The Raven Knocks
True Crime/Missing Persons
The Raven Knocks
The Harrowing Journey of Jennifer Paxton: Trust Betrayed and the Dark Path to Tragedy
What if the people you trust the most are the ones who pull you into a world of unimaginable horror? This episode brings you the harrowing true story of Jennifer Paxton, whose life spiraled into chaos through addiction and unfortunate connections. Raised by her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jennifer's journey from an ordinary life to homelessness and estrangement from her seven children sets the stage for a chilling narrative. With her family desperately trying to maintain a link, the story becomes even more disturbing as we uncover her fateful meeting with Sean Finnegan, a man whose dark world would ultimately seal her tragic fate.
We unravel the abusive dynamics between Sean Finnegan and Dishman, exposing the web of coercion and violence that ensnared Jennifer Paxton. Through firsthand accounts, we explore the complexity of Dishman's character—both a victim and manipulator—caught in Finnegan's toxic influence. This episode sheds light on the dire environment where acts of abuse blurred with sinister coercion, leaving listeners grappling with the dark realities of control and manipulation. As we piece together Jennifer’s final moments, the chilling discovery of her body wrapped in a trash bag reveals the true extent of her suffering.
The narrative crescendos with the brutal murder of Jennifer Paxton and the subsequent legal storm. We examine the violent injuries she endured and the questions raised about the justice system's handling of the case. Was justice served, or did the shadows of past criminal histories obscure the truth? Join us as we navigate the complexities of this tragic case, challenging perceptions of guilt, innocence, and the haunting reality of a life cut too short. Tune in to this compelling episode, and let’s spread awareness of Jennifer Paxton’s story, ensuring her voice is heard beyond the silence.
Today on the Raven Knox, I bring you a story out of Oak Ridge, tennessee. It's another tragic story that involves a woman who was held captive, tortured and murdered. They kept the body for eight to nine months just six feet away from where they slept. Stay tuned. This is season one, episode three of the Raven Knox. Hey guys, welcome to my channel. I'm your host, amy Prince, and this is the Raven Knox. If you like what you see and hear, please like, share and subscribe to this channel. It really helps me and I cannot continue without your support. Please note that the content of this recording may contain graphic material, including death, torture of every kind and explicit language. The opinions are of my own and may be offensive to some listeners. Right or wrong, they are my opinions. We all have them. If you do not agree, then ignore them like an adult and move on. Listener, discretion is strongly advised.
Speaker 1:Jennifer Paxton was born on May 7, 1984, to Patricia Dinwiddle and was raised in Knoxville, tennessee. She did know of her father, but since he was in prison, they didn't have a relationship. In fact, she was raised by her grandmother, as her mother had several children. I'm not sure why her grandmother raised her. Perhaps her mother was overwhelmed with the other children and her mom wanted to help her out. Or Jennifer grew attached, I'm not sure, but Jennifer was very close to her. She attended Carnes High School and, by all accounts, was a good girl. Brittany, jennifer's cousin, said they all grew up like sisters and Jennifer was always a load of fun, always upbeat and loved making people laugh. Jennifer, like her mother, had a lot of children, seven in fact. I couldn't imagine having seven children and not having a potted room somewhere. That had to be hard, and apparently it was hard for her, as at some point Jennifer began to dip her toe into the drug scene. I'm not saying that it was because of her kids, so unwad your panties. I have no idea what led her down this path, but it has been my experience in my work history that a lot of people who have chosen this path were self-medicating and were fighting internal demons that a lot of people around them, even the closest of people, know nothing about.
Speaker 1:It wasn't long before Jennifer lost custody of all of her children. According to Brittany, it was at this time when she lost her head and began to use heroin. She lost her job cleaning houses and soon found herself homeless. Her aunt would say that her drug use drove a wedge in the relationship and the only time she would see her is when she would come to her mother's house which was Jennifer's grandmother's house on the third of every month to get some money from her mom. Her mom had no idea what the money was for and she never asked her. Jennifer would get arrested from time to time and the family would actually be relieved as this was the only time that they could actually rest. They knew as long as she was in jail that she was safe and not using. Long as she was in jail, that she was safe and not using. The last time Jennifer came to see her grandmother to get money was December the 3rd 2019. Her aunt saw her once more after this, walking on Merchant's Drive in Knoxville, close to a bar called the Pint House. She had no idea, but would later find out that when things got really bad, jennifer resorted to prostitution to support herself and her addiction.
Speaker 1:Jennifer's cousin, brittany, knew about this, but they were still somewhat close. They wasn't as close as they had used to be due to the drugs, but Brittany just wasn't going to abandon her Brittany's mom. Jennifer's other aunt allowed Jennifer to stay with her, no questions asked, whenever she wanted. But Jennifer was independent and chose to be homeless. I'm going to creep out on a limb here and assume she was probably ashamed of her habit and didn't want to involve her family, nor did she want to be a burden on them. Otherwise, why choose to be homeless, especially in the winter? Her cousin would go on to recall the last time she saw her it was right before Thanksgiving, when Jennifer had borrowed someone's phone and sent her an instant message asking her to borrow $20 so she and her boyfriend could eat. She met her in a parking lot and waved hello to the boyfriend, who was off in the distance. Jennifer would never allow her to get out of the car and come into the homeless area or camp. She always met her out of the campsite. She said it was too dangerous for her and Brittany wasn't taking any chances because she had kids of her own.
Speaker 1:Right before Christmas, brittany became concerned because no one had heard from Jennifer, so she posted a message on Facebook asking help from anyone who may have seen her to please contact her. On February 2, 2020, jennifer's mom officially reported her missing. Jennifer's mom told Officer Tonkin the last time she had seen or talked to her was November the 4th 2019. Tonkin began investigating and discovered that Jennifer had been arrested on November the 27th on an outstanding warrant and had been released on December the 3rd. On December 23rd, a call was placed stating a lady was dancing in circles in the street and had appeared to be under the influence of a substance. That lady was Jennifer. After that, jennifer had simply vanished. Remember that bar her aunt had saw Jennifer walking close to called the Pond House. Well, a cook there noticed Jennifer walking one day and since he allowed people who were down on their luck to come crash at his house every now and then, he decided to ask her if she wanted to come and stay for a bit and smoke some weed.
Speaker 1:This man was 51-year-old Sean Finnegan. He lived in a quadplex with his elderly mother and his girlfriend of two weeks. Sean Finnegan had a horrendous childhood. He had five siblings and one hell of a father. His ex-sister-in-law would testify that his father was an extreme alcoholic and a very violent man. Everyone in the household was fearful of him. The kids would scramble to their rooms when he came home. They were very quiet and very meek. The kids weren't allowed any friends. They couldn't be involved in any activities. They didn't attend church or go on vacations. They were forced to remain home under his control. He was very controlling and very abusive to everyone in the home, both verbally and physically to everyone in the home, both verbally and physically.
Speaker 1:One time they fled Ohio and moved down to Florida but had to stay in their vehicle in a rest area. The father and the younger boys went with their uncles. The older boys went to work with their father, who was a butcher, and the two youngest children stayed at the rest area with their mother. They did this for 6-9 months until the second oldest boy bought a very large house for them. Apparently, he had begun working for a not so nice Italian family. I'll let you think what you want here. Sean was about 13 to 14 years old at this time and mostly stayed in his room, which she described as very dark. He loved his heavy metal music and was completely content in there with his weed.
Speaker 1:One day, a truancy officer came to the house, as him nor his brother had been attending school. His mom discussed this with their father and he beat Sean so badly he couldn't go to school for a week. Now Sean and his brother caught a ride to school every day from their uncles. The sister-in-law stated that she still isn't sure if those were biological uncles. Anyhow, the uncles were not taking them to school. They were taking them elsewhere, giving them alcohol, drugs and were raping them. They were also having their buddies rape them. The rapes were very brutal.
Speaker 1:By the way, this is the only testimony in the entire trial that Finnegan showed any emotion whatsoever. It was during this testimony where he wiped away tears. His mother was also abused. He beat her so bad at one point she was unrecognizable. They filed an order of protection, but he violated it. He showed up throwing bricks at the windows, busted through the door and through another door and threw a bottle of beer at Mrs Finnegan's head. But the sister-in-law stated she was standing there holding her baby and it barely missed the baby's head. That's when her pit bull attacked him. The dogs did a lot of damage and they had to call for emergency services to come get him. This time they were finally able to afford to move and they took their mother and fled to another house. I don't think I would have called for emergency services. I think I would have just let the dogs do whatever and kind of went on my merry way, but that's just me.
Speaker 1:She stated that her and finnegan worked at a restaurant where he was in his late 20s and he was the manager and the head chef. He was a very good cook and everyone loved him. Years later the restaurant closed but he found the same work at another restaurant. That restaurant opened another location in Tennessee, and that's when Finnegan and she never saw him again. Until now I'm not really sure what happened to that job, but somehow Finnegan ended up working as a cook at the Pond House off of Merchant's Drive in Knoxville. A co-worker from the Pond House said he was very reliable, always came in on time and worked 12-hour shifts just about every day. As he was their main cook, he would always bring his own knives and were very protective over them, but most cooks do, and she didn't find that odd. They always had a good time at work, and when it got rowdy they had a baseball bat that they would smack on the bar top to get people's attention. At some point, though, the bat disappears. Just put that in your right hole. She said she knew of Jennifer, as she would allow her to come in the bar and use the restroom, but that was all she really knew of her.
Speaker 1:Finnegan lived in Oak Ridge and was taking care of his elderly mother, who was on hospice at the time. He enjoyed smoking weed and did so with his neighbors when he wasn't working. His neighbors, the Pecos, said he was very friendly, a hardworking man who let people that were down on their luck stay with him. They stated that all began to change and they noticed a very darker side of him when he met his girlfriend, 21-year-old Rebecca Dishman, on Facebook and within two weeks Dishman moved in Facebook and within two weeks Dishman moved in. Maybe some of it was to help him with his mom and the other probably had to do with sex. You see, both of them had a lot of fetishes. Both were into BDSM. For those of you that don't know, BDSM stands for bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism.
Speaker 1:Dishman was born on April 30, 1998, and grew up in Maryville, tennessee, and, from what I could find, some decent parents. Her father was a minister, but she lost both parents when she was a senior in high school. I have not been able to find out anything other than that dishman was a very unstable person, as like she doesn't seem to be able to stay in one place for very long. When her parents passed, she moved in with her first fiance. They lived together for about two years. They broke up and she moved in with her aunt and uncle for a year and they got tired of her and kicked her out. She then moved in with fiancé number two. She stayed for about a year and then moved in with her best friend, tabitha, but Tabitha kicked her out. She went and stayed with fiancé number one's mother but was soon thrown out as well. So she moved in with fiancé number three. She stayed with him and then, when she thought they were fixing to kick her out, she had met Finnegan. She stated that she has been engaged five times but has only lived with three of them. Now remember she's just 21 years old. As far as work, she worked as a CNA for two years but was fired because she couldn't pass the test. She then worked for several fast food chains but was fired from all of them. She hasn't had a job in a while, so she is a stay-at-home girlfriend.
Speaker 1:The neighbor that met Dishman after she moved in with Finnegan said she considered Dishman a friend. She described her as slow someone who doesn't understand things easily. You really have to explain things to her. She acted more like one of her kids than an adult. She said she was more like a big sister or a mother to her. She dressed up on Halloween and she took her trick or treating with her kids. I'm going to say before we go on here that on the stand she appeared to look like a victim. She appeared slow, but after my investigation of the case I agree she is slow in terms of problem solving, thinking outside of the box. But she is also manipulative. She is not as stupid as she tries to appear and she does try to appear stupid. Yes, I said stupid, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1:When she first moved in with Finnegan, she said she had no idea how old he was and when asked, he said he was in his 40s. She knew he could take care of his mother and that she was on hospice and he worked at a bar. She said she felt comfortable and safe. But after about two weeks they got in their first argument. Dishman had asked to borrow the neighbor's phone to log into Facebook. One of her ex-fiances had sent her a message and Finnegan got angry. When she was taking a shower he pushed her and she had a cut on her leg. That was pretty bad. This led to her first punishment. Later, when she got out of the shower, he told her that he wasn't happy with her and there would be consequences to that. She was forced to have sex and he tied her hands to the bed and scratched her back until it bled. She said she had agreed to kinky sex but didn't think it would get that violent. He was more aggressive than she thought and she didn't think it would get that violent. He was more aggressive than she thought and she didn't think the punishments would be that severe or that often.
Speaker 1:He would put her in a dog cage, urinate on her, ejaculate on her. He even defecated on her. Okay, I know things can get really kinky and I do have an open mind and I know a bit about BDSM. But a shit fetish. I had to look that one up and sure enough, there is a shit fetish. It's called coprophilia or scat. It involves sexual arousal and pleasures from feces. Yep, it's a thing, and so is urine, by the way. He would chain her up with a dog chain, use box cutters, sodomize her, use torchlighters. The chains were wrapped around her neck and she would be on all fours like a dog. He cut her inner thighs with a box cutter and he had her to perform oral sex on him with his leg over top of her neck as he burned her shoulders with the torch lighter. The torch lighter she is referring to is like a lighter used to light a grill. She called him daddy and master and he called her his little girl. She said she did and still loves him. She said the punishments only got worse as time wore on.
Speaker 1:In December Jennifer came into the home and she was confused as she didn't know her and they never talked about her. Now they had threesomes in the past and this was not unusual of him bringing in another female, but they usually had talked about it before Finnegan introduced her. Jennifer made breakfast, which consisted of cereal, and then asked to take a shower. When Jennifer was in the shower, finnegan asked Dishman if she wanted to kidnap Jennifer. Dishman said she knew she really had no say in the matter because Finnegan was always in control and it wouldn't matter what answer she gave. When Jennifer got out of the shower, they were talking.
Speaker 1:When Finnegan walked Jennifer to the back door and was showing her a baseball bat Remember the missing baseball bat from the punt house. He then picked up the bat and began hitting Jennifer in the head with it. Dishman said she went into shock and he told her to run upstairs and prevent his mom from coming down and getting her medicine. She did so and when she came back downstairs, jennifer and Finnegan were fighting. Jennifer had a fire screen over her trying to protect herself from the blows, and the floor was covered in blood. Finnegan ordered her to get supplies from the kitchen and to clean up the blood. Finnegan ripped off Jennifer's pants, screaming at her and asking her why she didn't shave. Jennifer lay there crying. Finnegan then spat on her. Dishman cleaned up the blood and they both helped Jennifer up the stairs.
Speaker 1:They went into Finnegan's room and he locks the door, lays her on Dishman's side of the bed and makes Jennifer perform oral sex on him while Dishman watched. He rips her shirt. This continued for a few minutes until he got angry, at which point he pulls Dishman's shirt down and makes her finish him off. Dishman stated that Jennifer couldn't get the job done. He then tells Dishman to watch Jennifer as he went back downstairs to clean up the blood as she didn't do a good enough job. She said he was down there about five minutes when he comes back up and changed Jennifer to the side of the bed. But she is on the floor. He tells her he's got to go to work to make sure she doesn't yell and if she does, to hurt her and if anything happens to take care of it. He kisses her and then he leaves. Jennifer never yells, dishman said.
Speaker 1:Finnegan took the keys to the locks for the chains to work. She gave Jennifer something to eat and drink and she also allowed her to smoke as they talked for a bit. She also took a kitchen knife and cut zip ties and tried to pop the lock with it, but it didn't work. She also gave her a fireball beer bucket to go to the bathroom in, as well as adult diapers. When Finnegan came home he was angry that Dishman cut the zip ties.
Speaker 1:He shouted why in the fuck did you cut the zip ties? She could have hurt you or escaped. He then told her to look away as he put more zip ties on her. He made Dishman perform oral sex on him. He then took Dishman's vibrator and forced it into Jennifer. He also forced his fingers inside her and had Dishman watch. He then made Dishman straddle Jennifer. He got behind Dishman and forced Dishman to climax over Jennifer. She said she couldn't climax and so Finnegan began rubbing her violently until she climaxed. Jennifer was sick and said she was going to throw up and Finnegan slapped her while Dishman went downstairs to cool off. Now I'm not a sex expert, but I don't think you could be forced to climax, but who knows.
Speaker 1:Anyway, when Dishman came back upstairs they all went to sleep, jennifer in the floor Chained to the bed and Finnegan and Dishman on the bed. Jennifer begged and begged multiple times to be let go, but Finnegan said he was never letting her go, that she was going to die. When she cried he would kick and spit on her. I couldn't imagine, knowing that I was in a house with a bunch of sick, twisted people who were torturing me, knowing they were going to kill me. I mean, can you imagine? You've already endured a bunch of horror, not knowing how long they're going to keep you, not knowing what else they're going to do to you, and then they freely admit that they're never letting you go and that you're going to die. Can you imagine what's going through her mind? One day he came home from work with a bag of washcloths, a shower curtain, gloves, trash bags and some bleach. Dishman thought they were just stuff for the house, but Finnegan was carrying it upstairs. Finnegan had ideas.
Speaker 1:Dishman realized at this point that Finnegan was really going to kill her. He made Dishman follow him to the shower. As he took Jennifer, now naked, to the shower, he strangled her. Then, just before she passed out, he would let her go. Apparently blood was involved because she said he would order her to clean up the blood during the process. This would make sense later in the medical examiner's testimony.
Speaker 1:She was in the bathroom still cleaning the blood as Finnegan took Jennifer back to the bedroom. When she returned to the bedroom she found Finnegan on the bed on top of Jennifer, straddling her. Jennifer was laying on her stomach and Finnegan had a shoestring around her neck and Finnegan was pulling up on that shoestring, choking her. He orders Dishman to lock the door and she does Again before she can die. He lets up. He tells Dishman to help him, but she says she's in shock and shuts down. She sat on the bed and gave up. She said this went on for hours. He would choke her and release her, choke her and release her and then he would take a smoke break. I guess choking someone must be a job. I mean, you gotta take smoke breaks, right? He went to empty an ashtray when she said Jennifer was taking her last breaths Apparently he had had enough put her back on the floor still chained to the bed. She said she knew that Jennifer was dying, so she got down on her hands and knees and whispered goodbye to her. Finnegan had came back and saw her and slapped her across the face. He then left and went to work. His phone had been blowing up as he was really late for work that day. She said she stayed up all night that night while Finnegan was working, checking every so often to see if Jennifer had a pulse. She never got one, yet she never thought to go for help at any time. This had been going on even though she was alone with Jennifer. When Jennifer was alive, she said she remained in shock and in fear.
Speaker 1:When Finnegan comes home, they both cleaned up the blood and carried Jennifer downstairs and put her in a freezer he had rented just a few days before Jennifer came and locked it. Dishman said they had to force the body into it. During this process her body made snapping noises and at one point blood sprayed on her and freaked her out. They wrapped her in the shower curtain and some trash bags. At the time the freezer was in the living room, but soon Finnegan became paranoid that his ex would try to get inside it when she came over. Yeah, she would still come over for sex. So they removed Jennifer's body and he and Dishman carried the freezer upstairs and put it in his closet. They then went back downstairs, got Jennifer and carried her back up and put her back in the freezer, shut the door and locked it. He then ran an extension cord to turn it on. They slept just six feet away from where she lay.
Speaker 1:Dishman said Finnegan had cut the trash bags from Jennifer's head and chest, exposing her breasts, and she observed him masturbating to her a few times after she had died. The first time he held out his hand and she was confused until she saw that Finnegan had cut off Jennifer's nose and part of her breast. She said that this freaked her out and she ran downstairs. But when she got to the door he yelled for her and she went back upstairs. She then performed oral sex on him because he was so aroused. This guy's sick, this guy's sick. She stated she was in fear for her life. She also stated that she had told her ex, her neighbor and her cousin about the abuse she was suffering, but had no luck. She borrowed a neighbor's phone as she wasn't allowed to have one, but she never thought to call 911. Once her neighbor began seeing bruises on her and began to listen, that's what finally made her leave, because the neighbor took her seriously.
Speaker 1:It had been nine months that her and Finnegan had been sleeping six feet from Jennifer's body and about ten months or so that she had been living with Finnegan. The neighbor told Dishman about a women's shelter and they had found one in Campbell County, only one county away, that had a bed for her. The shelter told her to pack her stuff and a lady would meet them to pick her up. So the neighbor helped Dishman pack her things in a trash bag up. So the neighbor helped Dishman pack her things in a trash bag. They borrowed a car and as they were packing the car, finnegan's mom yelled out the window that she was calling and telling him she was leaving. They hurried and took off. Sure enough, his mom did call him and soon he came rolling in on two wheels and he was pissed.
Speaker 1:Finnegan confronted the neighbor's husband he was on the phone with 911 because Dishman had spilled the beans to his wife and she called him and told him hey, you need to call 911. You're not going to believe this shit. The husband told Finnegan that he had no idea where they were going. Finnegan told him that he ruined his life and he should have minded his own business and that he should kill him. An officer came to calm the situation and the neighbor told the officer that Finnegan had a body in a freezer in his apartment. Finnegan said that was complete bullshit. The officer settled the matter and later the officer would testify that Finnegan did not threaten the neighbor's life and both Finnegan and the neighbor were both calm.
Speaker 1:Now, before you start to feel sorry for Dishman, as she was supposedly scared and in fear for her life, she was using her neighbor's phone to send sex messages to Finnegan during the times he was at work, sending graphic messages and pictures of things that she wanted to do. We're talking about these bondage photos, ideas, cages, chains, all this stuff. He would always say that he was busy and had to get back to work. She would then delete those messages before giving the phone back to the neighbor. See what I mean when she's kind of when I say she's not that stupid.
Speaker 1:When dishman and the neighbor was heading to the shelter, dishman had spilled the. They were at the police station waiting on the lady from the shelter, but the lady never showed. The neighbor called the police and told her to go back to Anderson County because it was not their jurisdiction. So they drove back to Clinton, which is in Anderson County. Once there, they informed the officer, which gave an escort to the Oak Ridge Police Department, which is still Anderson County, but it was in the city at which the crime had occurred.
Speaker 1:Once there, the police started to question Dishman. The police at first treated Dishman as a victim. Granted, they really couldn't believe what they were hearing, as this simply just doesn't happen. She said she was terrified of Finnegan. While this was going on, they had several unmarked officers surround the residence as well as one marked officer sit on the street until they could secure a search warrant. The officers observed Finnegan out on the porch smoking, looking around. Then at one point he went to a gas station, made a purchase and came back home. While being questioned, dishman admitted she was also into BDSM. She was also into Wicca and Satanism. She denied killing. Jennifer said that she was too scared to go for help and she didn't have friends, but she had. The neighbors Said that Finnegan cut her with a switchblade, which earlier it was a box cutter. She made different stories in regards to the timeline when Jennifer was attacked with a baseball bat and some of the questions she wouldn't know the answers to and some of the questions she wouldn't know the answers to. They described her as slow and she was very flat, showed no emotion whatsoever.
Speaker 1:At 4.20, swat enters the home and secures the home. Once deemed safe, the CID, which is the Criminal Investigation Division, enters. They head upstairs to the bedroom. They look in the closet and see the freezer. They hesitate, they take a breath and they open the door. Nothing but a frozen pizza. Even the racks are in place.
Speaker 1:At first the officers are wondering if Dishman is off a rocker. One officer pauses and just looks around when he notices that the carpet showed impressions that looked as though the bed had been moved. He also noticed that the blankets on one side of the bed were protruding. Curious, he goes to take a look On his knees. He pulls back the blankets and sees something black. He touches it and it's ice cold. He found her Boys. I think I found her.
Speaker 1:They back out and CSI enters. They lift up the mattress and to their horror they see Jennifer laying in a fetal position wrapped in a black trash bag from the waist down. Her chest and head are exposed and she is frozen solid. They notice she is missing her nose. Why? Why the nose?
Speaker 1:When searching the residence they find a mini fridge, a courier bag, the fireball, beer bucket box of trash bags, safe freezer, two phones, duct tape, chains, a dog prone collar or choke collar leashes and later the landlord would call and turn in a set of knobs found in the kitchen cabinets. Tbi was called in and they took over an abundance evidence and swabs. However, only little of this turned out to be useful. Several stains from the freezer were taken. There was no DNA hits for Finnegan on the vaginal swabs taken for Jennifer. On the studs from the choke chain there was male DNA hit, but it was inconclusive. On the ring of that collar there were two hits, but both were again inconclusive. On the leash, the pink one had two, one male, but again inconclusive. The chain on each end was tested. One side one were two profiles. One was Jennifer Paxton, the other was Dishman. On side two. It was Dishman. On the stains in the freezer, those were all Jennifer Paxton. The stains inside the closet door close to the kitchen were.
Speaker 1:The beating with a baseball bat occurred. There was blood and DNA of two contributors. The major contributor was Finnegan and the other was inconclusive. The stain that was found on the wall in the living room the DNA was Jennifer's. They also tested shoes and they contained the profiles of three contributors, but they all three were inconclusive. Now they did test more items, but they were inconclusive. These were just a few.
Speaker 1:Now Finnegan stated that he was scared of this lady few Now. Finnegan stated that he was scared of this lady. Finnegan stated that he picked up Jennifer and brought her home to be a nice guy. They had consensual sex and then he went to take a piss and Jennifer went downstairs naked. When he finished using the bathroom he heard screaming from downstairs. When he got downstairs he saw Dishman beating Jennifer with a baseball bat and he flipped out, asking her what in the hell she was doing. Dishman cleaned up the blood and he and Jennifer went back upstairs. He went to work and when he came home she was dead.
Speaker 1:He admitted to helping Dishman hide the body. He didn't know what else to do. He was afraid of her. He said he rented the freezer and had it put in his bedroom to hide it from his mother. He said he disposed of Jennifer's clothing and he got rid of the bat. It was long gone because he didn't want to go to jail. He said Dishman chained her up but made him use the logs. So think on that story and decide which story you want to believe.
Speaker 1:The medical examiner had to thaw the body in the refrigerator for several days. The medical examiner states when Jennifer was deceased the body could have been left out two to four days before being frozen, depending on the temperature of the home and the environment. The toxicology revealed the presence of morphine. The medical examiner believes the source of morphine would be heroin, as heroin breaks down into morphine. She concluded this because the bile that contains the breakdown products of heroin was tested and came back positive for morphine, and there was no breakdown of any other products.
Speaker 1:On the sharp force injuries, jennifer showed injuries to the left side of the face, a saucossing injury up to four inches. This happened at or after death. Part of her left ear was missing, consistent with a slossing injury. Her nose was removed via a clean cut. This happened post-mortem. Two more deep cuts were noted around the nose, incised wounds which was before death that were very deep, all the way to the trachea on the left side of the midline of the neck caused by being strangled with a ligature. Below that, another wound of two inches. Her throat was slossed twice there, slossing on the left upper back, one on on the lower back and another on the lower midline of the back Midline is meaning middle, raw upper buttocks was a freezer burn. Sloss because apparently he had to cut her out of the freezer because she was stuck to it. Left shoulder there was a large cut post mortem. It was an irregular cut, consistent with being cut out of the freezer. Right below that, an even larger cut that is both post-mortem. Freezer burn in the middle of these two cuts.
Speaker 1:A 7-inch loss on her left arm. Three oblique and parallel wounds on her left forearm a half inch apart, perimortem, likely a defense injury. A slash wound on the lateral which is outside of the wrist area. Three slices on the back of the left hand, which is both perimortem. A stab wound on the inside of the elbow. Perimortem, right upper arm was an angle cut and a four inch slice injury on the outside of the elbow. Perimortem right upper arm was an angle cut and a four inch slice injury on the outside of the elbow.
Speaker 1:She had slicing in the chest and a cluster of them which was post-mortem her left breast. Multiple cuts had been made around the nipple area, slicing her nipple off, and it was brought with her. This happened post-mortem. Small superficial cuts to the left breast. Left breast a cluster of sharp force injuries. Right side of lower chest. More slice wounds.
Speaker 1:Post-mortem slicing of the abdomen post-mortem that were very deep upper middle of the abdomen to the right, a large area of slicing that was deep. Also to the left side of the abdomen To the right. A large area of slossing that was deep Also to the left side of the abdomen. The large cluster was eight inches Closer to the pelvis. Another slightly over eight inch clusters very deep Over the belly button. On the left side there was a skin flap. One side of the iliac crest that's kind of like the side of your pelvis where your hip area is was like a six inch cut.
Speaker 1:The strangulation injuries. She had five ligature marks that overlapped. All together they measured one inch, shown on the front and sides of her neck but absent from the back, which is consistent with being strangled from behind with a shoelace. This happened perimortem On the blunt force injury. She had a laceration to her forehead, which means whatever hit her, split her skin perimortem and bruised her to the bone.
Speaker 1:Echemosis, which is bruising, and abrasions on the right and left side of the chin, which is perimortem. Back of the head, close to the midline, a laceration like the one on the forehead. Mid-back echemosis and abrasions on the left side and over the buttocks, left forearm. More echemosis as well on the right arm. Largest area of ecchymosis was on the inside of the left arm. The medical examiner is not including marbling as this can be due to decomp. Even though she had just began to decomp because obviously she was in the freezer, inside and outside of arm and shoulder showed an e pattern by whatever she was struck by. This was perimortem and abrasion on the right upper, inside of arm and on the shoulder area. Ecchymosis on the inside of wrist and forearm and inside of right arm and hand. Also on the back of right hand, all perimortem. Right thigh abrasion. Ecchymosis on left inside thigh. Ecchymosis on outside of left hip and thigh. Seven inches long and large ecchymosis on the left knee. That's a lot. Whew, that's a lot. She was folded into a fetal position and placed in garbage bags and taped tightly with duct tape. Only her waist down was covered. The medical examiner stated that her nipple and nose were recovered, but didn't state how. She said if she had been bound it would have been soft bondings or she didn't fight. A baseball bat is consistent with the blunt force trauma she suffered to the head.
Speaker 1:While Dishman was in jail she began a relationship with a corrections officer. She later found out that there were other girls that had the same relationship with that officer, so she threatened to kill them. She also turned him in. Didn't get her way. Threatened violence, got someone in trouble. Granted, he should have been in trouble, but here's kind of another glimpse of her Now.
Speaker 1:Throughout everyone's testimony neither testified on how these injuries occurred to Jennifer. Obviously Dishman was there. She never left. Also, when hearing the testimony of his ex-sister-in-law regarding his childhood, some of this kind of makes sense. His father was also violent. There was sexual abuse. His father was a butcher, he was a chef. Father was a butcher, he was a chef. So let me just give you something to stay on. If you all listen to my first episode I went on this rant about sometimes the jury is not given the entire picture of the defendant in regards to their past history, and I strongly disagree with that because it shows a pattern, shows her character, kind of who that person is, and today I give you an example of that.
Speaker 1:The jury never heard that in 2015, finnegan was convicted of kidnapping and he raped a woman several times, and this eats me alive. Um, I was brought up to where you know. In order for you to make an informed decision, you need all the facts. The jury was deciding his fate, whether he lives or he dies but yet they're not getting all the facts Now granted. This is going against him, but I feel the same way if it was for him. Regardless if it's for or against a defendant, I believe all the skeletons should come out of the closet, mainly because he chose to break the law and he chose to take a life that didn't choose to die.
Speaker 1:Finnegan refused to view the autopsy photos at trial, which I think he should have been forced to look at them. He just sat there emotionless, tapping his foot. He remained like this for the entire trial, except when his ex-sister-in-law discussed his childhood. Neither him or Dishman showed any emotion. They were both flat, like they were bored, like they didn't care, just nothing. I mean just totally empty. Now Dishman isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but she used all the proper words in the proper form.
Speaker 1:The prosecution said she wasn't smart enough to lie. She presents herself in this slow manner like she's some innocent girl, but she's not. I mean, I think she's very manipulative. It's not like he kidnapped her and kept her hostage and brainwashed her and got it to where she was. You know, super scared to leave. She was with him. She met him and two weeks later she moved in with him willingly. That's what she wanted. They were boyfriend-girlfriend. He worked 12 hours plus a day every day. She could have left at any given time. She borrowed the neighbor's phone. She's smart enough to send him explicit messages during the day, even though she's afraid of her life, explaining what you know she wants him to do to her when he gets home. And she's smart enough to delete those messages when she gives the phone back. She's made it this far in life. She's been engaged several times. It's not like she's running off of a five-year-old's brain. I mean, you know she may be a little slow in problem solving and stuff. But you know I'm going to give her some credit here. I don't think she's stupid is what she's letting on at all.
Speaker 1:So Ditchman got life in prison. Finnegan ended up getting the death penalty. So who are the easiest people to kill? The homeless, the addicted, the prostitutes? This is why he chose Jennifer. He thought no one would miss her, no one would come for her. But boy was he wrong. She was loved. She was missed. She was still the mother of seven children. She was a daughter, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, a friend. She was a human being. The woman in the freezer was his trophy and they slept six feet from her dead body. All right, guys. That wraps up Season 1, episode 3.
Speaker 1:Next week, coming up on the Raven's Knock is a story of a girl's life who was cut way too short for no good reason. A girl risked her freedom and took a life of another over a thought that was in her head that everyone else denied. Join me as we try to make sense of an unspeakable nightmare. I hope to see you all next week. In the meantime, if you don't care, if you can like, subscribe and share. It makes all the difference in the world.
Speaker 1:We are now on all the platforms so you can listen on your way to and from work. So wherever you get your favorite podcast, find me there. No-transcript. I was brought up to where you know. In order for you to make an informed decision, you need all the facts.
Speaker 1:The jury was deciding his fate fate whether he lives or he does but yet they're not getting all the facts now granted. This is going against him, but I feel the same way if it was for him. Regardless if it's for or against a defendant, I believe all the skeletons should come out of the closet, mainly because he chose to break the law and he chose to take a life that didn't choose to die. Finnegan refused to view the autopsy photos at trial, which I think he should have been forced to look at them. He just sat there, emotionist, tapping his foot. He remained like this for the entire trial, except when his ex-sister-in-law discussed his childhood. Neither him or Dishman showed any emotion. They were both flat, like they were bored, like they didn't care. Just nothing, I mean just totally empty. Now, dishman isn't the brightest crayon in the box. Just nothing, I mean, just totally empty. Now, dishman isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but she used all the proper words in the proper form.
Speaker 1:The prosecution said she wasn't smart enough to lie. She presents herself in this slow manner like she's some innocent girl, but she's not. I mean, I think she's very manipulative. I mean, I think she's very manipulative. It's not like he kidnapped her and kept her hostage and brainwashed her and got it to where she was, you know, super scared to leave. She was with him. She met him and two weeks later she moved in with him willingly. That's what she wanted. They were boyfriend-girlfriend. He worked 12 hours plus a day, every day. Day. She could have left at any given time. She borrowed the neighbor's phone. She's smart enough to send him explicit messages during the day, even though she's afraid of her life, explaining what you know she wants him to do to her when he gets home. And she's smart enough to delete those messages when she gives the phone back. She's made it this far in life. She's been engaged several times. It's not like she's running off of a five-year-old's brain. I mean, you know she may be a little slow in problem solving and and stuff, but you know I'm going to give her some credit here. I don't think she's stupid is what she's letting on at all.
Speaker 1:So Ditchman got life in prison. Finnegan ended up getting the death penalty. So who are the easiest people to kill? The homeless, the addicted, the prostitutes? This is why he chose Jennifer. He thought no one would miss her, no one would come for her. But boy was he wrong. She was loved. She was missed. She was still the mother of seven children. She was a daughter, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, a friend. She was a human being. The woman in the freezer was his trophy and they slipped six feet from her dead body. All right, guys. That wraps up season one.
Speaker 1:Episode three Next week coming up on the Raven's Knock, is a story of a girl's life who was cut way too short for no good reason. A girl risked her freedom and took a life of another over a thought that was in her head that everyone else denied. Join me as we try to make sense of an unspeakable nightmare. I hope to see you all next week. In the meantime, if you don't care, if you can like, subscribe and share. It makes all the difference in the world. We are now on all the platforms so you can listen on your way to and from work, so, wherever you get your favorite podcast, find me there. And until next time, guys, be safe.
