eight years after a triple homicide in Pennsylvania, a Maryland man has been brought to justice, according to ta release by the US Department of Justice on Fiday, July 19, 2024.
Christopher Van Johnson, 36 of Baltimore, MD was sentenced to seven consecutive life in prison sentences by United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner, "who also sentenced to concurrent 10, 20, and 30-year terms of imprisonment on companion robbery, firearms, and conspiracy charges" on July 17, 2024, as stated in the release.
His sentencing was for his role in the execution-style slayings of Wendy Ann Chaney, 39 of Hagerstown, MD; Brandon Cole, 47 of Fayetteville, PA; and Phillip Matthew Jackson, 36 of Mercersburg, PA, United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam detailed in The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania's release.
The trio was found by Pennsylvania State Police in a barn on Jackson’s property along Welsh Run Road in Mercersburg on June 25, 2016.
The USDOJ detailed PSP's findings as follows:
"The three victims had their hands zipped-tied behind their backs and had been set on fire. Jackson and Cole were shot once in the head. Chaney was shot twice, once in the back and once in the back of her neck. Wendy Chaney and Brandon Cole were already dead when the police responded to the scene. Phillip Jackson was transported to York Hospital where he died shortly after arrival."
Evidence was previously submitted showing that Wendy Chaney was in a relationship with two co-defendants, Kevin Coles and Torey White, and was part of their drug distribution operation.
When the two men and two additional co-defendants Devin Dickerson and Kenyatta Corbett, a heroin trafficker from Hagerstown— learned that Chaney was cooperating with federal authorities— they contracted the Baltimore-based gang, known as the "Black Guerilla Family," to murder her, the USDOJ explained.
A member of the gang, came to kill Wendy Chaney, only after he was promised a payment of $20,000, drugs, and firearms that were supposedly in Jackson's barn.
Authorities believe that "Jackson and Cole were murdered to prevent them from being witnesses to the crimes of violence that were committed at the Jackson property."
The USDOJ noted that the killers "never found any money on the property but stole some drugs and firearms."
The following people were also charged as a result of the investigation:
- Jerell Adgebesan, 35 of Baltimore and Hagerstown, Maryland, was sentenced to life imprisonment for participating in the murder of three people including a federal witness.
- Devin Dickerson, 31 of Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
- Torey White, 32 of Waynesboro, PA, was convicted by a federal jury in May 2023 on three counts of first-degree murder. His conviction is being appealed.
- Michael Buck, 30 of 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, 29 of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to attempting to kill a witness and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
- Kenyatta Corbett, 41 of Hagerstown and Baltimore, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the murders and a consecutive 20-year term of imprisonment on a Hobbs Act robbery charge. Corbett pleaded guilty to those charges.
- Terrance Lawson, 31 of Baltimore, was sentenced to time served for attempting to intimidate a witness.
- Tyrone Armstrong, 30 of Baltimore, was sentenced to time served for attempting to intimidate a witness.
- Johnny Jenkins-Armstrong, 26, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was sentenced to life in prison for a triple homicide.
- Mark Johnson, 35 of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to obstructing the grand jury’s investigation and was sentenced to 110 months imprisonment.
- Llesenia Woodard, 46 of Hagerstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to providing false testimony to the grand jury investigating the murders and is awaiting sentencing.
- Kevin Coles, 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 of Hagerstown, MD, was indicted on multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice based on her testimony at the Coles trial. She recently pled guilty before Judge Conner and is awaiting sentencing.
- Joshua Davis, 30, previously pleaded 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. Davis 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.
Assistant United States Attorney William A. Behe, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and Senior Litigation Counsel Michael Consiglio prosecuted these cases.
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