Dillon Thomas

American homicide; confessed on 7/02/1993 to the murder of five outdoors men, facing life in prison rather than the death penalty, as a result of plea bargaining. Married to Catherine, they have a 12-year-old son. For the past 20 years he worked at the Canton Water Department, Pike Township, OH. During that entire time he was living a double life, venting a ferocious cruelty by killing an estimate thousand dogs, cats and cattle. He was also responsible for a number of mysterious arsons in several Ohio counties. In 1989, he began to branch out to larger game, men who were fishing, hunting or jogging in the hills or rural areas. On 4/01/1989, c. 9:10 AM EST, he shot truck driver Don Welling, 35, shooting him in the heart with a .30 caliber rifle while the man was jogging about a half mile from his home in Strasburg, OH. On 11/10/1990, 8:30 AM EST, he shot factory worker Jamie Paxton, 21, three times with a .30 caliber rifle while Paxton was bow-hunting deer, St. Clairsville, OH. On 11/28/1990, c. 1:00 PM EST, he shot refrigerator technician Kevin Loring, 30, in the head with a shotgun while Loring was deer hunting between Adamsville and Dresden, OH. Dillon was cited for illegal target shooting on 8/10/1991. When the police looked in his truck, they found a silencer-equipped handgun which they confiscated. On 3/14/1992, Dillon shot furnace operator Claude Hawkins, 49, in the back with a 6.5 Swedish Mauser while Hawkins was fishing. On 4/05/1992, c. 10:30 AM, he shot steel worker Gary Bradley, 44, twice in the back with his 6.5 Mauser while Bradley was fishing. The county was on alert, and people were afraid. A friend of Dillons called the sheriff on 8/26/1992 to report that Dillon liked to shoot animals. A task force began to tail Dillon on weekends. When he was seen buying a rifle, his home and vehicles were searched 11/26/1992. He was arrested the following day on the charge of buying guns in violation of the law. On 12/22/1992, Dillon was indicted by a federal grand jury for illegal gun purchases. On 2/10/1993, he pleaded not guilty to charges of killing Bradley and Hawkins. He was indicted in the death of Paxton on 7/21/1993, and he confessed to all five murders on 7/02/1993. Read less