I don't think Ross is lying as much as he is perhaps equivocating, although not in the same malicious way that the witches equivocate. Ross is naturally reluctant to reveal to Macduff that his family has been murdered; he may literally mean that the last time he saw the family, they were well. That statement is true. Because, however, he knows they're dead, he may refer to the peace of death in his response to Macduff's question.
Despite this attempt to avoid having to tell Macduff the awful truth, on the other hand, Ross eventually tells him that his family was "savagely slaughtered." Every time I teach this play, I'm horrified by this blunt remark. Perhaps Ross is so distressed to have to deliver the news that he simply blurts out the truth. At any rate, I'm always shocked.
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