was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at the Airport Courthouse.
About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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