Lone survivor of Iowa murder-suicide speaks out after entire family slaughtered, with heart-wrenching message for killer dad

The crazed dad who murdered his wife and five kids in an “act of evil” in Iowa left behind just one 22-year-old son — who fought back tears a day later while offering an astonishing show of grace to his murderous dad.

Johnathan McFarland was the lone family survivor Monday afternoon as his father, Ryan Willis McFarland, wiped out six other family members before killing himself after being heard ranting about death and money.
Johnathan McFarland, 22, is the lone surviving member of his family after his father, Ryan, turned a gun on his siblings and mother in a horrifying massacre in Iowa.WQAD News 8 / YouTube
The student appeared at a vigil Tuesday, sharing a moving tribute to the family he lost — mom Lesa, sister Ryle, 20, brothers Mark, 16, and Ryan Jr., 13, and half-brothers Dakota Whitlow, 32, and Dakota Whitlow, 32, who were all found shot dead in various locations around their hometown of Muscatine.

“It’s hard to even think that this is even real. I’m still in denial,” Johnathan said, pausing to fight the emotion in his voice as a supportive police officer stood by his side.

“I know this is a very tough time, not just for me. I just wanted to say that I will forever love and miss my mom, Lesa, my sister, Riley, my four brothers, Dakota, Austin, Mark and Ryan,” he said.

“And this might hurt some people for me to say … No matter what is being told to me, I will always love and miss my dad, Ryan,” he said of the dad who slaughtered the rest of his closest family.

He said all seven of his loved ones “are gonna forever be always in my heart, my prayers, my thoughts, and I’ll always talk to them,” he said.

“I am also incredibly thankful to have had such an amazing, loving and caring family throughout my entire life. I will forever and always love and miss them dearly,” he said, saying he will continue to honor them.
Family killer Ryan McFarland had a criminal history dating back more than three decades including armed robbery, theft and fraud charges.Muscatine county
Cops called the killings an “act of evil” that stemmed from a domestic dispute.

The deranged killer was heard shouting about money outside his home just 10 minutes before the shootings, his neighbor Melissa Weggen told the Quad-City Times.

“I heard him walk by my house, saying, ‘Don’t worry about money. Everything goes away when you die,’” the neighbor chillingly recalled overhearing.

Ryan McFarland had a checkered past, including an armed robbery and the death of a baby under his care.

In the early 2000s, McFarland and Lesa opened Little People Daycare & Preschool, which they operated out of their home until their license was revoked after an 8-month-old baby was found unresponsive in a crib, RadioIowa reported.

The child died in the hospital, and McFarland, who had a lengthy criminal history, was charged in 2011 with felony child endangerment resulting in death and neglect.

As part of a plea deal, the neglect charge was dropped and the child endangerment felony was reduced to a misdemeanor, which enabled McFarland to avoid a maximum 50-year jail term.

McFarland was convicted of armed robbery in Illinois in 1994 and sentenced to seven years in prison, according to WQAD.

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Three years later, he pleaded guilty to a theft charge and was hit with an eight-year sentence.

Then in 2019, the onetime aspiring teacher was busted and convicted of fraud after he was found to have messed with the odometers of cars before selling them.