Former Fresno detective John Souza, who solved notorious Ewell family murders, dies at 77

John Souza, part of a detective team that solved the 1992 triple murder of aviation executive Dale Ewell, his wife and daughter and arrested his son Dana Ewell and a co-conspirator, died Monday. He was 77.

Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said Souza passed away while he was being treated for an illness in a hospital.

The brutal Easter murders of Dale Ewell, 59, his wife, Glee, 57, and his daughter Tiffany, 24, stunned the central San Joaquin Valley. The jury found the murders were committed because Dana Ewell was impatient to inherit the family fortune.

Souza and his partner Chris Curtice spent three years in a dogged investigation that ended with the arrests of Dana Ewell and Joel Radovcich. Ewell masterminded the crime and Radovcich was the gunman. Both men, now 51, are serving terms of life without parole in California prisons.

Ewell taunted Souza, partner

Curtice said Souza became passionate about solving the case, more so as Dana Ewell taunted the pair, at one point saying the two “couldn’t find a gun in a gun store.”

Dana Ewell’s alibi was that he was 200 miles away spending Easter with his girlfriend when the murders took place. The girlfriend’s father was FBI agent John Zent, who supported Ewell’s innocence.

“He (Zent) looked down on local law enforcement,” said Curtice, who added:

“Johnny was a bulldog. People said, ‘You’re never going to solve that case.’ One of the things that Johnny took personally was that Tiffany (Ewell) was the same age as his own daughter. When he talked about the case, you could see his eyes well up.”

Curtice added that Souza was an “old school” detective who honed his skills first as a burglary investigator. Arriving at the murder scene, he knew that it was staged, set up to look like a burglary.

“He was a good friend, a great partner, and a great family man,” added Curtice. “I’m going to miss him a lot.”

Praised by fellow detectives, sheriff

Another retired sheriff’s detective, Joseph Amador, said Souza was “a great man who worked hard for the safety of the public.

“I remember working a case with John of a gun store robbery and attempted murder at Bill’s Bait and Tackle on Whitesbridge (Avenue). We worked our shift, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., (and) the suspects robbed the store about 5. The suspects were detained about midnight or 1 a.m. We worked throughout the night.”

Then Amador shared a lighter side, joking: “One thing that we were upset with John about was that he never gave up his chili beans recipe.”

“May John rest in peace.”

Said Sheriff Margaret Mims:

“I worked many years with John, and in the same office as property detectives. He taught me a lot about investigations, but what struck me most was his common sense approach to how he looked at things. He could develop a rapport with victims and criminals alike. His humbleness and genuine care for people made him the kind of public servant our communities deserve.”

Souza started in law enforcement as a Fowler Police Department reserve. He got his full-time break as a constable for Parlier and Del Rey where he worked seven homicides in 2 1/2 years. That experience gave him the confidence that he could one day handle the big cases, he recalled in a 2000 interview with The Bee’s Kathy Barberich.

When the constable positions were taken into the sheriff’s office in 1973, Souza became a deputy. Fifteen years later, he became a detective.

He retired in 1998 five months after Ewell was sentenced. After, he did some part-time investigator work, public speaking (including promoting Kraig Hanadel’s book, “Catch Me If You Can,” about the Ewell case) and tending his 10-acre farm south of Easton with his wife, Sharon.

There will be no funeral, said Botti.

Instead, there will be a celebration of life during the afternoon of July 16th at the Kingsburg Gun Club open to the public. Botti said Souza did not want a traditional funeral because they were sad. instead, he wanted an event where people could gather to laugh, joke and share stories.

This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 5:50 PM.