Two charged in slayings of five family members

LIVONIA, Mich. -- Two men were charged Thursday with murdering five family members, including three children, during a robbery at a home in suburban Detroit.

John Wolfenbarger, 31, and Dennis Lincoln, 27, were charged with five counts each of premeditated murder and felony murder.

Jeweler Marco Pesce, 38; his mother, Maria Vergati, 68; and Pesce's three children, Melissa, 6, Sabrina, 9, and Carlo, 12, were gunned down execution-style in Pesce's home Saturday. Police said the house was ransacked.

Wolfenbarger and Dennis also were charged with five counts each of armed robbery and one count each of home invasion, being a felon in possession of a firearm and using a firearm during the commission of a felony, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said.

The men were believed to have been cellmates in a prison in Carson City and were paroled earlier this year, prosecutors said. Lincoln served nine years in prison for armed robbery, and Wolfenbarger served eight years for a series of burglaries.

They were arrested Tuesday. An arraignment was scheduled Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses placed Wolfenbarger and Lincoln at a house in Detroit after the murder with bags of possible stolen items, prosecutors said. Police also have found handguns they think are connected to the slayings.

Police Lt. Ben McDermott said at least three other people were in custody in connection with the killings, but would not be charged with homicide.