Baltimore man pleads guilty to 2016 slaying of three people in Franklin County
A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to multiple charges connected to a triple homicide near Mercersburg more than three years ago.
Christopher Johnson, 31, of Baltimore entered his plea before Judge Christopher C. Conner in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Johnson was among 11 people indicted almost a year ago on murder, drug trafficking and obstruction of charges related to the deadly shooting of three people on June 25, 2016, inside a barn in Montgomery Township.
Wendy Chaney, 39, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Brandon Cole, 47, of Fayetteville were found shot to death in the barn on Welsh Run Road, and Phillip Jackson, 36, of Greencastle died later at York Hospital.
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The murders were drug-related, and one of the victims, Chaney, had been working as an informant against several of the defendants for federal and state law enforcement drug task forces in Maryland, according to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed. Several of the defendants were members of a nationwide gang known as the Black Guerilla Family, according to court documents.
Those involved in the murders also worked with others to obstruct a grand jury investigation and kill a person believed to be assisting authorities in the murder investigation, according to the release.
Two and a half years went by before anyone was charged in the crime. The 11-person indictment came down in December.
Police responded to the scene at 11026 Welsh Run Road late on a Sunday night after receiving reports that gunshots had been heard in the area. In addition to finding Chaney and Cole deceased and Jackson severely injured, a fire had been started on the property.
Jackson, the owner of the property, worked with the Black Guerilla Gang to buy and sell cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin, according to the indictment. Police later determined members of the gang had been on the property with the intentions of killing Chaney and robbing Johnson. It is not clear why Cole was there.
A total of 22 counts were filed against the 11 defendants. Johnson pleaded guilty to counts of killing of witnesses to a federal offense to prevent communication to law enforcement, use of a firearm during a crime resulting in death, interstate travel to commit a murder for hire, conspiracy to commit robbery, and firearm possession by a felon.
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The other defendants are: Torey White of Waynesboro; Kevin Coles, Devin Dickerson, Kenyatta Corbett and Michael Buck of Hagerstown; and Jerell Adgebesan, Nicholas Preddy, Johnnie Jenkins-Armstrong, Terrance Lawson and Tyrone Armstrong of Baltimore.
In addition, another man previously pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy to locate and kill a person believed to be cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation of the triple homicide. Joshua Davis, no residency information provided, was sentenced to serve 100 months in federal prison, according to the news release.
Several other people were indicted and subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of obstructing the investigation and are awaiting sentencing.
The Department of Justice news release listed 21 law enforcement units that have been involved in the investigation.