Killer Given 3 Life Sentences
A Lake Los Angeles man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing three members of his family.
Oliver Leroy Vann, 45, was convicted last month of fatally shooting his wife, his stepson and his stepson’s wife Nov. 15, 1991, at their home.
As his grandchildren cowered in a bedroom, Vann used a .22-caliber rifle to shoot his wife, Marie Antoinette Vann, 52, once in the chest. He shot his wife’s daughter-in-law, Muriel T. Johnson, 40, once in the head. His wife’s son, Ronald T. Johnson, 30, ran through a plate glass window trying to escape, but Vann ran into the back yard and shot him three times.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Beauford H. Phelps handed down three sentences of life without possibility of parole, one for each victim.
“I got exactly what I wanted to hear,” said Roy Moses, Marie Vann’s brother, outside court.
During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence indicating that Vann had a longstanding hatred for his family, which peaked on the night of the killings when there was a heated argument over who would pay some household bills.
Defense attorney John Ponist argued that it was only after an argument and years of browbeating by his wife that Vann shot the three in a rage.
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