Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime these Now. I'm Jennifer Gould.
The horror surrounding the Johnston County father who allegedly executed
four of his children has intensified after the North Carolina
dad reportedly confessed to the existence of a fifth uncounted victim,
(00:20):
a one month old infant son whose tiny body he
secretly buried in the woods. Wellington, Delano Dickens, the third forty,
is already facing four counts of first degree murder after
he made a harrowing nine to one one call back
on October twenty seventh to surrender himself to authorities. Listen,
(00:42):
all right, I can't. It's a lot of wayg but
in a nuts it's my fault. I'm not even gone.
It is my fault. It is bad. When deputies arrived
at his ebulent home, they located a three year old
son unharmed, but the skeletal remains of four other kids
(01:04):
were found entombed in the trunk of a vehicle parked
in the garage. The victims were id'd as Dickens's children
Leah six, Zoey nine, Wellington fourth ten, and his step
son Sean Brassfield eighteen, investigators determined the remains had been
(01:24):
left in the vehicle for an extended period spanning several
months May to September, based on the level of decomposition.
In a subsequent interview, Dickens revealed the grim secret of
the fifth victim, an infant son named Riley. He claimed
the baby had succumbed to poor health shortly after the
(01:45):
family moved to the Zebulun home, at which he wrapped
the tiny body and interred it in a shallow grave
in a nearby wooded area. Relatives told police they never
saw the infant after the move, and the death was
never reported. The search for Riley's remains is ongoing. The
(02:05):
Johnston County Sheriff's Office confirmed Dickens confessed to dispatchers that
he quote did not torture his children, but he believed
he quote unquote overdisciplined them, a process he claimed spiraled
out of control following his wife's death in twenty twenty four.
(02:25):
Here's Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell at a previous news
conference at the sheriff As a father and as a grandfather,
I can stand here and say there's no reason for
a father to murder his children. Court affidavits describe a
horrifying timeline. Leah died after a disciplinary session in May.
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Zoe was killed in late August after Dickens taped her
mouth shut for asking about her dead sister. Wellington and
Sean were believed to have died from severe man nutrition
in late summer. Dickens, held without bond in the Johnston
County Jail, is formally charged with four counts of murder
for right now. His sole surviving son is now in
(03:12):
protective custody. The investigation into the infant step continues. Dickens's
next cortitory is set for December fourth. More Crime and
Justice news. After this, he saved himself in seconds, but
doomed his own little girl to a horrifying, inescapable death
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trapped in a raging inferno to be incinerated alive. Nicholas
Steamen thirty four, crawled out of his blazing twenty thirteen
GMC terrain on September twenty fourth of twenty twenty four
after a drunken crash in American Township, Ohio, and then
ran for his life, abandoning two year old Lilliana. Steamen
(03:58):
buckled helplessly in the back seat as flames swallowed the vehicle.
Witnesses who had called nine to one one after spotting
the car driving erratically, reportedly screamed for him to go
back and side, but he didn't. Instead, still unsteady on
his feet and wreaking of alcohol, he told arriving Allen
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County Sheriff's deputies quote unquote, nobody was inside, then brazenly
claimed his daughter was safe with her grandfather. According to
court docs, she was not. After the fire department extinguished
the blaze, investigators made a gruesome discovery. A firefighter peered
into the blackened shell and saw a small body in
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a forward facing car seat. The deputy noted they could
see quote skin and blood on her thighs end quote,
confirming the horrifying fate the innocent toddler suffered. Steamen later
admitted to the detectives he had spent the hours leading
up to the incident consuming at least ten alcoholic beverages,
leading his blood alcohol level to clock in at point
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one point five, nearly double the legal limit. In court,
Steaman pleaded guilty to aggravated arson, involuntary manslaughter, and child endangering.
He was sentenced to a total of twenty two to
thirty one years in prison, with these sentences for each
conviction set to be served consecutively and finally, from frizz
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to fury to felony. Twenty eight year old August Marriott
just got sentenced to six years behind bars after a
hair raising hissy fit moment at a Great Clips salon
in San Diego County that's in California. The drama started
when Marriott showed up an hour late for his main event,
nearly arriving at closing time when a staffer pointing out
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he'd missed his slot and sent him into a sheer rage,
which was captured on camera. They just threw a bunch
of stuff. I'm at the Great Clips. He was seen
flipping shelves and shampoo bombing the joint, throwing bottles while
screaming profanities. One employee even sustained minor injuries before Marriott
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finally fled the scene. Marriott, who was already on parole
no surprise, was later combed out by cops thanks to
anonymous tips. After pleading guilty to assault, the judge ensured
Marriott will spend time in the state pen and no
time will not be trimmed for good behavior. For the
latest crime and justice news, follow the Crime Alert hourly
(06:39):
update on your favorite podcast app with this crime Alert.
I'm Jennifer Gould.