‘Most Wanted’ Criminal Gets 34 Years to Life for Slaying

A bank robber who was considered one of the nation’s most wanted criminals has been sentenced to 34 years to life in prison for shooting to death an accomplice, whose body was found dumped in Sun Valley in 1985.

Marcus Howell Jr., 48, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of William (B.J.) Johnson, who was shot six times after arguing with Howell in Howell’s Monterey Park house.

Johnson had come to the house to demand to be allowed to rejoin Howell’s gang of robbers after being kicked out of the group, Howell testified in February.

Howell testified that the gun went off accidentally during a struggle with Johnson, who had pointed it at him.

Because he is already serving a 26-year sentence for eight bank robberies in the 1970s, the latest sentence means Howell--who was on the U.S. Marshal’s list of “most wanted” criminals nationwide in the 1980s--will not be released from prison until he is in his late 80s, prosecutors said.

San Fernando Supervising Judge John H. Major handed down the maximum sentence on Thursday in part because of a threatening letter that Howell sent to an informant who implicated him in the killing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Leland B. Harris said.

A fingerprint on the letter, which was sent in December before the case went to trial, was traced to Howell, Harris said. He would not disclose the contents of the letter.

It was the informant’s tip that broke the case, which had remained unsolved for several years, Harris said.