Man Held in Triple Slaying at His Antelope Valley Home

A 43-year-old Lake Los Angeles man who allegedly shot to death his wife, stepson and daughter-in-law, was arrested Saturday and held on murder charges Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

Oliver Leroy Vann was being held without bail at the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station, said Deputy John Ashley.

His wife, Marie Antoinette Vann, 52, her son, Ronald Johnson, 30, and his wife, Muriel Johnson, 40, died of gunshot wounds. The shootings occurred at the family’s house in the 41000 block of 168th Street East shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, Ashley said.

Vann’s three step-grandchildren, ages 5, 9, 11, were asleep in the house when the incident began.

“They heard the shooting and ran from the house to a neighbor,” who phoned authorities, Ashley said. The frightened children said Vann had ordered them out of the house when the shooting started, neighbors said Saturday.

When deputies arrived, they discovered the bodies of Marie Vann and Muriel Johnson inside the house, Ashley said. The body of Ronald Johnson was found outside. The three were pronounced dead at the scene.

The family had lived in Lake Los Angeles, a semirural community about 15 miles northeast of Palmdale, for about three years. Muriel Vann was a nurse, neighbors said. Oliver Vann had apparently been despondent over financial problems after being laid off from his job, neighbors said.

The shootings came during an argument and Oliver Vann “concluded the argument by shooting the victims,” Ashley said. The nature of the dispute is not known, he said.

After the shooting, Oliver Vann fled the area in a light blue Mercedes-Benz but was arrested about 2 a.m. Saturday after he became involved in a traffic accident with a big-rig truck while driving through the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County, Ashley said.

The officer “recognized the Mercedes as that being involved in the Lake Los Angeles murders,” and arrested the driver without incident, Ashley said.

The murder weapon had not been discovered but officials said it might have been a .22-caliber rifle or handgun.