Two in a Million

Jesus Christ

As with most criminals who find themselves facing life in prison, Dana Ewell discovered Jesus Christ behind bars. In searching inside himself and discovering God while staring at brick walls and razor wire, Dana inhaled the Scriptures, a process that has made him, so he claims, "A sincere and grateful man who has been greatly humbled, and I am very thankful for this."

Dana's entire family—mother, father, sister—were murdered. It was the spring of 1992 (the Lenten season, in fact). They were shot by a hired assassin at pointblank range with an AT-9 assault rifle, taken out like Mafioso targets as they went about life in the confines of the Fresno home Dana had shared with them.

Similar AT-9 Assault Rifle

But don't look at Dana as the shooter; he was two-and-a-half hours away at the time of the murders.

"God allowed some extraordinary events to occur in my life," Dana wrote on that same Web site, alluding to, obviously, the murders—how 'bout that: the guy's family is savagely hunted down like rabid animals and he refers to the murders as extraordinary events—of his family, "that completely broke me down and rebuilt me back up in the love of Christ. I rededicated my life to Christ ... and I have never been happier since! I am so completely 'free on the inside,' despite being in prison. For me, to live is to love, and to 'let my light shine' in any and all circumstances, because my happiness and joy are based on faith, and faith alone."

Dana's story, like most of them, is one of great tragedy—and begins, fundamentally speaking, in the place where Dana grew up.