{"id":3124,"date":"2026-05-24T12:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T12:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/what-happened-to-fresno-countys-most-notorious-killers-heres-where-they-are-now\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T12:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T12:31:32","slug":"what-happened-to-fresno-countys-most-notorious-killers-heres-where-they-are-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/what-happened-to-fresno-countys-most-notorious-killers-heres-where-they-are-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to Fresno County\u2019s most notorious killers? Here\u2019s where they are now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fresno County has encountered its share of shocking murders over the past three decades \u2014 including a deadly robbery, a bus stop shooting and a fatal inheritance scheme.<\/p>\n

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The men convicted of these crimes include serial killers and mass murderers.<\/p>\n

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Where are Fresno County\u2019s most notorious inmates now? Are they still incarcerated?<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s what happened to the people involved in six high-profile cases:<\/p>\n

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Who hired a friend to kill his family?<\/h2>\n

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On Easter Sunday 1992, Dale Ewell, his wife Glee and his daughter Tiffany were shot to death in their Fresno home in what authorities initially believed to be a burglary gone wrong, The Fresno Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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However, their deaths were eventually traced back to son Dana Ewell, then 21.<\/p>\n

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Ewell, who stood to inherit millions of dollars upon his parents\u2019 deaths, plotted with a friend to commit murder his family.<\/p>\n

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Investigators arrested Ewell and his friend, Joel Patrick Radovcich, in 1995.<\/p>\n

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A jury found Ewell and Radovcich both guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in 1998, and they were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

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Ewell was sent to Corcoran State Prison, The Bee reported in 2023.<\/p>\n

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As of Friday, May 22, It wasn\u2019t clear if Ewell, now 55, was still incarcerated there.<\/p>\n

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Inmate records for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation listed his current location as \u201cnot disclosable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Radovcich, also 55, was incarcerated at California Health Care Facility in Stockton as of Friday, records show.<\/p>\n

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Robber fatally shot 7 people at Fresno bar<\/h2>\n

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Johnnie Malarkey fatally shot seven people in 1993<\/u> while robbing Carrillo\u2019s Club in southeast Fresno, The Los Angeles Times reported.<\/p>\n

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Two men walked into the bar just after closing time and opened fire, killing the owner, his mother and half-brother. A customer, a bouncer and the cook and his wife also died by gunfire.<\/p>\n

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One of the shooters was Malarkey, then 23.<\/p>\n

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In 1998, while serving a 25-year prison sentence for other shootings in 1993, Malarkey confessed to the Carrillo\u2019s Club shootings along with three unrelated killings.<\/p>\n

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A Fresno County judge sentenced him to eight consecutive life sentences plus a 37-year term and a term of 40 years to life.<\/p>\n

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As of Friday, the 56-year-old Malarkey was behind bars at California State Prison in Corcoran.<\/p>\n

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Fresno man murdered children during police standoff<\/h2>\n

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Mass murderer and child rapist Marcus Wesson murdered nine of his children<\/u> in 2004 during a custody dispute that led to a police standoff in Fresno.<\/p>\n

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Wesson was 57 years old at the time.<\/p>\n

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In 2005, Wesson was convicted of nine counts of first-degree murder and 14 sex crimes. He received the death penalty.<\/p>\n

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As of Friday, Wesson, now 79, was incarcerated at California Health Care Facility,<\/u> according to state records.<\/p>\n

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Lemoore man convicted of killing ex-wife<\/h2>\n

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In 2006, Debbie Hawk vanished from her Hanford home.<\/p>\n

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Her three children found blood trails from their mother\u2019s bedroom to the garage, The Hanford Sentinel reported. Her missing minivan was later found abandoned in southwest Fresno.<\/p>\n

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Her ex-husband, Lemoore resident Dave Hawk, was convicted of her murder in 2009, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

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In 2016, a decade after Debbie Hawk\u2019s disappearance, a farmworker found her remains in a field, the Visalia Times Delta reported.<\/p>\n

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Dave Hawk appealed his sentence in 2021, arguing that he did not receive a fair trial in Kings County, but that appeal was denied.<\/p>\n

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As of Thursday, Hawk, now 67, was being held at Mule Creek State Prison in Iona.<\/p>\n

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Why did Fresno County serial killer murder 3 men?<\/h2>\n

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In 2010, Fresno County resident Buford King killed his first victim \u2014 strangling Alberto Contreras to death after suspecting that he\u2019d assaulted a young woman in a Visalia apartment, The Fresno Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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King then propped Contreras\u2019 corpse up on a tree stump and used it for target practice.<\/p>\n

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Years later, King killed two more men, Donnie Lee and Aleksey Shelest, believing they had hurt women or children.<\/p>\n

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King pleaded guilty to all three murders and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

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As of Friday, the 40-year-old Yokuts Valley man was incarcerated at Wasco State Prison, according to state records.<\/p>\n

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What happened to killer behind downtown Fresno shootings?<\/h2>\n

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Kori Muhammad began his downtown Fresno shooting spree<\/u> in 2017 by opening fire at a bus stop, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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Muhammed shot and killed three men \u2014 Mark Gassett, David Jackson and Zackary Randalls \u2014 in the area of Fulton and Mildreda avenues.<\/p>\n

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A week before the downtown shooting, Muhammed killed a security guard working at a Motel 6 in southeast Fresno.<\/p>\n

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A jury convicted Muhammad of murder, attempted murder and other charges in 2020.<\/p>\n

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He was without the possibility of parole, plus 145 years to life, with an additional 61-year sentence.<\/p>\n

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As of Friday, Muhummed, 48, was behind bars at California State Prison<\/u> in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

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