Man Charged In Slayings Of Hawthorne Couple
HAWTHORNE (CBS) — A 53-year-old man has been charged with capital murder in the slayings of a Hawthorne couple during a robbery.
John Wesley Ewell is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon at the Airport Branch Courthouse on two counts each of murder and residential robbery, along with the special circumstance allegation of murder during a robbery.
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KNX 1070's Jon Baird Reports
He was arrested Saturday and booked on suspicion of murdering Robyn Turnage, 57, and her husband Leamond Turnage, 69.
They were found dead about 3:45 p.m. Friday at 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.
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