publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com

Three counts of murder “with malice aforethought” were filed Nov. 6 by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office against John Roderick Dungan, 28, of Santa Barbara, in connection with a collision on Highway 154 that killed a Solvang woman and her two children. 

Dungan made his first Santa Barbara County Superior Court appearance before Judge Clifford Anderson, but Anderson delayed Dungan’s arraignment to Nov. 20. Before an arraignment, a substitution of counsel in the case was set for Nov. 15.

Deputy Public Defender Mindi Boulet objected to media requests to photograph the defendant in court, and Anderson decided to allow photographs of the hearing but not of Dungan.

Dungan was also injured in the crash near the Cold Spring Bridge on Oct. 25, and he was in critical condition for more than a week at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. He was booked into Santa Barbara County Main Jail on $2 million bail.

Dungan was driving west on Highway 154 about 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 25 when he crossed the double-yellow lines into oncoming traffic and collided with a vehicle driven by Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, 34, of Solvang, which then was hit by another vehicle from behind, and caught fire.

Bley and her 2-year-old daughter, Lucienne, and 4-month-old son, Desmond, were killed in the crash. 

The deaths have also prompted people in the Santa Ynez Valley to demand that the CHP step up their patrols. Several petitions have been created with more than 2,800 signatures on one asking local officials such as 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, the CHP and Caltrans to install speed monitor cameras to avoid more tragedies on Highway 154. 

An article at Noozhawk.com details other charges against Dungan, stalking and firearms-related incidents in March, which are being prosecuted in Santa Barbara Superior Court. 

The criminal complaint after the fatal collision also accuses him of committing the alleged murders while released from custody on bail or his own recognizance for the March case. 

Watch www.santaynezvalleystar.com for updates on this case.

Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland contributed to this story. She can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com.

The post Murder charges filed in Highway 154 fatal crash appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com

The woman who was killed in a three-vehicle crash on Highway 154 on the evening of Friday, Oct. 25, has been identified as Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, 34, of Solvang, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s officials.

Facebook photo

Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley was killed in a crash on Highway 154 on Oct. 25. The identities of two children who also died had not been released at press time.

Two children who also died had not been positively identified by the Star’s press time.

The head-on crash occurred around 4:45 p.m. Friday near the Cold Spring Bridge on Highway 154, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Another driver involved, a 28-year-old Santa Barbara man, was identified as John Roderick Dungan.

Dungan was driving westbound in a Chevrolet Camaro and crossed the double yellow lines for unknown reasons and slammed head-on into a sedan driven by Goss Bley with two children as passengers, according to Mike Eliason of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Release of the children’s names is pending confirmation of their identities through DNA tests by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, said Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Department.

Goss Bley was known in her professional life as Vanessa Bley, a singer and front woman for the band Beast Patrol. She was the daughter of the late jazz pianist Paul Bley and pioneer video artist Carol Goss.

In addition to her two bands and solo records, Goss Bley scored film and art installations, as well as the audio score for the film “Eyes of the Moon,” according to her website. 

CHP Capt. Cindy Pontes confirmed that the Camaro was westbound, toward Santa Ynez, when it crossed into the eastbound lanes. 

The Camaro crashed head-on with the Chevy Volt driven by Goss Bley, and a GMC Yukon behind the Volt swerved but collided with the sedan. 

The Camaro came to rest on the Cold Spring Bridge and the sedan spun out and ended up on the shoulder east of the bridge. 

“The Volt and GMC came to rest on the south shoulder, where they both caught fire, ultimately causing a brush fire,” Ponce said. “The Camaro continued forward, where it came to rest in the eastbound lane of SR-154 on the Cold Spring Bridge. The driver and passengers of the Chevy Volt were pronounced deceased at the scene of the collision.

“The driver and the passenger of the GMC Yukon did not sustain any injuries as a result of the collision. The driver of the Chevy Camaro suffered major injuries as a result of the collision, and was life-flighted to Cottage Hospital for medical treatment.”

Giana Magnoli of Noozhawk contributed to this story. She can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. 

The post Local woman, 2 children killed in Highway 154 crash appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.