FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A Baltimore man was sentenced Wednesday to spend multiple consecutive life sentences for his role in a 2016 triple murder in Franklin County.
Christopher Van Johnson, 36, will serve seven consecutive life sentences along with 10, 20 and 30-year terms on charges of companion robbery, firearms and conspiracy by United States District Judge Christopher Conner, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Three people were found by Pennsylvania State Police after they were zipped-tied, shot execution-style, and then set on fire inside a barn along Welsh Run Road in Mercersburg in June 2016. Two of the victims were found dead but one was rushed to York Hospital where he later died, the release states.
In total, there were 14 other people charged in a case that took seven years for authorities to investigate.
Evidence presented by prosecutors in a previous guilty plea in 2019 showed that the female victim who was aiding federal authorities in the drug trafficking case, was in a relationship with two other co-defendants, the DOJ said.
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When it was discovered that the woman was helping authorities, they planned for her murder and hired a Baltimore-based gang to head to the property and kill her the DOJ said.
The gang was promised that they could take $20,000 that was supposed to be in a safe inside the barn along with any drugs and firearms they could find. No money was ever found on the property.
Several others individuals were also charged as a result of the investigation:
- Devin Dickerson, age 31, Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin
and crack cocaine and was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment; - Torey White, age 32, Waynesboro, PA, was convicted by a federal jury in May of 2023
of three counts of first-degree murder and his case is on appeal; - Michael Buck, age 30, Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being
an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting
sentencing; - Nicholas Preddy, age 29, Baltimore, pleaded guilty to attempting to kill a witness and
was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment; - Johnnie Jenkins-Armstrong, age 22, Baltimore, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery
and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and was
sentenced to life imprisonment; - Terrance Lawson, age 31, Baltimore, sentenced to time served for attempting to
intimidate a witness; - Tyrone Armstrong, age 30, Baltimore, sentenced to time served for attempting to
intimidate a witness; - Kenyatta Corbett, age 41, Hagerstown and Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to
Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs
Act robbery and was sentenced to life imprisonment; - Mark Johnson, 35, Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty to obstructing the grand jury’s
investigation and was sentenced to 110 months’ imprisonment; - Llesenia Woodard, 46, Hagerstown, Maryland, pled guilty to providing false
testimony to the grand jury investigating the murders and is awaiting sentencing; - Kevin Coles, age 36, of New York, NY and Hagerstown, Maryland, was found guilty
in April 2022 of multiple crimes, including murder for hire, robbery, and drug
trafficking, and was sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences; - Yolanda Diaz, 31, Hagerstown, Md, indicted on multiple counts of perjury and
obstruction of justice based upon her testimony at the Coles trial, recently pled guilty
before Judge Conner and is awaiting sentencing; - Joshua Davis, age 30, pled guilty to participating in the conspiracy to locate and kill an
individual believed to be cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation of
the triple murders and was sentenced to serve 100 months’ imprisonment.
The following federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the
investigation: Drug Enforcement Administration Harrisburg Resident Office; Pennsylvania State
Police, Chambersburg; Pennsylvania State Police, Troop H; Franklin County Drug Task Force;
Franklin County Adult Probation; Pennsylvania State Probation and Parole; Hagerstown Police
Department, Criminal Investigation Division; Drug Enforcement Administration, Hagerstown
Resident Office; Washington County Narcotics Task Force; Drug Enforcement Administration,
Baltimore District Office, Strike Force Group 1; Maryland State Police Homicide Unit;
Baltimore Police Department Narcotics, Fugitive, And Homicide Units; Baltimore County Police
Department Narcotics and Gang Unit; Federal Bureau of Investigation Evidence Management
Unit, Quantico, VA; US Marshal’s Service Harrisburg, PA and Phoenix, AZ; Franklin County
District Attorney’s Office; United States Attorney’s Office, District Of Maryland; and the
Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office.
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