Prosecutor to seek death penalty in Sara Dixon murder case
By Keren Rivas / TImes-News
GRAHAM — Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against three men accused of killing a 68-year-old retired bank employee in her home in November 2007.
During two brief hearings Monday, Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson announced his office plans to pursue the maximum penalty for Robert “Dennis” Dixon, Matthew Devon Fields and Thomas Clay Friday for their role in the killing of Sara Jones Bright Dixon.
The men, who were arrested roughly 1 1/2 years after the woman was found dead in her 2049 McCray Road home, have all been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree burglary. Fields and Friday also were charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Robert Dixon, who is the stepson of Sara Dixon, faces an additional charge of solicitation to commit a felony.
Authorities believe Robert Dixon, 45, paid someone to have his stepmother killed. According to court documents, they also believe 21-year-old Fields allegedly broke into Sara Dixon’s home at between midnight and 2 a.m. Nov. 29, 2007 with the intent to commit first-degree murder.
In the documents, Friday, 36, a friend of Dennis Dixon, told detectives that Fields allegedly shot Sara Dixon that night with a Makarov 9 mm handgun. Friday also allegedly told them that he paid Fields with cash and transferred possession of his daughter’s “pocket bike” as partial payment for killing Dixon.
In order for the case to be deemed capital, the state has to prove that at least one of 11 aggravating circumstances exists. These include that the offense was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel; was committed during the commission of a felony or was a murder for hire.
Johnson did not tell the court Monday which aggravating circumstance he was planning to prosecute the men on but said the case presented at least one.
“In my mind, there is clearly one and possibly two” aggravating circumstances, he said.
Johnson said there is still evidence the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department and the State Bureau of Investigation are working on. Once he gets all the evidence, he added, he will have a clearer idea of how to proceed.
In the meantime, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge J.B. Allen ordered the appointment of additional defense attorneys in the case. By law, a person who qualifies for a court-appointed attorney and faces a capital offense has to have two defense attorneys.
All three men, who are currently being held without bond, qualified for court-appointed counsel. Only Dennis Dixon was represented by two attorneys during Monday’s proceedings.
http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/seek-27764-graham-briefheader.html
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