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00:00Southern Ohio's rural counties are perfect for outdoor recreation, but the calm of this quiet community was shattered in 1989, when a sniper gunned down an outdoorsman without reason.
00:22It was only the first in a string of random, terrifying murders. Hiding in the distance, behind a high-powered rifle, a madman was hunting humans along Ohio's county roads.
00:52Starting in the spring of 1989, a madman prowled the woods and fields of rural Ohio. He was a hunter. A high-powered rifle was his weapon of choice.
01:21Joggers and fishermen were his quarry. The hunter roamed far, struck at random, and left no clues. He was as elusive as he was lethal. Investigators knew he had to be stopped, but no one knew how.
01:36I'm Jim Kallstrom, former director of the FBI's New York office. Most murderers have a connection to their victims and a motive for their crime, but not a serial killer. His victims are randomly chosen to fulfill an uncontrollable need to kill.
01:51Often, often he leads an ordinary life, his family and friends unaware of his homicidal passions. But serial killers establish profiles as distinct as fingerprints, and when a match is made, it is only a matter of time before they are caught.
02:08The rural counties of southern Ohio are hilly, rocky, and wide open. A quiet place for coal miners, factory workers, and farmers. The kind of place where people leave doors unlocked, and where violent crime is almost unheard of.
02:28On April 1st, 1989, 35-year-old Donald Welling did what he frequently did on Saturdays. He went jogging along the back roads of Tuscarora County.
02:47His quiet morning run ended with a single shot. The rifle bullet ripped through Welling's heart, killing him instantly. Local authorities could find no motive and not a shred of evidence.
03:10The rifle was never found.
03:17November 10th, 1990, another Saturday morning, 19 months later.
03:3121-year-old Jamie Paxton of Bannock, Ohio, rose early to go bow hunting.
03:40Leaving his crossbow in the car, he took a walk through the tall grass off State Route 9.
03:46Paxton was alone and unarmed.
03:52He didn't notice the red pickup truck that stopped a short distance away.
04:09The gunman was quiet and careful.
04:10Jamie Paxton was shot three times by a high-powered rifle.
04:24There were no witnesses.
04:25The killing horrified a quiet community that considered murder to be a problem for big cities.
04:39Hunting accidents are not uncommon in Southern Ohio, but Belmont County Sheriff Tom McCourt knew right away that this wasn't a hunting accident.
04:52When we saw more than one wound, we knew that it could not be an accident.
04:58That an accidental death, a hunting accident, is caused by one shot.
05:02Plus, we saw it was a bullet wound instead of something from an arrow, and gun season was not in yet.
05:09Sheriff Tom McCourt's jurisdiction is large geographically, but the community is closely knit.
05:17There, people work hard, and everyone seems to know everyone.
05:22McCourt even knew Jamie Paxton.
05:24What he didn't know was who killed him.
05:29The gunman had left no clues.
05:32We checked the area for spent empty cartridge cases, for tire tracks, for anything in that area of where we thought the shot came from.
05:43We also checked the area around the body looking for the spent projectiles that had passed through the body.
05:50We even took metal detectors in, looking for the projectiles.
05:55At that time, we were unable to find anything.
06:00By the marina, and...
06:03After interviewing Jamie Paxton's friends, family, and acquaintances,
06:07they were unable to find anyone with a motive to kill him.
06:11Everyone in the area knew Jamie Paxton.
06:14No one that we knew of, or was able, even to this day, have ever found anyone who disliked a young man.
06:22Sheriff McCourt had an apparently random killing of a popular young man with no history of trouble.
06:29A seemingly unsolvable murder with no physical evidence and no witnesses.
06:34Not even a plausible theory about what happened.
06:39I think that's about it.
06:42After her son's death, Jean Paxton's grief impelled her to action.
06:49She began composing letters to a local paper, the Martins Ferry Times leader, designed to draw out the killer.
06:58There was just every time I would sit down to write a letter, I would say a prayer.
07:05And I would say, please God, just give me the words to get to the person that killed my son.
07:11The letters were at once stern and passionate.
07:15To the murderer of my son, Jamie, she wrote.
07:20Would it be easier for you if I wrote words of hate?
07:23I can't because I don't feel hate.
07:26I feel deep sorrow at losing my son.
07:29You took a light from my life last November, and left me with many days of darkness.
07:34Have you thought of your own death?
07:36It'll happen.
07:37Unless you confess your sin and ask for God's forgiveness, you will face the fire and fury of hell at your own death.
07:48If the killer were reading Jean Paxton's letters, he seemed unaffected by them.
07:53On November 28th, 1990, just 18 days after Paxton's murder, 30-year-old Kevin Loring was on a hunting trip in Muskegon County, Ohio.
08:07Some 40 miles from where Jamie Paxton was killed.
08:13While his friends finished eating lunch, Kevin decided to get a head start.
08:17Walking across a field in search of game, Loring himself became prey, unknowingly moving into the sights of the gunman.
08:36Loring was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.
08:54The killer had taken care to commit his murders in different counties, to slow an investigation that would have to take place over hundreds of rural miles.
09:13The result? Investigators in Muskegon County were unaware of the other sniper victims in nearby counties.
09:19They decided that Loring's death was probably a hunting accident.
09:30Jean Paxton never gave up.
09:32She kept writing throughout 1991, determined to draw out Jamie's killer.
09:39And I always felt if I could get my letters into the hands of the person that killed my son,
09:45I felt that I could get a response from them.
09:51She turned out to be right.
09:56I am the murderer of Jamie Paxton, the typewritten letter read.
10:00Jamie Paxton was a complete stranger to me.
10:03I never saw him before in my life, and he never said a word to me that Saturday.
10:06Paxton was killed because of an irresistible compulsion that has taken over my life.
10:12I knew when I left my house that day that someone would die by my hand.
10:17I just didn't know who or where.
10:18I'm an average-looking person with a family, a job, and home, just like yourself.
10:27Something in my head causes me to turn into a merciless killer with no conscience.
10:36The letter arrived at the Martins Ferry Times leader a few days before the one-year anniversary of Jamie's death.
10:41The letter described the Paxton murder in chilling detail.
10:51I was very drunk, and a voice in my head said, do it.
10:57I stopped my car behind Jamie's and got out.
10:59Jamie started walking very slowly down the hill toward the road.
11:11I raised my rifle to my shoulder and lined him up in the sights.
11:16I took at least five seconds to take careful aim.
11:22My first shot was off a little bit and hit him in the right chest.
11:26He groaned and went down.
11:27I wanted to make sure he was finished, so I fired a second shot aimed halfway between his hip and shoulder while he was prone on the ground.
11:42I jerked the shot and hit him in the knee.
11:47He never moved again.
11:51Five minutes after I shot Paxton, I was drinking a beer, and it blacked out all thoughts of what I had just done out of my mind.
12:00I thought no more of shooting Paxton than shooting a bottle at the dump.
12:09I know you hate my guts, and rightfully so.
12:12I think about Jamie every hour of the day, as I'm sure you do.
12:16For Sheriff McCourt, the letter was a beginning, evidence that might lead to a murderer.
12:25But he needed more.
12:27The typewriter used to write the letter, a gun.
12:30While investigators searched, the killer continued his own hunting.
12:34Saturday, March 14th, 1992.
12:52Claude Hawkins got off his midnight shift at the Pittsburgh Blade and Glass Company about sunup.
13:01It was a good time to fish, and Hawkins went straight to a favorite spot on the river below Wills Creek Dam.
13:07Closed Captioning by Camille
13:19Closed Captioning by Camille
13:22Closed Captioning by Camille
14:25The FBI joined the hunt for the roadside sniper who just killed his latest victim on federal property.
14:32Investigators from the three counties involved, along with the FBI and the Ohio Division of Wildlife, formed a task force.
14:39It didn't take long to realize how few clues they had.
14:48In each case, the killer had no contact with the victim, no rifling of pockets, no robbery.
14:54Shell casings had been carefully removed, and the victim's cars were untouched.
14:58Special Agent Harry Trombitis was stationed at the FBI's Columbus, Ohio field office.
15:06What we did know is that Mr. Hawkins died from a gunshot, and usually you would find some type of a shell casing in the area.
15:14And I remember looking very hard, metal detectors and hands and knees for any shell casings in that, and none were ever found.
15:22And so that was something that, you know, if in fact we had somebody who was evidence-conscious enough to pick up the shell casing after they shot and killed somebody,
15:33we were dealing with a different brand of person here.
15:52The multi-jurisdictional task force concluded that the death of Kevin Loring, first ruled accidental, was actually a homicide.
16:03Reviewing the four murders, the investigative team saw plenty in common.
16:12Outdoorsmen, hunters, fishermen, or joggers, alone in a rural setting, all shot with a high-powered rifle.
16:20All but one of the murders occurred on a weekend, and the killer was careful enough to leave no evidence.
16:29It was more clear than ever that a single individual was responsible.
16:33The task force was on the trail of a serial killer.
16:39As they began to mobilize, the killer struck again.
16:43I know we can capture this person. I know we can.
16:46Ten days after the task force meeting, on April 5, 1992, 44-year-old steelworker Gary Bradley left his home in neighboring West Virginia to go pond fishing in Noble County.
17:07And the threeable
17:26We can capture this person.
17:27The Dickens.
17:27Bradley's wife and three children
17:44would never see him alive again.
17:53The task force had another murder.
17:55The road sniper had to be stopped.
17:59The task force wanted to learn more
18:01about the personality of the sniper.
18:04They asked the FBI to draw up a psychological profile
18:07of the serial killer.
18:09Such an outline would be invaluable in tracking him down.
18:16Major Dane Shryock of the Coshocton County Sheriff's Office
18:20headed the task force.
18:21Right after we'd initially made an assessment
18:25that maybe these things might be linked,
18:28the Columbus FBI office set up a meeting
18:31to have the Behavioral Science Unit come to Columbus, Ohio,
18:35and actually sit down and talk with investigators
18:38of these five counties of the homicides.
18:40The FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia,
18:44can accurately sketch personality profiles
18:47of individuals from sparse clues.
18:50Larry Ankrum is a member of the Behavioral Science Unit
18:53assigned to the road sniper case.
18:56He studied all the available evidence,
18:58the investigative reports of the five murders,
19:01and especially the letter that the killer had written
19:03to Gene Paxton.
19:04Then I came back to Quantico and reviewed these cases more
19:09in detail, and I came out with a formal profile.
19:12We were probably looking for a white male.
19:15We were looking for someone that was intelligent,
19:18someone who was an outdoorsman himself,
19:22someone that wouldn't look out of place in the woods,
19:25someone that was probably responding
19:29to some significant event in his life
19:31that was going wrong at that particular time.
19:34One of the things that was apparent,
19:36that it was a sniper-type mentality here
19:39that we were dealing with,
19:40someone that didn't want confrontation,
19:43someone that was doing things from afar,
19:45and this is something that we see many times
19:49with our arsonists.
19:51We ought to be looking at some different types of activities
19:53that he might be involved in,
19:54such as nuisance types of offenses,
19:56shooting out windows, shooting out tires of cars,
19:59cruelty to animals, arson fires.
20:09Ankram believed that the violence was triggered by stress
20:12and fueled by alcohol.
20:14The task force now had a psychological sketch
20:17of the roadside sniper.
20:24And they had his letter.
20:29FBI forensic scientists studied the letter intensely.
20:32They found distinguishing features in the typeface.
20:37If they could find the typewriter it was written on,
20:40it would be easy to link the confessional letter to the owner,
20:43and thus link the murder to the murderer.
20:45They had to hurry.
20:49The sniper was still out there.
20:55On July 21st, 1992,
20:58two hunters in a state park in Muskegon County
21:00came face to face with the killer.
21:02As they moved through the brush,
21:19one of them noticed something terrifying.
21:22A nearby figure with a gun pointed right at them.
21:25They called out to him,
21:29and the man scurried away to a red pickup truck.
21:34It happened too quickly for the hunters
21:36to get a good look at the man
21:38or the vehicle's tag numbers.
21:42Bewildered, they called local police
21:44who alerted the task force.
21:50Throughout 1992,
21:52desperate to catch a man still ready to kill,
21:55the task force investigated
21:57and cleared more than 100 suspects.
22:01By August 1992,
22:03after three years,
22:05the investigation had hit a dead end.
22:09The task force was badly in need of information
22:12and decided to go public.
22:15It is in the opinion of this multi-agency task force
22:18that these...
22:19They held a press conference
22:20and issued a press release
22:22detailing the FBI profile
22:24of the man they wanted
22:25and asking anyone with information
22:27to come forward.
22:31The FBI made a press release,
22:34and it was done at one time
22:36to mass...
22:36You know, it got everybody...
22:39Six o'clock news,
22:40I mean, everybody was showing this case.
22:41And the phone started ringing instantly.
22:44One of those calls received
22:48at task force headquarters
22:50on August 26, 1992,
22:53sparked a lead.
22:55The man on the phone
22:56was named Richard Fry.
22:58He said he thought the task force
22:59should know about a high school friend of his
23:01named Thomas Dillon.
23:03T-I-L-L-O-N.
23:09Investigators had a name
23:11and someone willing to talk.
23:14A task force member arranged
23:16to meet Richard Fry
23:17at a rest stop on Route 77.
23:19Tom Dillon.
23:21I went to high school with him.
23:23There, Fry talked about his old friend,
23:25Tom Dillon.
23:25They used to drive around rural Ohio,
23:35shooting at road signs
23:36and small animals.
23:39But Fry eventually found Dillon
23:41too eccentric and violent
23:43for his taste.
23:45Obsessed with serial killers
23:46like Ted Bundy,
23:48Dillon had taken to killing
23:49family pets and cattle
23:50and setting random fires.
23:52Fry got married
23:56and for most of the 1980s
23:57forgot about his strange friend.
24:02But in 1989,
24:04Fry ran into Thomas Dillon
24:05at a gun show in Cleveland.
24:08Tom?
24:11Thomas?
24:12Dillon invited him
24:13to ride along with him again
24:14just like in the old days.
24:19Old friendships die hard
24:21and Richard Fry again
24:23found himself driving
24:24the back roads
24:25of rural Ohio,
24:26drinking beer
24:27and shooting road signs.
24:31But Dillon had deteriorated,
24:33Fry discovered.
24:36Dillon asked whether Fry
24:38thought Dillon
24:38had ever killed anyone.
24:40We've known each other
24:41for a long time.
24:43Twenty-some years, I guess.
24:44Yeah.
24:45Do you think I could
24:46ever kill anybody?
24:47Tom, you know,
24:53like you said,
24:54we go way back.
24:55I mean...
24:56He discussed how to get away
24:57with random killings,
24:58including the tactic
25:00of killing in different counties
25:01to thwart investigators.
25:02Kill them in separate counties,
25:04you know.
25:05They never connected.
25:07And being at random,
25:09they'd have no clues whatsoever.
25:13Average.
25:14Your average guy...
25:15Fry said that when he read
25:16the press release,
25:17he immediately thought
25:18of Tom Dillon.
25:18What kind of vehicle
25:19he drives?
25:20He gave a description
25:21of Dillon,
25:22including the vehicle
25:23he drove,
25:24a red pickup truck,
25:26just like the one
25:27spotted by the hunters.
25:28Yes, as a matter of fact,
25:28it is.
25:31Lieutenant Walt Wilson
25:32of the Tuscarora's
25:34County Sheriff's Office
25:35was a task force member.
25:37His job was to follow up
25:39on leads and tips
25:40which were coming
25:40much more frequently
25:41as press coverage
25:42of the case increased.
25:43He decided Tom Dillon
25:48fit the FBI profile
25:50and needed to be investigated.
25:54I began to follow up
25:56on the information
25:57that Mr. Fry had given us.
25:59I went to Tom Dillon's
26:01workplace in the city of Canton.
26:04Dillon had been employed
26:05for a dozen years
26:06as a draftsman
26:07at the Canton, Ohio,
26:08Waterworks.
26:09Wilson obtained
26:11Thomas Dillon's
26:12work schedule
26:12to compare Dillon's
26:13days off
26:14with the dates
26:15and times
26:15of the murders.
26:16The purpose
26:17was to eliminate
26:18Dillon as a suspect,
26:20but he couldn't.
26:22He found that Dillon
26:23didn't work weekends
26:24when most of the
26:25incidents occurred,
26:27but that didn't
26:27prove much.
26:29However,
26:29two weekdays
26:30Dillon took off
26:31from work
26:31caught Wilson's attention.
26:33July 21st, 1992,
26:36the day the hunters
26:37saw a man
26:38point a rifle at them,
26:39and November 28th, 1990,
26:42the day Kevin Loring
26:43was killed.
26:46Dillon could be the one.
26:53As the other members
26:54of the task force
26:55followed up
26:55on hundreds of leads,
26:57Detective Wilson
26:58began surveillance
26:59on Thomas Dillon.
27:01Maybe Dillon would return
27:02to a crime scene
27:03or lead investigators
27:05to more clues.
27:08The surveillance began
27:09in October 1992.
27:12Detective Wilson
27:13followed Tom Dillon
27:14on his weekend excursions
27:15driving the back roads
27:17of southern Ohio.
27:20Typically,
27:20a day would start
27:21around 7 in the morning
27:22on Tom's days off,
27:25the weekends usually,
27:26and he would leave
27:27his home,
27:28and sometimes
27:28he would stop
27:29at a convenience store
27:31and buy some beer
27:32and then he would
27:34go south of his home
27:35into other counties,
27:37just driving
27:38all the back
27:38remote roadways.
27:40On October 10th, 1992,
27:42while tailing Dillon,
27:44Wilson briefly lost track
27:45of the suspect's vehicle.
27:48As Wilson crept
27:49around a corner,
27:50he came face-to-face
27:51with Thomas Dillon.
27:53His cover possibly blown,
27:54his case in jeopardy,
27:56Wilson had to think fast.
27:58I waved at him,
27:59and he waved at me,
28:00and we kept on going.
28:02He stopped at the end
28:03of the drive
28:03to see if I was going
28:05to stay there or not.
28:11Wilson couldn't risk
28:12being identified.
28:14He let Dillon drive away.
28:15My big concern was
28:20I hope he doesn't stop
28:22and ask me
28:23what I'm doing
28:23on that property
28:24because I had
28:25all of my gear
28:26laying in the car
28:26with me,
28:27and I didn't want him
28:28to see my radios
28:30and my gear
28:31that I had with me.
28:38A few days later,
28:40Larry Oller
28:40of Barnhill, Ohio,
28:42was hunting
28:42about 150 yards
28:44off a road
28:44in Tuscarawas County.
28:47He heard a car stop.
28:53Through the trees,
28:54he saw a stocky
28:55white male.
28:56The man lifted a rifle.
28:57Oller was unhurt
29:12and watched in terror
29:14as the truck sped away.
29:21Although Oller's description
29:22of his assailant
29:23resembled Dillon,
29:24he was unable
29:25to make a positive
29:26identification.
29:27The task force
29:29realized that
29:29Thomas Dillon
29:30was their most
29:31likely suspect.
29:33Surveillance of him
29:33would have to be
29:34beefed up.
29:36Throughout October
29:36and November of 1992,
29:39the FBI coordinated
29:40a massive air
29:41and ground surveillance.
29:46Dillon was observed
29:47shooting road signs
29:48and busting car windows
29:50with rocks,
29:51exactly the sort
29:52of petty vandalism
29:53outlined in the FBI profile.
29:55of the murders.
29:56But if they arrested
29:57Dillon for vandalism,
29:59they might never gather
30:00enough evidence
30:00to arrest him
30:01for the murders.
30:04It is difficult
30:05to tail someone
30:06on an empty rural road
30:08in broad daylight.
30:09The stakes were high.
30:10If Dillon tried
30:12another shooting
30:13and the FBI
30:13weren't in the right spot,
30:15they could have
30:15another murder.
30:17If they crowded
30:18Dillon too much,
30:18they might be found out
30:19and Dillon would slip
30:20into hiding.
30:23The ground surveillance
30:24had to be well off
30:25of Dillon.
30:27Agent Trombitis
30:28and Captain Shryock
30:29relied on the air
30:30surveillance
30:31as their eyes and ears.
30:34They would move in
30:35if something happened.
30:40One day,
30:41the surveillance team
30:42faced its worst fear.
30:44Trombitis and Shryock
30:45were far behind Dillon
30:46when the air surveillance
30:48called out an alert.
30:49Up ahead of Dillon,
30:50on the road,
30:51was the classic profile
30:52of a road sniper victim,
30:54a jogger,
30:55female this time,
30:56alone,
30:57in a rural setting.
30:58If Thomas Dillon
31:01were indeed the gunman,
31:03this jogger
31:04may be irresistible bait.
31:08Trombitis and Shryock
31:09got nervous,
31:10hoping for the best
31:11they sped forward.
31:14Dillon continued too,
31:16right toward the jogger.
31:23Driving at top speed,
31:25Trombitis and Shryock
31:26frantically called
31:26to the agents in the plane,
31:28where is he?
31:29Is he stopping?
31:30The airplane reported back.
31:32Dillon is approaching her.
31:34There is no one nearby.
31:35The agent's car
31:36hurtled forward.
31:38A call from the air.
31:39Dillon is pulling up
31:40alongside the jogger.
31:42The agents held their breath.
31:50He passed her
31:52without incident.
31:58The feeling of relief
32:03lasted only moments.
32:04The airplane radioed
32:06that Dillon had taken
32:07a right turn
32:07onto a smaller road.
32:09The aerial unit
32:10stayed on him,
32:11instructing Trombitis
32:12and Shryock
32:13where to turn.
32:13Then a second right turn.
32:19Could he be circling back?
32:22They called to the airplane.
32:27Is the jogger still there?
32:29Dillon continued
32:30to make right turns
32:31until he was back
32:31on the road
32:32the jogger had been on.
32:34His U-turn
32:35justified the agent's fear.
32:37He was going back for her.
32:39Where is the jogger?
32:43From Vitus
32:44yelled into his radio.
32:45Cannot see the jogger
32:46came the reply.
32:48But the agents knew
32:49she had to be somewhere
32:50ahead of Dillon.
32:52If he came upon her again
32:53they were sure
32:54he would kill her.
33:05The air unit called in
33:06that Dillon had stopped
33:07his truck and had gotten out.
33:09He had something shiny
33:10in his hands.
33:11Would he kill her
33:12right under their noses?
33:15The jogger couldn't be seen
33:17from the air
33:17but that didn't mean
33:18she wasn't there.
33:22The agents in the car
33:23heard shots
33:24and feared that Dillon
33:25had struck again
33:26while under their surveillance.
33:32But the airplane radioed
33:33that Dillon was shooting
33:34a stop sign.
33:37The jogger had turned
33:41off the road.
33:42She was safe
33:43unaware of her
33:44close encounter
33:45with Thomas Dillon.
33:48The cat and mouse game
33:49with Thomas Dillon
33:50began to wear
33:51on the task force members.
33:52A lot of pressure.
33:55I mean you're wondering
33:56whether this guy today
33:58is going to go out
33:59and kill somebody
33:59and you aren't going
34:00to be able to stop it
34:00and you know
34:01that he's probably
34:02the one that is responsible
34:03for killing other people.
34:07You're working 14,
34:0816 hours a day.
34:09You're living out of a car.
34:11You're drinking coffee
34:12like policemen you know
34:13and you aren't eating right
34:14and the stress
34:15is just tremendous.
34:16But the net continued
34:21to tighten
34:21around the suspect.
34:23The murderer
34:23in his letter
34:24to the newspaper
34:25had admitted
34:26being bothered
34:27by the Paxton murder
34:28and visiting his grave.
34:32Investigators
34:33returned to video footage
34:34of Jamie Paxton's grave
34:35recorded November 10, 1991,
34:38the first anniversary
34:39of Jamie's murder.
34:41Many people paid
34:42their respects that day
34:43but curiosity
34:45rather than respect
34:46was the agenda
34:47of one visitor photographed,
34:49Thomas Dillon.
34:52Investigators immediately
34:54recognized the man
34:55they had been tailing.
34:56Surely he was the sniper
34:57but to earn a conviction
34:59they needed direct
35:00incriminating evidence.
35:08After the second anniversary
35:10of Jamie Paxton's death
35:11in 1992,
35:13surveillance observed
35:14Dillon entering
35:15the Times Leader Building.
35:17He bought a copy
35:18of the previous day's paper
35:19full of the details
35:20of the Paxton Memorial Service.
35:23The FBI had good
35:24circumstantial evidence
35:26on Thomas Dillon
35:27but they still lacked
35:28physical evidence,
35:29a bullet,
35:30a gun,
35:31or a typewriter
35:31to link him
35:32with just one
35:33of the victims.
35:34hunting season was fast approaching.
35:43Dillon was still out
35:45roaming the rural roads,
35:47drunk,
35:47armed,
35:48deadly.
35:51The communities
35:52of southern Ohio
35:53had been terrorized
35:54for three years.
35:55The people feared
35:56going outside
35:57but tried to live
35:58normal lives.
35:59Dillon had to be
36:00taken off the streets.
36:01The task force
36:04knew Dillon
36:05had been in trouble
36:06in the past
36:06for illegally
36:07owning a silencer
36:08and was forbidden
36:09to possess firearms,
36:11a stipulation
36:11he clearly violated
36:13during his vandalism sprees.
36:14The task force
36:19had little choice.
36:20Before he could kill again,
36:22they would arrest
36:22Thomas Dillon.
36:25But the plan
36:26wasn't just to arrest him
36:27on a weapons violation
36:28but to convince him
36:30he was caught red-handed
36:31and get him
36:32to confess to murder.
36:34Lacking ballistic evidence
36:35and holding only
36:36a relatively minor
36:37weapons charge
36:38on Dillon,
36:39the FBI badly needed
36:40to elicit a confession.
36:42Trombitis had a plan.
36:44Since we knew
36:46what his routine was
36:47through the surveillances
36:48and that
36:48where he left his residence
36:50and he would go
36:50to this Dairy Mart
36:51every day
36:52before he left
36:53and went on his
36:54three, four hundred mile drives,
36:56we would try to
36:59make the approach
37:00at the Dairy Mart
37:01and what we had
37:03was an office building
37:04right across
37:05from the Dairy Mart
37:06where we occupied,
37:09we took over
37:09the basement
37:10of that building.
37:11Detective Wilson
37:12and I did
37:13was we went down
37:14into the basement
37:15where we were going
37:16to conduct the interview
37:16and we put up
37:18along the walls
37:19of the whole room
37:21maps of the areas
37:23that he drove in,
37:24crime scene photographs,
37:27newspaper articles.
37:29We wanted to make
37:30that setting
37:30just irresistible to him.
37:33Then, we're just going
37:34to piece by piece
37:35start laying this out
37:36in front of him
37:37and see what kind of reaction
37:38we get from him.
37:39It would be overwhelming
37:41and it would put him
37:43in the best frame of mind
37:44for us to be able
37:45to sit down
37:46and interview him
37:48and get a confession.
37:51On November 27, 1992,
37:54the plan went into effect.
37:56Their entire case so far
37:58rested on getting
37:59a confession.
38:00The idea was for
38:01when he came out
38:02of the Dairy Mart,
38:03we were going to approach him,
38:05identify ourselves
38:06and basically request
38:08that he follow us
38:09voluntarily over to this room
38:11where we wanted to share
38:12some information with him
38:13and show him some things
38:15that we knew
38:16that would interest him.
38:18If Dylan refused,
38:19Trombitis would raise
38:20his right hand
38:21to signal ATF agents
38:22who were responsible
38:23for making arrests
38:24in weapons cases
38:25to cuff Dylan.
38:27And I can just remember
38:29his reaction,
38:30I mean his jaw
38:31just for about
38:33five seconds
38:34and then he composed himself
38:36and he said,
38:37I want to talk
38:38to my attorney first.
38:41That was the cue.
38:43Trombitis gave the signal
38:44and the ATF agent
38:45stepped in
38:46and arrested
38:46Thomas Dylan.
38:52Dylan didn't realize it
38:53but it was a bitter defeat
38:55for the FBI.
38:55Trombitis thought
38:57he'd blown it
38:58despite all the evidence
38:59he'd gathered.
39:00Despite his certainty
39:01that they had
39:02the road sniper,
39:03he feared that he would
39:04see a five-time murderer
39:05quickly released
39:06on a minor weapons charge.
39:11At the very time
39:12of Dylan's arrest,
39:13other task force members
39:14were executing
39:15a search warrant
39:16on Dylan's house.
39:17Finally,
39:18the FBI felt
39:19they would come away
39:20with the physical evidence
39:21desperately needed
39:22to link him
39:23once and for all
39:24to the murders.
39:26But they didn't.
39:28To their surprise,
39:30the search turned up
39:31nothing more incriminating
39:32than some area maps
39:33marked with arson
39:34and vandalism sites.
39:36Dylan was refusing
39:37to talk.
39:38They were holding him,
39:39but there was nothing
39:40they could do with him.
39:42It was pretty much over
39:43when he said
39:44he wanted to talk
39:45to his attorney.
39:45So we went back
39:47to the restaurant
39:48and we were going
39:50to have a cup of coffee
39:51and all of a sudden
39:52we got the word
39:53that he wanted
39:54to talk to us.
39:56And so Walt and I
39:57jumped into our car
39:59and we made a beeline
40:01to start counting jail.
40:05Trombitis and Wilson
40:06confronted Dylan
40:07with one piece of evidence
40:08after another.
40:10Photographs,
40:11videotapes,
40:12newspaper clippings,
40:13showing his link
40:14to the murders.
40:18I would pull out
40:19one piece at a time
40:20and show him
40:21and just as we
40:22had suspected,
40:24he just was keenly
40:26interested in the
40:26information that we had,
40:27the surveillance pictures,
40:29the crime scene photos,
40:31you know,
40:31just the animal,
40:33you know,
40:33the shots of the animals
40:34that we had
40:35along the roadways
40:36and that.
40:36You could just see
40:37that he was just
40:38fascinated by that.
40:41Fascinated but not talkative,
40:42Dylan said it would
40:43serve no purpose
40:44to admit anything now.
40:47Another dead end
40:48for the FBI.
40:51Dylan's attorney
40:52is arguing
40:52that he should be
40:53spared jail time
40:54on the weapons charge.
40:56Now,
40:56unless something
40:57turned up on him
40:58very quickly,
40:59Thomas Dylan
41:00would have to be released.
41:03Thank the various
41:04representatives of the media
41:06for showing up today.
41:07The task force
41:08was now fighting the clock.
41:10Desperate for physical evidence,
41:11they held another
41:12press conference,
41:13appealing to the public
41:14for any information
41:15about guns they may have
41:16bought or sold
41:17with Thomas Dylan.
41:18Haven't had any contact
41:20with Mr. Dylan.
41:23Meanwhile,
41:23task force member
41:24Jerry Wade
41:25of the Ohio Division
41:26of Wildlife
41:26was following up
41:28on a tip.
41:29A witness steered Wade
41:31to a spot
41:31where he had seen
41:32Thomas Dylan
41:33firing his rifle
41:34a couple of years back.
41:36Wade hoped
41:37that would lead him
41:38to some ballistic evidence
41:39to link Dylan
41:40to one of the killings.
41:43This individual
41:44that brought us
41:46to our attention
41:47that he'd seen
41:47Thomas Lee Dylan
41:49shoot this deer
41:50with a rifle,
41:51thought the rifle
41:53might be one of them
41:55that was used.
41:56And if we could locate
41:58some physical evidence,
42:01the shell casings per se,
42:03and if we could get those
42:04and match them
42:04to the murder weapon,
42:06we could put that rifle
42:07in Thomas Lee Dylan's hand
42:09prior to the murders,
42:11which would really
42:12give us a lot stronger case
42:14as far as him
42:15possessing the rifle
42:16prior to the murders.
42:20The chances of finding
42:22the small shells
42:23in such a wide area
42:24were slim,
42:25and it had been two years
42:26since the rifle
42:27had been fired there.
42:31Determined,
42:31Wade patiently combed
42:33inch by inch
42:34through a grassy field
42:35where the anonymous witness
42:36said he saw Dylan
42:37shoot the deer.
42:40Beginning at the tree
42:41described by the witness,
42:43Wade searched the area
42:44in a circular pattern
42:45by hand
42:46and with a metal detector,
42:48carefully marking
42:49off the territory.
42:59Miraculously,
43:00Wade hit the jackpot.
43:01he found two
43:02rifle shell casings
43:04later identified
43:05as coming from
43:06the same gun
43:07that killed Gary Bradley
43:08and Claude Hawkins.
43:15Finally,
43:16a physical link
43:17to the murders.
43:20I felt like celebrating.
43:22It was just unbelievable
43:24that I found them
43:25because after the time,
43:26the length of time
43:28that had been
43:29since the shooting
43:30and the incident
43:31and the individual
43:31wasn't sure
43:32the location of the tree
43:34exactly.
43:35The scene had changed
43:37since he had been there.
43:38They had done
43:38removed a fence row
43:39and pushed out the area.
43:42So I felt very,
43:43very much fortunate
43:44to find him
43:45and I felt like
43:45a celebration at the time.
43:47It was just like,
43:48you know,
43:48it was a gift
43:49handed to you.
43:54Meanwhile,
43:55the publicity
43:55from the press conference
43:56asking the public
43:57for help
43:58was about to bear fruit.
44:00on December 4th,
44:07Captain Shryock
44:08was manning the phones
44:09at task force headquarters.
44:12A man named Al Cope
44:14was on the phone.
44:15He said he bought
44:16a weapon from someone
44:17who may have been
44:17Thomas Dillon
44:18at a gun show
44:19the previous spring.
44:20I'll tell you what,
44:20if you give me, uh,
44:22give me about 15 minutes,
44:23sir, I'll be right there.
44:23The date?
44:24April 5th,
44:25the same day
44:26Gary Bradley was murdered.
44:27The rifle was sent
44:34to the FBI laboratory
44:35in Washington
44:36for ballistics testing.
44:41Special agent
44:42Paul Schrecker
44:43is a ballistics expert
44:44for the FBI.
44:45As the bullet
44:50passes down
44:50the barrel of the weapon,
44:52that bullet,
44:53by coming in direct contact
44:55with the interior
44:55of the barrel
44:56of the weapon,
44:57picks up
44:58the microscopic imperfections,
45:00the microscopic features
45:01of that barrel.
45:02So that bullet
45:03is marked
45:04with the fingerprint
45:06of that barrel.
45:07Fragments of bullets
45:10taken from the bodies
45:11of victims
45:11Claude Hawkins
45:12and Gary Bradley
45:13were examined
45:14at FBI labs.
45:16A bullet fragment
45:17may still be a value
45:18for comparison.
45:19Even though a bullet
45:20may fragment,
45:21may break up
45:22as a result
45:23of striking a victim,
45:24and maybe only fragments
45:26are ever recovered,
45:27those fragments
45:27are still marked.
45:30They still bear
45:31the impressions
45:31of the inside
45:32of the barrel
45:33of the weapon.
45:33and those fragments
45:35can still be used
45:36to make
45:37a positive association
45:39or an identification.
45:42When the weapon
45:43was submitted
45:44to our laboratory,
45:45the weapon
45:46was test fired
45:47and the test fired
45:48bullets from this weapon
45:49were then compared
45:50to the bullet fragments
45:51taken from the victims.
45:54Al Cope's gun
45:55was test fired
45:56and the bullets
45:57examined
45:57for characteristics
45:58they may have
45:59in common
45:59with the bullet fragments
46:00taken from Gary Bradley
46:02and Claude Hawkins.
46:03The conclusion?
46:05Al Cope's gun
46:06sold to him
46:06by Thomas Dillon
46:07matched the gun
46:09used to kill
46:09both Gary Bradley
46:10and Claude Hawkins.
46:12The FBI
46:13finally had the goods
46:14on Thomas Dillon.
46:25Agent Trombitis
46:27visited Dillon
46:27in jail
46:28and confronted him
46:29with the evidence.
46:30He and his truck
46:31fit the descriptions
46:32of the few witnesses.
46:33He had been off work
46:34when each murder
46:35had occurred.
46:36He had a history
46:37of random violence
46:38and gunplay
46:39and the FBI
46:40could prove in court
46:41that a gun
46:42he once owned
46:43killed at least
46:44two of the victims.
46:45What kind of proof?
46:46What kind of proof?
46:47All the proof we need.
46:49But Trombitis knew
46:49Dillon was guilty
46:50of all five murders
46:51and he wanted closure
46:52for the victims' families.
46:54He offered Dillon
46:55a deal.
46:55As leveraged,
46:57Trombitis reminded Dillon
46:58that he faced
46:59Ohio's electric chair.
47:01Dillon got nervous
47:02and he began
47:02to negotiate.
47:05What's your assessment
47:06of the situation?
47:09I still can't believe
47:10you got that hard
47:11out of it.
47:13I hope we have happiness.
47:14Thomas Dillon met
47:15with the prosecutors
47:16in June of 1993.
47:18He agreed to admit
47:19to five killings
47:20if the death penalty
47:22were dropped
47:22as a possible sentence.
47:24I'd like to share
47:24my terms.
47:26One each for each
47:27of the acts committed.
47:31On July 9th,
47:32Dillon confessed
47:33to prosecutors
47:34in order to save his life.
47:41On July 12th, 1993,
47:44a smirking Thomas Dillon
47:45walked into the
47:46Noble County Courthouse
47:47to make his plea.
47:50Mr. Dillon,
47:50at this time,
47:51how do you plead
47:52to count one
47:53in the indictment
47:54in case number 93,
47:56CR4,
47:57involving the death
47:58of the aggravated
48:01murder charge
48:01involving the death
48:02of Gary Bradley?
48:03How do you plead?
48:05Guilty.
48:06With the families
48:07of the victims watching,
48:08Dillon confessed
48:09to murdering
48:10Donald Welling,
48:11Kevin Loring,
48:12Claude Hawkins,
48:14Gary Bradley,
48:15and Jamie Paxton.
48:16In the case of that indictment,
48:19involving the death of...
48:20he was still smirking
48:22and unrepentant
48:22as he left court.
48:23At this time,
48:25the indictment
48:25in case number 93,
48:26CR4.
48:27Dillon's incredibly cavalier attitude
48:44was detailed
48:45by a local reporter
48:46whom Dillon repeatedly
48:47called from prison,
48:48marveling at his own violence,
48:51reveling in his celebrity,
48:52and laughing off the murders.
48:56Except one.
48:57He would not discuss
48:58the murder
48:59of Jamie Paxton.
49:02Forget it, all right?
49:03Just forget it.
49:08Gene Paxton,
49:09Jamie's mother,
49:10was in court
49:11the day Dillon pleaded guilty.
49:13I just want to talk to him
49:15about Jamie,
49:16the kind of person
49:17Jamie was.
49:18Jamie was everything
49:19Thomas Dillon could never be.
49:21He is, Dillon is a coward.
49:23He hid behind a gun
49:25and Jamie was,
49:27Jamie was not that way.
49:29Little did I know
49:31that on the evening news
49:32he was watching that
49:33and it made him very angry
49:35that I had called him
49:36a pathetic coward.
49:37We talked to him
49:38about remorse
49:39and how did you feel
49:41after these homicides
49:42and the only one
49:43that he said
49:43that it really bothered him about
49:45was Jamie Paxton.
49:47He said,
49:48I didn't realize
49:49the kid was so young.
49:52Gene Paxton
49:52had looked forward
49:53to confronting Dillon
49:54in court
49:55but his guilty plea
49:56cost her that opportunity.
49:59She asked Sheriff McCourt
50:00to arrange a conversation.
50:02McCourt agreed.
50:04That evening
50:05Gene Paxton's phone rang.
50:07She found herself speaking
50:08with the murderer
50:09of her son.
50:10When I picked up
50:11the phone that evening
50:13it was just like
50:14somebody calling up
50:15to sell me something.
50:16He said,
50:17Mrs. Paxton,
50:18this is Tom Dillon.
50:19It was just almost
50:23more than I could
50:24comprehend
50:25the tone of his voice,
50:27the way he came across.
50:29Still the arrogance
50:30was there.
50:32You really hurt my feelings
50:33this afternoon.
50:35Dillon told Gene Paxton
50:36that when she called him
50:37a coward
50:38she had hurt his feelings.
50:40Uh-huh.
50:41I really don't think
50:42he expected
50:43to get what he got
50:45from me.
50:45I think that
50:47Thomas Dillon
50:47could have handled
50:48the crying,
50:50the screaming,
50:51the saying of
50:52calling names,
50:54the cursing.
50:55I think he could
50:55handle that.
50:57But I did not
50:59lower myself
50:59to that level.
51:01I talked to him
51:02as a mother
51:03and I really feel
51:04that through this
51:05whole thing
51:05that is what
51:06got to Thomas Dillon.
51:08I understand.
51:10After three years
51:11Gene Paxton
51:12felt vindicated.
51:13I felt really good.
51:19I walked out
51:20on my front porch
51:21and I just felt like
51:23for the first time
51:24in three years
51:26that I was free.
51:28I was free
51:29of Thomas Dillon.
51:31I felt that
51:32I had defeated him
51:33by words
51:35and I did it all
51:36for Jamie.
51:39Thomas Dillon
51:40made it clear
51:41he did not want
51:42to go to Lucasville Prison,
51:43the toughest in Ohio.
51:45So Gene Paxton
51:46saw to it
51:47with a petition drive
51:48that that was
51:49exactly where
51:50Dillon was sent.
51:53In August 1993,
51:56Gene Paxton
51:56won a $25 million
51:58wrongful death judgment
51:59against any future money
52:01Dillon might make.
52:02Dillon's wife
52:03had been trying
52:04to sell his story
52:04to Hollywood.
52:06Paxton
52:06and State Senator
52:07Bob Nye
52:08passed the Paxton Bill
52:09barring killers
52:10or their relatives
52:11from profiting
52:12from the crime.
52:16Thomas Dillon
52:17remains in
52:18Lucasville Prison.
52:19He is eligible
52:20for parole
52:21in 165 years.
52:23The prehistoric
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