Serial Sniper Thomas Dillon Mercilessly Hunted his Unsuspecting Victims in Ohio

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Southern Ohio's rural counties are perfect for outdoor recreation, but
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the cold of this quiet community was shattered in nineteen
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eighty nine when a sniper gunned down an outdoorsman without reason.
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It was only the first in a string of random,
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terrifying orders. Hiding in the distance behind a high powered rifle,
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a madman was hunting humans along Ohio's county.
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Roads starting in the spring of nineteen eighty nine.
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A madman proud the woods and fields of rural Ohio.
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He was a hunter. A high powered rifle was his
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weapon of choice. Joggers and fishermen were his quarry. The
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hunter rom Fhir struck at random and left no clues.
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He was as elusive as he was lethal. Investigators knew
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he had to be stopped, but no one knew how.
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I'm Jim Calstrom, former director of the FBI's New York office.
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Most murderers have a connection to their victims and a
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motive for their crime, but not a serial killer. His
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victims are randomly chosen to fulfill an uncontrollable need to kill. Often,
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he leads an ordinary life, his family and friends unaware
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of his homicidal passions, but serial killers established profiles as
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the stinkedest fingerprints, and when a match is made, it
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is only a matter of time before they are caught.
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The rural counties of southern Ohio are hilly, rocky, and
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wide open, a quiet place for coal miners, factory workers,
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and farmers, the kind of place where people leave doors
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unlocked and where violent crime is almost unheard of. On
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April first, nineteen eighty nine, thirty five year old Donald
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Welling did what he frequently did on Saturdays. He went
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jogging along the backwards of Tuscararas County. His quiet morning
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run ended with a single shot. The rifle bullet ripped
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through Welling's heart, killing him instantly. Local authorities could find
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no motive and not a shred of evidence.
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The rifle was never found.
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November tenth, nineteen ninety another Saturday morning, nineteen months later,
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twenty one year old Jamie Paxton of Bannock.
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Ohio rose early to go bow hunting.
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Leaving his crossbow in the car, he took a walk
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through the tall grass off State Route nine. Paxton was
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alone and unarmed. He didn't notice the red pickup truck
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that stopped a short distance away. The gunland was quiet
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and careful. Jamie Paxton was shot three times by a
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high powered rifle.
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There were no witnesses.
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The killing horrified at quiet community that considered murder to
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be a problem for big cities. Hunting accidents are not
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uncommon in southern Ohio, but Belmont County Sheriff Tom McCourt
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knew right away that this wasn't a hunting accident.
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When we saw more than one wound, we knew that
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it could not be an accident. That an accidental death
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hunting accident is called it one shot plus we saw
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it was a bullet wound instead of of something from
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an arrow, and the gun season was not in yet.
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Sheriff Tom McCourt's jurisdiction is large geographically, but the community
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is closely knit.
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There.
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People work hard, and everyone seems to know everyone. Mc
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cord even knew Jamie Paxton. What he didn't know was
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who killed him. The gunman had left no clues.
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We checked the area for spent empty cartridge cases, for
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tire tracks, for anything in that area be where we
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thought the shot came from. We also checked the area
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around the body, looking for the spent projectiles that had
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passed through the body. We even took mental detectors in
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looking for the projectiles. At that time we were finally
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able to find anything. Yeah, right over there, that by
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the marina.
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And after interviewing Jamie Paxton's friend's family and acquaintances, they
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were unable to find anyone with a motive to kill him.
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Everyone in the area knew Jamie Paxton. No one that
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we knew of or was able even to this day,
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I'd ever found anyone who disliked a young man.
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Sheriff McCourt had an apparently random killing of a popular
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young man with no history of trouble, a seemingly unsolvable murder,
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with no physical evidence and no witnesses, not even a
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plausible theory about what happened.
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I think it's about it.
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After her son's death, Jeene Paxton's grief impelled her to action.
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She began composing.
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Letters to a local paper, the Martin's Ferry Times Leader,
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designed to draw out the killer.
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There was just every time I would sit down to
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write a letter, I would say a prayer, and I
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would say, please God, just give me the words to
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get to the person that killed my son.
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The letters were at once stern and passionate, to the
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murderer of my son, Jamie, she wrote, would it be
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easier for you if I wrote words of hate? I
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can't because I don't feel hate. I feel deep sorrow
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at losing my son. You took a light from my
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life last November and left me with many days of darkness.
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Have you thought of your own death? It'll happen.
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Unless you confess your sin and ask for God's forgiveness,
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you will face the fire and fury of hell at.
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Your own death.
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If the killer were reading Gene Paxton's letters, he seemed
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unaffected by them. On November twenty eighth, nineteen ninety, just
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eighteen days after Paxton's murder, thirty year old Kevin Loring
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was on a hunting trip in Mosque County, Ohio, some
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forty miles.
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From where Jamie Paxton was killed.
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While his friends finished eating lunch, Kevin decided to get
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a head start.
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Walking across a field in search of game.
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Lauring himself became prey, unknowingly moving into the sights of
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the gunman. Lauring was killed by a single gunshot wound
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to the head. The killer had taken care to commit
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his murders in different counties to slow an investigation that
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would have to take place over hundreds of rural miles.
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The result, investigators in Muskegham County were unaware of the
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other sniper victims in nearby counties. They decided that Louren's
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death was probably a hunting accident. Gene Paxton never gave up.
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She kept writing throughout nineteen ninety one, determined to draw
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out Jamie's killer.
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And I always felt if I could get my letters
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into the hands of the person that killed my son,
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I felt that I could get a response from them.
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She turned out to be right. I am the murderer
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of Jamie Paxton, a type written letter read. Jamie Paxton
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was a complete stranger to me. I never saw him
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before in my life and never.
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Said a word to me that Saturday.
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Paxton was killed because of an irresistible compulsion that has taken.
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Over my life. I knew when I.
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Left my house that day that someone would die by
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my hand. I just didn't know who or where. I'm
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an average looking person with a family, a job, and home,
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just like yourself. Something in my head causes me to
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turn into a merciless.
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Killer with no conscience.
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The letter arrived at the Martin's Ferry Times Leader, a
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few days before the one year anniversary of Jamie's death.
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The letter described the Paxton murder in chilling detail. I
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was very drunk, and a voice in my head said
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do it. I stopped my car behind Jamie's and got out.
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Jamie started walking very slowly down the hill toward the road.
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I raised my rifle to my shoulder and lined him
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up in the sights. I took at least five seconds
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to take careful aim.
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My first shot was off a little bit and hit
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him in the right chest. He groaned and went down.
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I wanted to make sure he was finished, so I
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fired a second shot, aimed halfway between his hip and shoulder.
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While he was prone on the ground. I jerked the
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shot and hit him.
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In the knee. He never moved again.
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Five minutes after I shot past and I was drinking
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a beer, and.
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It blacked out all thoughts of what I had just
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done out of my mind.
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I thought no more more of shooting Paxton than shooting
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a bottle at the dump. I know you hate my guts,
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and rightfully so, I think about Jamie every hour of
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the day, as I'm sure you do for Sheriff McCourt.
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The letter was a beginning evidence that might lead to
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a murderer, but he needed more.
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The typewriter used to write the letter a gandi.
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While investigators searched, the killer continued his own hunting. Saturday,
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March fourteenth, nineteen ninety two, Claude Hawkins got off his
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midnight shift at the Pittsburgh Bladen Glass Company about SunUp.
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It was a good time to fish, and Hawkins went
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straight to a favorite spot on the river below will
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Street dam.
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Hawkins had a wife and four children.
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Another outdoorsman had been killed while alone, but this one
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took place on federal property.
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The FBI stepped in.
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The FBI joined the hunt for the roadside sniper who
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just killed his latest victim on federal property. Investigators from
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the three counties involved, along with the FBI and the
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Ohio Division of Wildlife, formed a task force. It didn't
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take long to realize how few clues they had In
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each case. The killer had no contact with a victim,
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no rifling of pockets, no robbery shell casings had been
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carefully removed, and the victim's cars were untouched. Special Agent
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Harry Trombitis was stationed at the FBI's Columbus, Ohio Field Office.
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What we did know is that mister Hawkins died from
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a gunshot. And usually you would find some type of
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a shellcasing in the area. And I remember looking very
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hard metal detectors and hands and knees for any shellcasings
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in that and none where ever found. And so that
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was something that you know, if in fact we had
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somebody who was evidence conscious enough to pick up the
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shellcasing after they shot and killed somebody, we were dealing
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with a different brand of person here.
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The multi jurisdictional task Force concluded that the death of
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Kevin Lauring, first ruled accidentally, was actually a homicide. We
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got a problem. Reviewing the four murders, the investigative team
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saw plenty in common outdoorsman hunters, fishing, and her joggers
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alone in a rural setting, all shot with a high
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powered rifle. All but one of the murders occurred on
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a weekend, and the killer was careful enough.
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To leave no evidence victims.
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It was more clear than ever that a single individual
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was responsible. The task force was on the trail of
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a serial killer. As they began to mobilize, the killer
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struck again I know we can capture this person. I
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know we can't. Ten days after the task force meeting,
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on April fifth, nineteen ninety two, forty four year old
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steel worker Gary Brett left his home in neighboring West
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Virginia to go pond fishing in Noble County. H Bradley's
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wife and three children would never see him alive again.
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The task force had another murder. The road sniper had
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to be stopped. The task force wanted to learn more
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about the personality of the sniper. They asked the FBI
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to draw up a psychological profile of the serial killer.
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Such an outline would be invaluable in tracking him down.
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Okay, maybe there's something there.
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With Major Dane Shriock of the Kshattan County Sheriff's Office
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headed the task force.
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Right after we had initially made an assessment that maybe
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these things might be linked. The Columbus FBI office set
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up at a meeting to have the Behavioral Science Unit
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to come to Columbus, Ohio and actually set down and
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talk with the investigators of these five counties of the homicides.
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The FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia can accurately
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sketch personality profiles of individuals from sparse clues. Larry Ankram
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is a member of the behavioral Science unit assigned to
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the rhodesniper case. He studied all the available evidence, the
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investigative reports of the five murders, and especially the letter
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that the killer had written to Gene Paxton.
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I came back to Quantico and reviewed these cases more
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in detail, and I came out with a former profile.
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We were probably looking for a white male. We were
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looking for someone that was intelligent, someone who was an
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outdoorsman himself, someone that wouldn't look out of place in
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the woods, someone that was probably responding to some significant
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event in his life that was going wrong at that
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particular time. One of the things that was apparent that
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there was a sniper type mentality here, that we were
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dealing with someone that didn't want confrontation, someone that was
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doing things from afar, and this is something that we
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see many times with our arsoness. We ought to be
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looking at some different types of activities that he might
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be involved in, such as nuisance types of offenses, shooting
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out windows, shooting out tires of cars, cruelty to animals,
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arson fires.
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Ankram believed that the violence was triggered by stress and
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fueled by alcohol. The task Force now had a psychological
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sketch of the roadside sniper, and they had his letter.
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FBI forensic scientists studied the letter intensely. They found distinguishing
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features in the typeface. If they could find the typewriter
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it was written on, it would be easy to link
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the confessional letter to the owner, and thus link the
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murder to the murderer. They had to hurry, the sniper
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was still out there. On July twenty first, nineteen ninety two,
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two hunters in a state park in Muskegem County came
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face to face with the killer. As they moved through
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the brush, one of them noticed something terrifying, a nearby
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00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:22.920
figure with a gun pointed right at them. They called
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out to him, and the man scurried away to a
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00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:30.960
red pickup truck. It happened too quickly for the hunters
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00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.680
to get a good look at the man or the
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vehicle's tag numbers. Bewildered, they called local police, who alerted
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the task Force. Throughout nineteen ninety two, desperate to catch
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a man still ready to kill, the task force investigated
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00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:56.599
and cleared more than one hundred suspects. By August nineteen
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ninety two, after three years, the investigation had hit a
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dead end. The task Force was badly in need of
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information and decided to go public.
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It is in the opinion of this multi agency task
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force that they.
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Held a press conference and issued a press release detailing
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the FBI profile of the man they wanted and asking
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anyone with information to come forward.
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Community including the FBI, made a press release and it
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00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.680
was done at one time to mass and got everybody
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00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.839
six o'clock news. I mean everybody was showing this case
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00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.559
and the phone started ringing instantly.
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Wilson, one of those calls received a Task Force headquarters
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00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:47.839
on August twenty sixth, nineteen ninety two, sparked to lead.
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00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:52.519
The man on the phone was named Richard Frye. He
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said he thought the Task Force should know about a
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00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:04.440
high school friend of his named Thomas Dillon. LLLN investigators
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00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:09.559
had a name and someone willing to talk. A Task
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Force member arranged to meet Richard fry at a rest
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stop on Route seventy seven.
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00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:16.640
Tom Dylon I went to high school.
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With him, We grew up again.
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00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:17.400
There.
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00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:20.720
Fry talked about his old friend Tom Dylon wastrange.
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They used to.
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00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:34.160
Drive around rural Ohio, shooting at road signs and small animals,
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but Fry eventually found Dylan too eccentric and violent for
283
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.519
his taste. Similarly obsessed with serial killers like Ted Bundy,
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Dylan had taken to killing family pets and cattle and
285
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setting random fires.
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A few months back and Fry got married and for
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00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:53.640
most of the nineteen eighties forgot about his strange friend.
288
00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:59.440
But in nineteen eighty nine, Fry ran into Thomas Dylon
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00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.039
at a gun show in Cleveland.
290
00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:08.720
Tom Thomas Dylan invited him to ride along with him again,
291
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:15.119
just like in the old days, old friendships die hard
292
00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:19.079
and Richard Fry again found himself driving the back roads
293
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:25.839
of rural Ohio, drinking beer and shooting road signs, but
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00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:27.319
Dylan had deteriorated.
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00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:28.839
Fry discovered.
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00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:33.559
Dylan asked whether Fry thought Dylan had ever killed.
297
00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:36.400
You known each other for a long time.
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00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:38.559
Twenty some years ago.
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00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:46.599
Yeah, do you think I could ever kill anybody? Tom?
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00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.160
You know, we, like you said, we go way back.
301
00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:49.480
I mean.
302
00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:53.559
He discussed how to get away with random killings, including
303
00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.880
the tactic of killing in different counties to thwart investigators.
304
00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:58.160
County.
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00:24:58.319 --> 00:24:59.720
You know they never.
306
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.519
And being at random, they'd have no clues whatsoever.
307
00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:08.839
Not average, your average guy.
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00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:09.000
Back.
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00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:11.000
I said that when he read the press release, he
310
00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:16.359
immediately thought of Tom Dylan. He gave a description of Dylan,
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00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:20.319
including the vehicle he drove, a red pickup truck, just
312
00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:22.680
like the one spotted by the Hunts. As matter of fact,
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00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:29.480
Lieutenant Wilson of the Tuscararis County Sheriff's Office was a
314
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:33.240
task force member. His job was to follow up on
315
00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.920
leads and tips, which were coming much more frequently as
316
00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:42.359
press coverage of the case increased. He decided Tom Dylon
317
00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.759
fit the FBI profile and needed to be investigated.
318
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.000
I began to follow up on the information that mister
319
00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:56.240
Fry had given us. I went to Tom Dillon's workplace
320
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.680
in the city of Canton.
321
00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:00.839
Dylan had been employed for a dozen years as a
322
00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:06.000
draftsman at the Canton, Ohio Water Wilson obtained Thomas Dllon's
323
00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:09.079
work schedule to compare Dylan's days off with the dates
324
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.440
and times of the murders. The purpose was to eliminate
325
00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:14.200
Dylan as a suspect.
326
00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:15.440
But he couldn't.
327
00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:19.240
He found that Dylan didn't work weekends when most of
328
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.720
the incidents occurred, but that didn't prove much. However, two
329
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:28.480
weekdays Dylan took off from work caught Wilson's attention. July
330
00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:31.559
twenty first, nineteen ninety two, the day the hunters saw
331
00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.720
a man point a rifle at them, and November twenty eighth,
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00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:35.960
nineteen ninety.
333
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:37.680
The day Kevin Lauring was killed.
334
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:48.000
Eight Please Dylan could be the one. As the other
335
00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:50.839
members of the task force followed up on hundreds of leads,
336
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:56.319
Detective Wilson began surveillance on Thomas Dillon. Maybe Dylan would
337
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:59.920
return to a prime singer or lead investigators to more proofs.
338
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:07.200
The surveillance began in October nineteen ninety two. Detective Wilson
339
00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:10.519
followed Tom Dylan on his weekend excursions, driving the back
340
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:12.000
roads of southern Ohio.
341
00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.440
Typically a day would start me around seven in the
342
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:20.720
morning on Tom's days off the weekends usually, and he
343
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.400
would leave his home and he would sometimes he would
344
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:27.319
stop at a convenience store and buy some beer, and
345
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:30.640
then he would go south of his home into other counties,
346
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:34.079
just driving all the back remote roadways.
347
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:38.599
On October tenth, nineteen ninety two, while tailing Dylan. Wilson
348
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.039
briefly lost track of the suspect's vehicle. As Wilson crept
349
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:46.200
around a corner, he came face to face with Thomas Dylon,
350
00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:50.599
his cover possibly blown his case in jeopardy, Wilson had
351
00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:51.400
to think fast.
352
00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:54.680
I waved at him, and he waved at me, and
353
00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.400
we kept on going. He stopped at the end of
354
00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.880
the drive to see if I was going to stay there.
355
00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:12.119
Or Wilson couldn't risk being identified. He let Dylan drive away.
356
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.440
My big concern was, I hope he doesn't stop and
357
00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:19.000
ask me what I'm doing on that property, because I
358
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:21.160
had all of my gear laying in the car with me,
359
00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:24.920
and I didn't want him to see my radios and
360
00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.240
my gear that I had with me.
361
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.279
A few days later, Larry Owler of Barnhill, Ohio, was
362
00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.880
hunting about one hundred and fifty yards off a road
363
00:28:38.920 --> 00:28:40.920
in Tuscararas County.
364
00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:48.640
He heard a car stop. Through the trees. He saw
365
00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:51.720
a stocky white male. The man lifted a rifle.
366
00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:08.759
Ohler was unhurt and watched in terror as the truck
367
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:18.279
sped away. Although Ohler's description of his assailant resembled Dylan,
368
00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:22.839
he was unable to make a positive identification, the task
369
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.240
force realized that Thomas Dillon was their most likely suspect.
370
00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.440
Surveillance of him would have to be beefed up. Throughout
371
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:34.720
October and November of nineteen ninety two, the FBI coordinated
372
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:42.039
a massive air and ground surveillance. Dylan was observed shooting
373
00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:45.799
road signs and busting car windows with rocks, exactly the
374
00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:50.720
sort of petty vandalism outlined in the FBI profile. But
375
00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:54.039
if they arrested Dylan for vandalism, they might never gather
376
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:59.119
enough evidence to arrest him for the murders. It is
377
00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.240
difficult to tail someone on an empty rural road in
378
00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:03.160
broad daylight.
379
00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:04.839
The stakes were high.
380
00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:07.960
If Dylan tried another shooting and the FBI were in
381
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:08.400
the right.
382
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.559
Spot, they could have another murder.
383
00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:13.599
If they crowded Dylan too much, they might be found
384
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:18.319
out and Dylan would slip into mining. The ground surveillance
385
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:22.559
had to be well off of Dylan. Agent Tryvitis and
386
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.799
Captain Shryout relied on the air surveillance, since their eyes
387
00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:35.279
and ears, they would move in if something happened. One day,
388
00:30:35.319 --> 00:30:39.240
the surveillance team faced its worst fear from Bidis and.
389
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.319
Tryout were far behind Dylan when the air surveillance called
390
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:44.960
out an alert. Up ahead of Buil on the river
391
00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:49.559
was the classic profile of a road sniper victim a jogger.
392
00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:55.400
Female, this time alone in a rural seven. If Thomas
393
00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:59.240
Dillon were indeed the gunman, this jogger may be irresistible bait.
394
00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:05.720
Trombitis in Tryock got nervous. Hoping for the best, they
395
00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:14.640
sped forward. Dylan continued too, right towards the jogger up armed,
396
00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:20.960
driving at top speed. Trombidis and Tryout frantically called to
397
00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:23.960
the agents and the plane where is he is he stopping?
398
00:31:24.680 --> 00:31:27.720
The airplane reported back, Dylan is approaching her.
399
00:31:27.880 --> 00:31:29.039
There is no one nearby.
400
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.359
The agent's car hurtled forward a call from the air
401
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.279
Dylan is pulling up alongside the jogger. The agents held
402
00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:56.680
their breath. He passed her without incident. The feeling of
403
00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:00.839
relief lasted only moments. The airplane raded that Dylan had
404
00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:02.039
taken a right turn.
405
00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:03.440
Into a smaller room.
406
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.640
The aerial unit stayed on him, instructing from Bitis in
407
00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:13.880
Shryock where to turn, then a second right term. Could
408
00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:21.079
he be circling back? They called to the airplane. Is
409
00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:24.960
the jogger still there? Dylan continued to make right turns
410
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:25.599
until he was.
411
00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:27.319
Back on the road. The jogger had been on.
412
00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:32.400
His U turn, justified the agent's fear he was going
413
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:38.480
back for her. Where is the jogger from Bids, yelled
414
00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:41.440
into his radio. Cannot see the jogger, came the reply.
415
00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:44.920
But the agents knew she had to be somewhere ahead
416
00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:48.119
of Dylan. If he came upon her again, they were
417
00:32:48.200 --> 00:33:00.640
sure he would kill her. There had called in that
418
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:03.240
Dylan had stopped his truck and had gotten out. He
419
00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:06.400
had something shiny in his hands. Would he kill her?
420
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:11.440
Right under their noses? The jogger couldn't be seen from
421
00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:16.640
the air, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. The
422
00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:19.400
agents in the car heard shots and feared that Dylan
423
00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:26.920
had struck again while under their surveillance, but the airplane
424
00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:29.039
radio that Dylan was shooting a stop sign.
425
00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:35.799
The jogger had turned off the road.
426
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:40.119
She was safe, unaware of her close encounter with Thomas Dylon.
427
00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:42.559
I think so.
428
00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:45.000
The cat and mouse game with Thomas Dylan began to
429
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:46.480
wear on the task Force.
430
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:50.799
Members a lot of pressure. I mean, you're wondering whether
431
00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:53.359
this guy today is going to go out and kill
432
00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:54.759
somebody and you aren't going to be able to stop it,
433
00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:57.319
and you know that he's probably the one that is
434
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:03.200
responsible for killing other people. You're working fourteen sixteen hours
435
00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:05.880
a day, You're living out of a car, You're drinking
436
00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:08.199
coffee like placemen, you know, and you aren't eaten right,
437
00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:14.320
and distress is is tremendous, But.
438
00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:18.039
The net continued to tighten around the suspect. The murderer,
439
00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:21.400
in his letter to the newspaper, had admitted being bothered
440
00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:27.440
by the Paxton murder and visiting his grave. Investigators returned
441
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:31.159
to video footage of Jamie Paxton's grave recorded November tenth,
442
00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:35.880
nineteen ninety one, the first anniversary of Jamie's murder. Many
443
00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:40.159
people paid their respects that day, but curiosity, rather than respect,
444
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:47.559
was the agenda of one visitor, photographed Thomas Dillon. Investigators
445
00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:51.039
immediately recognized the man they had been tailing. Surely he
446
00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:53.880
was the sniper, but to earn a conviction they needed
447
00:34:53.920 --> 00:35:05.400
direct incriminating evidence. After the second anniversary of Jamie Paxton's
448
00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:09.480
death in nineteen ninety two, surveillance observed Dylan entering the
449
00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:12.719
Times Leader building, he bought a copy of the previous
450
00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:16.320
day's paper full of the details of the Paxton memorial service.
451
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:19.079
The FBI had good.
452
00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:22.719
Circumstantial evidence on Thomas Dillon, but they still lacked physical
453
00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:26.400
evidence a bullet, a gun, or a typewriter to link
454
00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:37.000
him with just one of the victims. Hunting season was
455
00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:43.039
fast approaching, Dylan was still out roaming the rural roads, drunk, armed, deadly.
456
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:49.199
The communities of southern Ohio had been terrorized for three years.
457
00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:53.039
The people feared going outside, but tried to live normal lives.
458
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:55.840
Dylan had to be taken off the streets.
459
00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:00.239
The Task Force knew Dylan had been in trouble in
460
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:03.599
the past for illegally owning a silencer and was forbidden
461
00:36:03.639 --> 00:36:07.599
to possess firearms, a stipulation he clearly violated during his
462
00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:14.719
vandalism springs. The Task Force had a little choice. Before
463
00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:15.280
he could.
464
00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:17.480
Kill again, they would arrest Thomas Dillon.
465
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:21.800
But the plan wasn't just to arrest him on a
466
00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:25.079
weapons violation, but to convince him he was caught red
467
00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:28.639
handed and get him to confess to murder. Lacking ballistic
468
00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:32.559
evidence and holding only a relatively minor weapons charge on Dylan.
469
00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:37.000
The FBI badly needed to elicit a confession. Trembidis had
470
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:37.400
a plan.
471
00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:42.360
Since we knew what his routine was through the surveillances
472
00:36:42.360 --> 00:36:44.559
in that where he left his residence and he would
473
00:36:44.599 --> 00:36:47.280
go to this dairy mart every day before he left
474
00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:51.920
and went on his three four hundred mile drives. We
475
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.920
would try to make the approach at the dairy mart.
476
00:36:56.440 --> 00:36:59.000
And what we had was an office building right across
477
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:03.760
from the dairymank where we occupied. We took over the
478
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:07.719
basement of that building. Detective Wilson and I did was
479
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:09.960
we went down into the basement where we were going
480
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:13.000
to conduct the interview, and we put up along the
481
00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:17.599
walls of the whole room maps of the areas that
482
00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:23.360
he drove in crime scene photographs in newspaper articles. We
483
00:37:23.400 --> 00:37:27.039
wanted to make that setting just irresistible to him.
484
00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:30.840
Then we're just going to laying us out in front
485
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:32.400
of him and see what kind of reaction we.
486
00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:33.199
Get from him.
487
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:37.320
It would be overwhelming, and you know, it would put
488
00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:39.159
him in the best frame of mind for us to
489
00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:42.480
be able to sit down and interview him and get
490
00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:44.079
a confession.
491
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:49.000
On November twenty seventh, nineteen ninety two, the plan went
492
00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:53.000
into effect. Their entire case so far rested on getting
493
00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:53.719
a confession.
494
00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:56.840
The idea was for when he came out of the
495
00:37:56.920 --> 00:38:00.519
drrymart we were going to approach him, identify ourselves, and
496
00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:04.559
basically requested that he follow us voluntarily over to this
497
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:07.679
room where we wanted to share some information with him
498
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:10.280
and show him some things that we knew that would
499
00:38:10.280 --> 00:38:12.159
interest him.
500
00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:15.320
If Dylan refused, trom Bidis would raise his right hand
501
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:18.800
to signal ATF agents, who were responsible for making arrests
502
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:20.960
and weapons cases, to cuff Dylan.
503
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:24.480
And I can just remember his reaction, I mean, his
504
00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:29.679
jaw just for about five seconds, and then he composed
505
00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:32.960
himself and he said, I want to talk to my
506
00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:33.800
attorney first.
507
00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:38.280
That was the cue. Trom Bitis gave the signal, and
508
00:38:38.360 --> 00:38:46.760
the ATF agent stepped in and arrested Thomas Dillon. Dylan
509
00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.119
didn't realize it, but it was a bitter defeat for
510
00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:53.000
the FBI. Trom Bidas thought he'd blown it, despite all
511
00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:56.119
the evidence he'd gathered, despite his certainty that they had
512
00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:58.519
the roots too good. He feared that he would see
513
00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:04.440
a five time murderer quickly released on a minor weapons charge.
514
00:39:05.559 --> 00:39:08.039
At the very time of Dylan's arrest, other tests for
515
00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:12.360
his members were executing a search wand on Dylan's house. Finally,
516
00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:15.320
the FBI felt they would come away with the physical
517
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.360
evidence desperately needed to link him once and for all
518
00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:24.079
to the murders, but they didn't. To their surprise, the
519
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:27.440
search turned up nothing more incriminating than some area maps
520
00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:32.000
marked with arson and vandalism sites. Dylan was refusing to talk.
521
00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:35.039
They were holding him, but there was nothing they could
522
00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:35.679
do with him.
523
00:39:36.840 --> 00:39:38.719
Was pretty much over when he said he wanted to
524
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.000
talk to his attorney. So we went back to the
525
00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:45.239
restaurant and we're going to have a cup of coffee,
526
00:39:45.239 --> 00:39:47.639
and all of a sudden we got the word that
527
00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:51.199
he wanted to talk to us, and so Walt and
528
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:54.679
I jumped into our car and we made a b
529
00:39:54.840 --> 00:39:56.159
line to Star County Jail.
530
00:40:00.119 --> 00:40:05.679
Edison Wilson confronted Dylan with one piece of evidence after another, photographs, videotapes,
531
00:40:05.880 --> 00:40:09.960
newspaper clippings showing his link to the murders.
532
00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:15.000
I would pull out one piece at a time and
533
00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:18.960
show him, and just as we had suspected, he just
534
00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:21.840
was keenly interested in the information that we had. The
535
00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:26.800
surveillance pictures, the crime scene photos, you know, just the animal,
536
00:40:27.079 --> 00:40:29.199
you know, the shots of the animals that we had
537
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:32.000
along the roadways, and that you could just see that
538
00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:33.519
he was just fascinated by that.
539
00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:38.239
Fascinated but not talkative. Dylan said it would serve no
540
00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:39.599
purpose to admit anything.
541
00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:43.400
Now another dead end for the FBI.
542
00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:47.920
Dylan's attorney is arguing that he should be spared jail
543
00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:49.360
time on the weapons charge.
544
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:50.559
Now.
545
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:54.000
Unless something turned up on him very quickly, Thomas Dylon
546
00:40:54.039 --> 00:40:55.199
would have to be released.
547
00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:00.480
I thank the various representatives of the media for showing
548
00:41:00.559 --> 00:41:01.039
up today.
549
00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:05.360
The task forces now fighting the clerk. Desperate for physical evidence,
550
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:08.440
they held another press conference appealing to the public for
551
00:41:08.519 --> 00:41:11.360
any information about guns they may have bought, her sold
552
00:41:11.400 --> 00:41:12.559
with Thomas Dylon.
553
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:14.800
Have had any contact with mister Dylon.
554
00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:20.199
Meanwhile, Task Force member Jerry Wade, if the Ohio Division
555
00:41:20.239 --> 00:41:24.280
of Wildlife, was following up on a tip. A witness
556
00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:27.000
steered Wade to a spot where he'd seen Thomas Dillon
557
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:28.280
firing his rifle a.
558
00:41:28.239 --> 00:41:29.079
Couple of years back.
559
00:41:30.599 --> 00:41:33.320
Wade hoped that would lead him to some ballistic evidence
560
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:35.079
to link Dylan to one of the killings.
561
00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:41.519
This individual that brought it to her attention that he'd
562
00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:45.320
seen Thomas Lee Dillon shoot this deer with a rifle.
563
00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:50.000
Thought the rifle might be one of them that was used,
564
00:41:50.840 --> 00:41:56.360
and if we could locate some physical evidence the shellcasings
565
00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:58.320
per se, and if we could get those and match
566
00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:01.159
them to the murder weapon, and we could put that
567
00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:04.880
rifle in Thomas Lee Dillon's hand prior to the murders,
568
00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:08.760
which would really give us a lot stronger case far
569
00:42:08.800 --> 00:42:12.880
as him possessing the rifle prior to the murders.
570
00:42:15.159 --> 00:42:17.480
The chances of finding the small shells in such a
571
00:42:17.519 --> 00:42:20.639
wide area were slim, and it had been two years
572
00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:22.039
since the rifle had been fired.
573
00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:22.280
There.
574
00:42:25.159 --> 00:42:27.119
Determined, Wade patiently.
575
00:42:26.679 --> 00:42:29.840
Combed inch by inch through a grassy field where the
576
00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:35.360
anonymous witness said he saw Dylan shoot the deer. Beginning
577
00:42:35.400 --> 00:42:38.320
at the tree described by the witness, Wade searched the
578
00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:40.000
area in a circular.
579
00:42:39.559 --> 00:42:42.440
Pattern by hand and with a metal detector.
580
00:42:42.519 --> 00:42:55.719
Carefully marking off the territory. Miraculously, Wade hit the jackpot.
581
00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:59.840
He found two rifle shell casings later identified as come
582
00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:02.320
out from the same gun that killed Gary Bradley and
583
00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:03.280
Claude Hawkins.
584
00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:12.280
Finally a physical link to the murders.
585
00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:19.039
I felt like celebrating. It was just unbelievable that I
586
00:43:19.079 --> 00:43:22.159
found them because after the time, the length of time
587
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:25.199
that had been since the shooting and the incident, and
588
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:29.119
the individual wasn't sure the location of the tree exactly,
589
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:31.920
the scene had changed since he had been there. They
590
00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:35.559
had done removed a fence row and pushed out the area.
591
00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:38.960
So I felt very very much fortunate to find him,
592
00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:40.960
and I felt like a celebration at the time. It
593
00:43:41.039 --> 00:43:43.719
was just like, you know, it was a gift handed
594
00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:43.960
to you.
595
00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:51.719
Meanwhile, the publicity from the press conference asking the public
596
00:43:51.760 --> 00:44:01.000
for help was about to bear fruit. On December fourth,
597
00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:05.400
Captain Shryock was manning the phones at Task Force headquarters.
598
00:44:06.679 --> 00:44:08.719
A man named al Cope was on the phone.
599
00:44:09.400 --> 00:44:11.400
He said he bought a weapon from someone who may
600
00:44:11.480 --> 00:44:14.199
have been Thomas Dillon at a gun show the previous spring.
601
00:44:17.719 --> 00:44:21.880
The date April fifth, the same day Gary Bradley was murdered.
602
00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:30.519
The rifle was sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington
603
00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:38.159
for ballistics testing. Special Agent Paul Schrecker is a ballistics
604
00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:39.320
expert for the FBI.
605
00:44:43.320 --> 00:44:45.559
As the bullet passes down the barrel of the weapon.
606
00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:49.920
That bullet, by coming in direct contact with the interior
607
00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:53.000
of the barrel of the weapon, picks up the microscopic
608
00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:57.679
imperfections the microscopic features of that barrel, so that bullet
609
00:44:58.079 --> 00:45:01.039
is marked with the finger print of that barrel.
610
00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:06.159
Fragments of bullets taken from the bodies of victims Claude
611
00:45:06.159 --> 00:45:09.599
Hawkins and Gary Bradley were examined at FBI labs.
612
00:45:10.760 --> 00:45:13.440
A bullet fragment may still be a value for comparison.
613
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:16.480
Even though a bullet may fragment, may break up as
614
00:45:16.519 --> 00:45:20.039
a result of striking a victim, and maybe only fragments
615
00:45:20.039 --> 00:45:24.679
are ever recovered, those fragments are still marked, they still
616
00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:27.159
bear the impressions of the inside of the barrel of
617
00:45:27.159 --> 00:45:31.079
the weapon, and those fragments can still be used to
618
00:45:31.239 --> 00:45:37.440
make a positive association or an identification. When the weapon
619
00:45:37.840 --> 00:45:41.079
was submitted to our laboratory, the weapon was test fired
620
00:45:41.719 --> 00:45:44.239
and the test fire bullets from this weapon were then
621
00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:46.599
compared to the bullet fragments taken from the victims.
622
00:45:48.559 --> 00:45:51.880
Alcob's gun was test fired and the bullets examined for
623
00:45:52.039 --> 00:45:54.960
characteristics they may have in common with the bullet fragments
624
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.760
taken from Gary Bradley and Claude Hawkins. The conclusion Alcob's
625
00:45:59.800 --> 00:46:02.719
gun and sold to him by Thomas Dylon matched the
626
00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:06.280
gun used to kill both Gary Bradley and Claude Willens.
627
00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:18.360
The FBI finally had the goods on Thomas Dylon. Players
628
00:46:20.199 --> 00:46:23.599
agent Trombidas visited Dylan in jail and confronted him.
629
00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:24.119
With the evidence.
630
00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:27.280
He and his truck fit the descriptions of the few witnesses.
631
00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:30.039
He had been off work when each murder had occurred.
632
00:46:30.559 --> 00:46:33.719
He had a history of random violence and gunplay, and
633
00:46:33.800 --> 00:46:36.320
the FBI could prove in court that a gun he
634
00:46:36.400 --> 00:46:40.800
once owned killed at least two of the victims. What
635
00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:41.559
kind of proof?
636
00:46:41.800 --> 00:46:42.880
All the proof we need.
637
00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:45.679
But Trombita's knew Dylan was guilty of all five murders,
638
00:46:45.719 --> 00:46:48.880
and he wanted closure for the victims' families. He offered
639
00:46:48.960 --> 00:46:53.039
Dylan a deal as leverage. Trombida's reminded Dylan that he
640
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:56.639
faced Ohio's electric chair. Dylan got nervous and he began
641
00:46:56.679 --> 00:47:00.719
to negotiate situation.
642
00:47:03.639 --> 00:47:06.079
That can't believe you got that part.
643
00:47:05.880 --> 00:47:07.880
Of what we have happen.
644
00:47:08.840 --> 00:47:11.639
Thomas Dilon met with the prosecutors in June of nineteen
645
00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:15.400
ninety three, he agreed to admit to five killings if
646
00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:19.719
the death penalty were dropped as a possible sentence, terms
647
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:26.480
one for each of the acts committee. On July ninth,
648
00:47:26.559 --> 00:47:35.000
Dylan confessed to prosecutors in order to save his life.
649
00:47:35.719 --> 00:47:39.280
On July twelfth, nineteen ninety three, a smirking Thomas Dillon
650
00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:42.039
walked into the Noble County Courthouse to make his play.
651
00:47:44.119 --> 00:47:47.079
Mister Dylon, at this time, how do you plead to
652
00:47:47.239 --> 00:47:50.000
count one in the indictment in case number ninety three
653
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:55.199
c R four involving the death of the aggravated murder
654
00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:57.599
charge involving the death of Gary Bradley?
655
00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:01.480
How do you plead guilty? With the families of the
656
00:48:01.559 --> 00:48:02.280
victims watching?
657
00:48:02.760 --> 00:48:07.559
Dylan confessed to murdering Donald Welling, Kevin Loring, Claude Hawkins,
658
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:16.079
Gary Bradley, and Jamie Paxton. He was still smirking and
659
00:48:16.199 --> 00:48:18.639
unrepentant as he left court at.
660
00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:22.000
This time of the indictment Case number ninety three CRR.
661
00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:36.039
Hello, Thomas Yeah.
662
00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:40.239
Dylan's incredibly cavalier attitude was detailed by a local reporter,
663
00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:45.320
whom Dylan repeatedly called from prison, marveling at his own violence,
664
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:51.079
reveling in his celebrity and laughing off the murders except one.
665
00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:54.599
He would not discuss the murder of Jamie Paxton.
666
00:48:56.599 --> 00:48:58.159
Forget it, all right, just forget it.
667
00:49:02.519 --> 00:49:06.079
Gene Paxton, Jamie's mother, was in court the day Dylan
668
00:49:06.119 --> 00:49:06.920
pleaded guilty.
669
00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:10.880
I just want to talk to him about Jamie. The
670
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:14.400
kind of person Jamie was. Jamie was everything Thomas Dylan
671
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:17.840
could never be. He is. Dylan is a coward. He
672
00:49:17.920 --> 00:49:22.360
hid behind a gun, and Jamie was. Jamie was not
673
00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:22.920
that way.
674
00:49:23.880 --> 00:49:26.480
Little did I know that on the evening news he
675
00:49:26.639 --> 00:49:29.599
was watching that and it made him very angry that
676
00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:31.360
I had called him a pathetic coward.
677
00:49:31.559 --> 00:49:34.639
We talked to him about remorse and how did you
678
00:49:34.679 --> 00:49:37.320
feel after these homicides, And the only one that he
679
00:49:37.440 --> 00:49:41.320
said that it really bothered him about was Jamie Paxton.
680
00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:44.519
He said, I didn't realize the kid was so young.
681
00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:49.199
Gene Paxton had looked forward to confront him Dylan in court,
682
00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:54.159
but his guilty pleaded Closter that opportunity. She asked Sheriff
683
00:49:54.239 --> 00:49:59.239
McCourt to arrange a conversation. McCourt agreed that evening Gene
684
00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:02.719
Paxton's phone she found herself speaking with.
685
00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:04.920
The murderer of her son.
686
00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:08.320
When I picked up the phone that evening, it was
687
00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:11.159
just like somebody calling up to sell me something. He said,
688
00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:17.039
Missus Paxton, this is Tom Dylan. It was just almost
689
00:50:17.119 --> 00:50:21.679
more than I could comprehend. The tone of his voice,
690
00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:25.280
the way he came across. Still, the arrogance was there.
691
00:50:26.280 --> 00:50:29.360
You really hurt my feelings. This afternoon, when.
692
00:50:29.239 --> 00:50:32.000
Dylan told Gene Paxton that when she called him a coward,
693
00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:35.719
she had hurt his feelings, Uh huh.
694
00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:38.960
I really don't think he expected to get what he
695
00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:42.000
got from me. I think that Thomas Dylon could have
696
00:50:42.119 --> 00:50:47.599
handled the crying, the screaming, the saying of calling names,
697
00:50:47.840 --> 00:50:52.480
the cursing. I think he could handle that. But I
698
00:50:52.519 --> 00:50:56.159
did not lower myself to that level. I talked to
699
00:50:56.239 --> 00:50:58.800
him as a mother, and I really feeled it through
700
00:50:58.840 --> 00:51:01.159
this whole thing that is for God to Thomas Dillon.
701
00:51:03.480 --> 00:51:04.239
I understand.
702
00:51:04.400 --> 00:51:07.280
After three years, Gene Paxton felt vindicated.
703
00:51:11.360 --> 00:51:15.199
I felt really good. I walked out on my front
704
00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:18.320
porch and I just felt like, for the first time
705
00:51:18.639 --> 00:51:23.559
in three years that I was free. I was free
706
00:51:24.079 --> 00:51:27.800
of Thomas Dillon. I felt that I had defeated him
707
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:33.239
by words, and I did it all for Jamie.
708
00:51:33.960 --> 00:51:36.079
Thomas Dillon made it clear he did not want to
709
00:51:36.119 --> 00:51:40.039
go to Lucasville PRISP, the toughest in Ohio, so Gene
710
00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:43.400
Paxton saw to it with a petition drive that that
711
00:51:43.599 --> 00:51:44.800
was exactly where.
712
00:51:44.599 --> 00:51:45.280
Dylan was sent.
713
00:51:47.679 --> 00:51:51.400
In August nineteen ninety three, Gene Paxton won a twenty
714
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:55.360
five million dollar wrongful death judgment against any future money.
715
00:51:55.199 --> 00:51:56.039
Dylan might make.
716
00:51:56.679 --> 00:51:59.360
Dylan's wife had been trying to sell his story to Hollywood.
717
00:52:00.159 --> 00:52:04.320
Paxton and State Senator Bob Nye passed the Paxtonville barring
718
00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:11.239
killers or their relatives from profiting from the crime. Thomas
719
00:52:11.360 --> 00:52:15.199
Dillon remains in Lucasville prison. He is eligible for parole
720
00:52:15.639 --> 00:52:17.679
in one hundred and sixty five years