An appeals court has upheld the second-degree murder conviction for John Dungan, a Santa Barbara man who caused a head-on collision that killed a Solvang woman and her two young children.  

Investigators said Dungan intentionally caused the Highway 154 crash on Oct. 25, 2019, and alleged that he was suicidal and homicidal at the time.

The force of the collision killed 34-year-old Rebecca Vanessa Bley and her children, 2-year-old Lucienne Bley Gleason and 4-month-old Desmond Bley Gleason.

A Santa Barbara County Superior Court jury found Dungan guilty of three second-degree murder counts after a summer 2022 trial. Judge Thomas Adams sentenced Dungan to 45 years to life in prison.

“In that single moment, my entire family was erased,” Max Gleason, Bley’s husband and Lucienne and Desmond’s father, said in a victim-impact statement to the judge.

Dungan appealed the conviction, and the Second Appellate District issued a decision last week affirming the conviction and amending the abstract of judgment.

The decision was written by Justice Heraldo Baltodano with justices Kenneth Yegan and Tari Cody concurring.

Dungan and his attorney argued that there wasn’t sufficient evidence of malice to support murder convictions. They also argued that the trial court shouldn’t have allowed law enforcement officers to say they believed the crash was intentional.

“In our view, Dungan drove with conscious disregard for life,” Baltodano wrote. “On a windy day at almost 5:00 p.m., he drove on a winding mountain road while texting. He disregarded the ‘do not pass’ sign, crossed over the double yellow lines, drove with his entire vehicle in the opposing traffic lane, and accelerated to 119 mph directly toward the victims’ vehicle without taking evasive action.”

The justices continued: “In addition to Dungan’s life-threatening driving, there was substantial evidence of implied malice based on the theory that Dungan intended to commit suicide by intentionally causing a collision.”

During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence of Dungan’s text messages, letters to friends and family, and journals showing suicidal intent before the collision.

In the appeals process, Dungan’s attorneys argued that the court shouldn’t have allowed some of that evidence to be introduced during the trial.

The appellate justices found that the trial court properly exercised its discretion.

As one piece of evidence of suicidal intent, the appellate justices noted that on the morning of the collision, Dungan texted his parents: “I hope one day after I’m gone you realize what you did wrong and understand that I loved you.”

Dungan, 33, is serving his sentence at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The criminal case was prosecuted by Stephen Wagner and Megan Chanda of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. Dungan was represented by defense attorney Jeremy Lessem.

In the appeals process, Dungan was represented by attorney Victor Morse.