A criminal trial is to start next week for the Santa Barbara man accused of intentionally crashing his car into another vehicle on Highway 154 and killing the Solvang woman and her two young children inside.
John Dungan, 30, was charged with murder after his Chevrolet Camaro slammed head-on into a Chevrolet Volt near the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge on Oct. 25, 2019. The fiery collision killed 34-year-old Rebecca Bley and her children, 2-year-old Lucienne Bley Gleason and 4-month-old Desmond Bley Gleason.
Dungan was seriously injured in the Oct. 25, 2019, crash and airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.
Attorneys met to discuss trial timing last week, and on Friday said jury selection is scheduled to start on April 28. The jury trial is expected to take three months, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Thomas Adams said.
Prosecutors and Dungan’s defense attorneys argued pre-trial motions in early February for the case, including what witness testimony and evidence could be admitted during the trial. The case alleges that Dungan was suicidal and homicidal at the time of the collision.
This trial and others have been delayed by the Superior Court presiding judge’s temporary suspension of trials due to COVID-19, which was lifted last month.
Dungan faces three counts of first-degree murder and the enhancement of allegedly committing the crime while released from custody on a felony case.
Some of the reasoning behind the charges connects to an unresolved felony stalking case that has been put on hold pending the outcome of this trial.
In February 2019, Santa Barbara police went to Dungan’s residence to check his welfare after he sent a text message to several people “that appeared to be suicidal/homicidal in nature.”
Police seized 16 firearms and a substantial amount of ammunition during their visit.
The next month, Dungan was charged with stalking an ex-girlfriend, identified only as Jane Doe, carrying a concealed weapon, and possessing a large capacity magazine for a firearm.
Dungan was ordered to stay at the Gooden Center, a Los Angeles residential treatment center, and go on GPS tracking.
In September that year, he was allowed to return to Santa Barbara County but was ordered to live at Recovery Santa Barbara and participate in the Good Heart Recovery program, according to court documents.
Prosecutors from the District Attorney’s Office filed a brief in October 2020 that included background on the case and details about the day of the fatal wreck.
About a month later, on Oct. 24 and into Oct. 25, 2019, Dungan texted his parents to express his displeasure with and disappointment in them, according to court documents.
One text message read: “I hope one day after I’m gone you’ll realize what you did wrong and understand that I love you.”
Later on Oct. 25, he went to his parents’ house for about an hour and, after he left, his mother discovered a note on the steering wheel of her vehicle.
According to court documents, the note read:
“I never hurt anyone with my guns. I never planned to hurt anyone with my guns. I never took steps to prepare to hurt anyone with my guns. I never threatened anybody and I certainly never stalked anyone. I am too sensitive for this reality and I am done allowing an unjust justice system to push me around and bully me. I love you all, goodbye — John Dungan.”
The line, “I am too sensitive for this reality,” was also included in his February 2019 text message that prompted the check-the-welfare call and firearms seizure.
According to court documents, Dungan’s mother immediately called Recovery Santa Barbara after finding the note, and the doctor there said they needed to take it seriously. They reported it to law enforcement and police went to Recovery Santa Barbara on a check-the-welfare call.
Police also pinged Dungan’s cell phone and traced it to the Highway 154 corridor near Cold Spring Canyon Bridge just north of San Marcos Pass, according to court documents. Then 9-1-1 calls started coming into dispatch centers about an injury vehicle collision and a fire near the bridge.
Dungan’s GPS device, which he was required to wear as part of the alleged stalking case, revealed that he had driven along Foothill Road/State Highway 192 from his parents’ house to Highway 154, and then up to East Camino Cielo, where he stopped and removed the device, evidenced by a tamper notice, according to court documents.
A woman driving on Highway 154 toward the Santa Ynez Valley reported seeing Dungan traveling on her left, fully in the opposing lane of traffic, just before the crash, according to prosecutors. The woman thought he was passing, but he didn’t get over into the correct lane, even though there were no vehicles in the way to prevent him from doing so, court documents allege.
When Dungan collided head on with Bley’s vehicle, which was traveling toward Santa Barbara, Bley was ejected from the vehicle and her two children were trapped in their safety seats when the car caught fire, according to investigators.
Coroner’s Bureau investigators determined that Bley and her children died from the impact of the collision, not the fire that engulfed their car, according to court testimony.
The prosecutors’ October 2020 briefing also says the event data recorder from Dungan’s car shows he was driving 115 mph five seconds prior to impact, which increased to 119 mph until the point of impact. His seatbelt was also allegedly unbuckled just before the collision.
The criminal trial in this case has been delayed by the court’s pandemic-related closure and jury trial suspension orders.
Dungan is being held in jail custody without bail. He has appeared in court in person and from the jail via Zoom.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.