Will the Westside Park Killers Ever Face Justice? | Forensic Files

Hi, crime junkies. I'm Ashley Flowers. And I'm Brit. Today, I am as baffled as I am consumed by this case. Two teens,
seemingly excelling in every way, go out for a night of fun and then are brutally
shot dead in what could almost seem a targeted ambush. Some believe answers may have been right under police's noses
throughout their nearly 40year quest for justice. This is the story of the Westside Park
[Music] murders. It's around midnight on September 28th, 1985 when Officer Terry
Winters of the Muny Police Department is on patrol in Westside Park, which literally, as its name suggests, is on
the west side of the town, and it runs along the White River. It's a Saturday night just before midnight and according
to a book by Keith Royden and Douglas Walker, a source we'll rely on very heavily here for this episode, Terry
also has his K-9 partner Max with him. Now, at some point, this real life Turner and Hooch hop in their squad car
to leave. And as they pull out, the headlights catch on some tire tracks that lead to a Volkswagen hatchback
idling in a little gravel area of the park. Now, one of Terry's responsibilities is to scope out any
cars left in the park past clothing, which was about an hour earlier. So, this is literally the gig, and Terry
gets out to investigate. There doesn't appear to be any movement coming from inside the car. But as he approaches and
puts his flashlight through the open driver side window, he gets the shock of his life. There are two teenagers, a boy
and a girl, shot dead in the front seats. In the book, The Westside Park Murders,
Muny's most notorious cold case, it says that both the front seats were reclined
with like sleeping bags draped over them and the passenger side window was shattered. The guy who's in the driver's
seat has been shot in the torso and the girl who's in the passenger seat was shot in the head. It's not long before
the entire place is crawling with police and investigators take note of the fact
that there are no signs of a struggle and no signs that point to this being motivated by a robbery. Nothing appears
to have been taken from the car as far as they can tell. I mean, like there's even literally a portable stereo still
in the back. And they see an open pocket knife just sitting on the dashboard. But
the murder weapon, the gun, that's nowhere to be found. They just find a small empty gun holster under the young
man's body. Like he was sitting on it. Well, some accounts say sitting on it, others just say under the body. Some say
it was found in the car more broadly. I think the important thing is that it seems unlikely that it would belong to
one of the kids, which could mean that the killer left this thing behind, right? And it seems they may have left
behind something else, too. Prince on or in the car. Now, some of those obviously
though might belong to their victims, who they learn are 16-year-old Ethan Dixon and 15-year-old Kimberly Dao. Now,
they were able to ID them so quickly because while they were still on the scene processing, this guy named Dawn
showed up and Dawn tells police that he'd been out driving looking for his stepdaughter, Kimberly, who just never
came home that night. I guess she had gone out with a guy that she just started dating, Ethan. He picked her up
between 9:00 and 9:30. And the plan was for them to go get some pizza, take it over to Westside Park, eat, hang out,
but they just never came back. And while they were concerned when the teenagers didn't return home, I mean, they hadn't
called police or anything yet, which like I understand like teenagers missing curfew or whatever is like kind of par
for the course, but it becomes clear that this isn't par for the course that night when police let Don go with them
to the car. And according to the Star Press, it's him who confirms the thing that he was most terrified of. It is
Kimberly and Ethan in the car. The events of the night don't just shock Dawn and Nancy, who is Kimberly's
mom. News of the shooting is spreading like wildfire. And while publicly the victims aren't being named, it didn't
take long for local parents and teenagers to put two and two together. Both teenagers were students at
Northside High School and by all accounts like really standout kids. According to the Star Press, Ethan was
on the debate team. He was the junior class president. Kimberly was a cheerleader recently named as part of
the homecoming queen court. And a story in the Sun at the time quotes their principal describing them as very very
fine people. Basically saying that like they never caused any problems. They were never difficult. So, for them to
end up like this, it's hard for anyone to fathom. But that didn't mean that they were teenagers like who weren't
dealing with teenager problems cuz police discover that Ethan had been the victim of bullying. Now, I don't know
the full extent of it. It doesn't seem like this is something police ever really fully explore or or find the need
to explore, but Ethan's parents do say that at one point they had taken a knife away from him that he was keeping on him
because of bullying. So, when I think about that, I mean, that could be one of the reasons there was that pocketk knife
in the car. Yeah. But then why would it be on the dash and not in Ethan's hand? Like thinking he was maybe trying to
protect himself or something. if that's what it was. And again, like I'm making all the assumptions, but if that's what
it was, part of me wonders if he had the knife on him for like all the reasons we
just talked about, but then maybe him and Kimberly were like, you know, doing things teenagers do sometimes when
they're in the park and like maybe he like pulled that out of his pocket or something, like put it on the dash to be
more comfortable. So, I don't know. Like, this is a weird fact that like I can't quite like put it in a box, but
it's worth it's worth people knowing like it's something you'll read if you look into this story. Now, there's
nothing in the source material about police at the time finding anything in the way of evidence like blood or prints
on the knife or even the holster for that matter. And going back to the knife though, like it is important to say that
I don't think like that was ever actually used. So like nothing like blood or whatever on that. But speaking
of the holster, police never find any evidence that Ethan owned a gun. So, it's definitely seeming like the murder
weapon belonged to the perp and then maybe this holster also belonged to the perp. And the autopsy confirms that
Kimberly was killed by a gunshot wound to the left side of her head, which most likely killed her within seconds. Ethan
died from massive blood loss caused by a gunshot wound to the left side of his chest. And both of them were shot with a
38 caliber, which they for sure did not fire. I mean, like obviously no gun at the scene. And I think that's, you know,
speaks for itself. But they do check for gunshot residue on their hands. Anyways,
and even though the results that came back later were positive, that still didn't really change anything for police
like because there could be explanations for that. I again, I think not finding the weapon there made it clear, right?
And a homicide. The gunshot residue, they're in a car that's a pretty small enclosed place. They were both shot.
Like that's explainable, right? Oh, and the other thing I wanted to note about their autopsies, neither of them showed
any signs of drugs or alcohol in their systems. While even in Kimberly's exact time of death is unknown, the Emmy
estimates that it could be about 11:00 p.m. So roughly an hour and a half to 2 hours after they left Kimberly's place
and about 50 minutes before officer Terry discovered their bodies, which was around 11:50 p.m. Which speaking of
Terry, how did he not hear the gunshots? Like he was in the park. He was It's possible that he was just out of earshot
though when the shooting happened. Like I've never seen anything about his exact
location at the time, like at 11:00 if it's known. But I know he's supposed to be on duty at the time. According to the
Star Press, the park is like a little over 20 acres. So if you look at it on Google Maps, it's like a very long
skinny like strip. So my thinking is if he's like patrolling all of it, maybe he's could be on the opposite side or at
least a ways away. But even though he doesn't appear to have heard anything, there are others who did hear the shots.
Investigators talked to people who say that they were in the park when gunfire rang out. I don't know who these people
are who were at the park at 11:00 p.m. or how police even found them, but good job. Some of those witnesses say that
they just booked it when they heard the bangs. But others claimed to have been close enough to the parking lot to see
three people around Kimberly and Ethan's car after the gunshots. And through these witness accounts, cops determined
that there were between 10 and 12 other cars in the park that night, not including Ethan and Kimberly's car. And
investigators zero in specifically on two cars that were parked the closest to Kimberly and Ethan around the time of
the shooting. But these cars weren't there when Terry showed up. So there is a red one and then there is a black or
some kind of dark colored one often described as a Monte Carlo and it was this black one I think that they're most
interested in because it was specifically said to have left right after the shots rang
out. So these are either really good witnesses they have to find or suspects or suspects. And according to Royen and
Walker's book, within two days of the murders, they actually might have found one of
[Music] them. In the early hours of September 30th, so just 2 days after the murders,
two my police officers notice a car parked in Westside Park. Now, nothing in the book about what this car looked
like, so I don't know if it fits the description of the cars that they were previously looking for, but considering
what has recently gone down in this park, they're like checking out everything. As they head towards the
car, it starts up and drives at them. Now, police are able to block the vehicle somehow. And when they finally
talk to the driver, they can tell that I mean, he's definitely had too much to drink. And when they ask him about like
all of this, he says that he's grieving. Grieving what, sir? They ask him exactly
that. Like, what are you grieving for? And he replies, you know what for? Oh my god. My daughter answers like random
questions like this all the time. And it's frustrating. Then it's infuriatingly frustrating here. Prepare
to stay frustrated because that's about all the info that this guy gives. And this information about this guy is
actually only in the book. So, it is super limited. The authors don't even use his real name. But we do know that
this guy gets arrested for driving under the influence. And he later tells police
that he was just upset about the murders. Yeah, we all are. But most of us aren't melting down in the spot where
they were found. So like, what's your story, dude? Who is this guy? I don't know much. I like truly like I just know
that he had a criminal record. He had even served some time, but it sounds like primarily for a minor burglary
charge like in another state, California actually. Nothing violent like murder. So maybe for that reason, maybe because
they didn't find anything to link him to the killings, maybe something else, this
guy kind of just falls off the radar, at least from the reporting perspective. I
don't know what category police put this guy in. Suspect, person of interest, or
just some bizarre encounter. some weird thing. Yeah. That they don't know what to make of. Either way, we don't hear
much more about him. Instead, police around this time seem far more interested in someone close to Kimberly,
her stepfather, Dawn. Because not only was it pretty convenient that he showed up at the park that night while they
were still processing the scene, but the Star Press reports that police also discover that two witness accounts might
lead back to Dawn and the car that he was driving that night. possibly putting him at the park before the shooting. So
on October 4th, they bring Don in for a formal interview and they talked to him for about 6 hours. And in that time,
Don's story is unchanging. He said that when Kimberly wasn't home by 11:00 p.m.,
her mother Nancy got worried. And when she still wasn't home an hour and a half later, Don went out looking for her.
He's like driving around, checking out local McDonald's, whatever. And then he was heading to the park where Nancy had
thought that they might have gone. And that's when he came across all the police activity and he was told what
happened. So the Star Press reports that police asked Don if he will take a polygraph which he agrees to. Braver
than me, Don, but it actually plays out in his favor. Don passes it. But that's not enough to close the book on him.
Because while the answers he was giving were deemed to be truthful by a machine and some guy reading the machine, other
answers that he was giving to Deputy Chief Marvin Campbell in follow-up questions were like kind of freaking
weird. Like for example, when asked if he was in the park, Don replies, quote, "Within my body, I wasn't
there." Okay. Is that a no? Then I think it's trying to be. And I like you, like
deputy chief, like we all find this kind of sus. Yeah. And in another statement during the interview, Don said, quote,
"If I did this, you're going to have to tell me I did it." And listen, Deputy Chief Campbell isn't going to put words
in his mouth, but he doesn't believe him in like what he's saying, and he doesn't
believe the polygraph results either. The hang-up is Dawn's alibi. I mean, it's rock solid. Kimberly's mother,
Nancy, said that Dawn went to a football game earlier in the night, but was home
before the shootings even took place, and that he only went back out around 12:30 a.m. to look for Kimberly. That's
great. I guess my biggest hangup about him as a possible suspect is why? Like, what would his motive even be for
killing Kimberly and Ethan? That's the other problem. There isn't one. So, it's not quite adding up. And listen, we've
contacted Muny PD to ask like why they were so hot on Dawn early on. Like, there could be things on police's radar
that they didn't make public. Maybe a motive we're unaware of, but as of this recording, we haven't heard back from
them. Now, it's no surprise that after this initial interview, Dawn lawyers up. The Star Press reports that his lawyer
tells police he will not let Don be interviewed again without a lawyer in the room. So essentially, Dawn stops
cooperating, which then Deputy Chief Campbell like seems to suggest that Dawn is now somehow hindering the
investigation, but the police have nothing that they can really make stick to Dawn as their guy. And I mean, the
thing is, they can't make anything stick to anyone. For a brief moment, they looked at one of their own, actually,
officer Terry Winters, the police officer who discovered the bodies, which was like honestly my first crime junkie
guess when I got into this case. Maybe your first Nancy Drew guest. Well, the amount of times that I've looked into
real cases and it turned out to be the person patrolling who finds the bodies, but not here. This guy was asked to turn
over his guns for analysis. It's determined they were not used in the killings. And as far as I can tell, no
one seems to place his police vehicle anywhere near the shooting at the time of the shooting. So by early October,
police are in a long way like circling back to the Monte Carlo tip because you see they had gotten a tip from someone
pointing at their neighbor, this guy named James or he goes by Jimmy Swingly. And just an FYI, the book is the only
place that he is officially named and we couldn't corroborate this anywhere else.
But according to Royce Den Walker's book, someone who lives down the street from Jimmy reports to police that his
house was robbed and he is convinced that Jimmy did it. He is also confident that Jimmy knows about the murders of
Ethan and Kimberly or was maybe involved in them, which are all like pretty bold
allegations. Did this tipster happen to mention why he felt Jimmy was involved? Like he felt this pretty strongly. I
know. I I if he did, I don't know. like all I know is that we get to him somehow
or like that they make this suggestion and I do know that police look into this afterwards and maybe give it some weight
because on October 7th they release a description and a sketch of someone that they're looking for who they also
associate with the black or dark colored Monte Carlos. This is why I said it kind
of all comes full circle. And while there's no mention of this publicly at the time, Deputy Chief Campbell later
indicates that this sketch looked a lot like our guy Jimmy. White male, about 24
years old, 150 to 160 lb, slender build, brown hair, parted down the middle, acne
scarred face, and this guy apparently wears gold wire glasses. But on the other flip side of this, this guy
apparently looked a lot like other people, too. Yeah. Like you just described a guy in Indiana. it. Yeah,
because when they like put this sketch out to the papers or whatever, they get a lot of calls, like somewhere between
aundred and 200 calls about it. Police take all these calls and they kind of narrow them down to get a list about of
like a dozen people and they do this by like seeing who was named the most. But none of those actually lead to a huge
breakthrough. Not even the Jimmy stuff, I guess, because I don't see him come back up yet. So, they're starting to hit
a wall early on, which is maybe why police decide to cast a wider net, looking beyond just their crime, even to
other crimes that feel kind of similar or happen not too far away. Like maybe if this is part of some larger pattern,
that will tell them something about their killer and where to find them. And I know specifically they looked at two
cases. There was one that was local, one that wasn't. The first was an assault of
a woman that took place in the summer at another park in a nearby county. And in
that attack, the suspect might have had or been in a Monte Carlo. Then in the second case, that one happened 5 years
earlier a few states away in Kansas where two young people were shot while sitting in their car. And on the
surface, both of those, like that crime and this one have similar elements, but ultimately police can't connect them in
any way like to one another. Same with the other one. So, they're kind of at another dead end and investigators turn
their focus to some more like experimental investigative tactics like hypnosis. Hypnosis that means they have
someone to hypnotize like who? It's mostly those witnesses that were at the park that night to see if they can
remember any more details about like the car. I'm assuming car, license plate, whatever. Here's the problem though.
Like the way they were doing this hypnosis veers like pretty far into unethical territory if you ask me
because according to the Star Press before being hypnotized, one of the witnesses who was actually an offduty
officer who was in the park that night, listen, I know, I hear it like I had the
same questions. Um, but it sounds like this guy, they vetted him because I have the same like, oh, like Terry things
like we've seen this before. He's vetted. He has an alibi, whatever. I mean, alibi, he's always in the park,
but I think he was with someone else that night. But anyways, this guy was shown some pictures of cars, including
the one that Dawn was driving that night, which was NY's car. And then he's shown a photo of Dawn before the
hypnosis. So, he's kind of been fed info, which is what it feels like. It feels like they're being like, "Here are
some here's the guy that the chief is like very interested in jog your memory." Yeah. But even them doing this,
again, I said it's unethical, but even when they did it, like nothing tying Don to the killings even comes from this.
So, whatever they were trying didn't even work. But I do think it gives a glimpse to where investigators heads
were. For Deputy Chief Campbell, all roads were still leading back to Dawn. and he at that point is tired of Dawn's
perceived unwillingness to cooperate. So he decides to try and put pressure on publicly. And in September 1986, Deputy
Chief Campbell says publicly that a person related to the case refuses to come in for a second interview. And
though he didn't explicitly say Dawn's name, everyone pretty much knows that's who he's talking about. And when asked
about a motive, the chief says all they have are rumors and no real motive in this case. Listen, I don't know what the
rumors are that he's referring to, like if they're even real. Like, but again, nothing really happens in the case. And
a full year goes by and really even then nothing happens in the case itself. that
like full year. That's just when Kimberly's family is hit with yet another tragedy because on Christmas Eve
1987, Kimberly's mother, this is Dawn's wife, Nancy, unexpectedly dies of a heart attack. The police at the time
decide to have an autopsy done on Nancy to rule out any kind of foul play, which
Don even agrees to, like presumably to get these guys off his back, and ultimately nothing is found. It was a
heart attack. So over the next few years, Kimberly and Ethan's case just kind of stalls out.
There are rumors that swirl through Muny about what could have happened to them,
but there doesn't seem to be anything like tangible police latch on to like what? Yeah. So, I don't have examples
about like if if the rumors that the chief was talking about were in relation to Dawn. I don't know any rumors in
relation to him, but I have heard like other little things. They ran the gamut really. Like I mean there was one that
centered around the son of a politically connected family. Then there was one about someone who showed up at a party
dressed as Rambo on the night of the murders. And then in one of the wilder accusations, a guy was convinced that a
woman he knew might have committed the murders. Like and he thinks this woman who I assume is like his girlfriend or
some something like someone he knows intimately. Basically, he assumes that she mistook Ethan for him in the car and
like thought she caught him cheating and then committed the murders. Again, there's no real meat to any of those
stories. So, police continue to look high and low and wide and far. And they do get at least one decent lead that
they do follow in the early '9s. Two investigators go to interview a man named Steve who's in prison on an armed
robbery charge. Unclear if Steve reached out to them or how his name might have come up, but he tells investigators that
the murders stemmed from a marijuana deal that had gone bad in the park. He said the three men involved in the deal
decided to mess with or take it out on a couple parked in a car, which feels like
a promising tip knowing there was at least that one sighting early on of three people outside of the kid's car.
But it feels a little less promising when they're told the couple was killed with a shotgun, which like we know isn't
true. But still, detectives are like, "Okay, listen. We got we got to at least like continue following this through.
Like the this line of investigation might lead somewhere." And the victim's family wants that also. So much so that
Ethan's family pays for a trip to Virginia where a woman supposedly can corroborate Steve's story. But
unfortunately, when the detectives get down there and interview her, she ends up admitting that the whole thing is a
hoax. And another inmate tells police that the whole thing was Steve's effort to try and get some kind of deal or get
like early release. You know, we see this all the time and it's so incredibly heartless, right? Like, yeah, you're
messing around with the police, wasting their time, but the most devastating part is giving Kimberly and Ethan's
families this like little tiny glimmering bit of hope, and then it just gets ripped away just like that. Yeah. I
don't I just don't I don't think criminals have the same code of ethics, right, that you and I do. Like like
they're just operating like a completely different field. Like in their minds, everyone is fair game. Like I don't
think they see a difference between like someone they know or someone they're in jail with or a victim's
family. Anything to save their own skin, right? So I mean, you get how it goes. Same as in so many cold cases. Random
tips and pointing fingers and a case file that gets dusted off just every so often for a fresh set of eyes to take a
crack at it. And that's where it was in 2012 when Detective Nathan Sloan first starts working Kimberly and Ethan's
case. Now, he spends about 2 weeks locked away with this case file. And when Detective Sloan emerges, there is a
familiar name on investigators radar again. Swear to God, Ashley, if you say it's Dawn, it's not
Dawn. It's someone else. [Music] Two branches of the same tree, two pieces of a soul. Where one sister
goes, the other will be. For she is but half of the whole. The missing half. Pre-order your copy at
ashleyflowers.com. You see, while the deputy chief all those years ago was paying so much
attention to Dawn, more and more tips about Jimmy Swingley kept coming in. Remember, he's the one who'd been
accused of robbing that guy's place, and then the guy accused him of also maybe being involved in the murders. Well,
here's what's interesting. So, the first tip about him came in like a week into the investigation. And then a couple of
months into the investigation, they got another tip, a more specific tip from someone said to have been close to
Jimmy. And this guy said that Jimmy had come to his house on the night of the murders. And he told this guy that a
drug deal went bad and the teenagers ended up dead. And there were two other men with Jimmy. So, three guys again.
And he said that one of them pulled the gun out and the holster came out with it
and that's how it ended up in the car. But is there any evidence that Ethan or Kimberly were involved in drugs or would
be in the park to buy drugs? No. So it doesn't sound like it. And like more than just like from their parents,
right, who like most of the time are like I don't think so. According to the book, police also talked to other kids
that knew them too and none of them said that either of these two were involved in drugs. So, if this was some kind of
drug deal gone bad, it seems more likely that they were in the wrong place, wrong
time. Like, if you remember that like other rumor we heard, it was like there was a drug deal gone bad and they took
it out on two kids. And maybe that's that's that what really happened. Yeah. Maybe someone approached them about
drugs and an argument ensued. Like, oh yeah, that could there could be a lot of situations. Yeah. Well, whatever
happened, Jimmy's name wouldn't go away. Detective Sloan sees several more instances where people point to Jimmy
over the years. Some say that Jimmy admitted to the killings or to knowing something about what happened that
night. And he also sees that at some point in ' 87, police had given Jimmy a lie detector test which he failed. But
they didn't have anything to hold. You can't, you know, arrest someone on a polygraph. So like they end up letting
him go. I mean, they were probably still so focused on Dunn that I mean, in ' 87.
True. Maybe. And listen, by 2012, Jimmy had been free to live a lot of life. Lots that Detective Sloan had to dig
through. And he finds that he apparently hightailed it out of town shortly after
the murders, which is interesting. Like within a couple of months, there are records of him being arrested all the
way down in Florida. and he continues carrying out a lengthy criminal history over the next decade. And there's this
one blip in his record that stands out, at least to me amongst others. It's it didn't involve like a violent offense,
but the circumstances were a little chilling. So, the Westside Park murders book notes that at one point Jimmy was
pulled over for blowing a stop sign, and apparently he didn't have his license or
he refused to give it. And when police ask him for his name, the name that he gives to me is like a huge red flag. So
he tells police that his name is Kevin Dixon. As in like Ethan's last name, Dixon. I mean, it's Ethan's last name. I
can't speak for Jimmy and why he picked that last name. And there's nothing in the book about police like putting two
and two together at the time, but like it's just so odd that I felt like I had to mention it. I don't It's weird. Is
Jimmy still alive in 2012? Oh, alive and kicking. And Detective Sloan knows right
where to find him. Prison. Of course. I told you he had a real run in Florida, but his decade of criminal activity
stopped in 1999 when he was convicted of murdering a man named Brian Inco. Like violently. Brian was found in his own
apartment with his throat cut. Like nearly decapitated is how it's described. And so Jimmy ends up getting
sentenced to 65 years in prison for that where he's still hanging out in 2012. Now, Detective Sloan wants to be totally
solid before he goes talking to him. So, he continues to try and run down old leads about Jimmy, tries to run down new
leads about Jimmy, and the long and the short of it is a clearer and clearer picture starts to form around what could
have happened. It seems like there really were multiple people in the park and there was some kind of argument
about something and at some point Ethan pulled a knife which lines up with the pocketk knife in the car on the dash.
Mhm. And then the theory went on that someone in this group of people that included Jimmy fired the shots. The
group took off in the car and whatever account he's pulling this from, he has the car not being a Monte Carlo, but one
that maybe looked a lot like it or had some similarities. It was a Chrysler Cordoba. But how can they prove any of
this? Well, that's the thing. They can't. I mean, they have nothing physical tying Jimmy or anyone else to
the crime, right? But now that he like has heard enough that he feels solid on what happened, Detective Slo is finally
feeling that it's time that he can go straight to Jimmy now. Like maybe they can get something from him. So he heads
to the state prison where Jimmy is being held and let's just say it doesn't go well. Jimmy basically tells him to like
f off. There's going to be no conversation. Okay, then that's kind of the end of the line for Jimmy. But
listen, Detective Sloan like isn't just going to rest on this like being the one
and only answer. I don't know Sloan, but I like the way this man works. Like, if
you can't prove one theory, go try and prove others. Like, best case scenario, you find out you were wrong and you do
get an arrest. Worst case like scenario, you're like buttoning up your case even
more. Like, close all those doors that a future defense team might try to use when you finally do get your guy. So,
the next door he wants to explore and hopefully close or prove or whatever was that whole grieving man in the parking
lot thing. Oh, I like Detective Sloan, too. Let's do this. So, he tracks that guy's ex-wife down. She tells him that
her husband was prone to drinking too much, often blacking out, and he would even get out of bed in the middle of the
night and leave the house, which he had done the night police found him in that park. She also admits that she wondered
if her husband could have had something to do with the murders, but it sounds like ultimately she doesn't think like
that he actually did. I don't know if this guy is dead by this point or what, but from what I can tell, Sloan doesn't
get a chance to talk to him directly. It might also be because he gets redirected
with a new tip. And those are few and far between in cold cases. So like strike while the iron is hot, right? In
2013, the name Raphael Rescendez is suggested to Detective Sloan as a possible suspect. Oh, he's the railroad
killer. Yeah, I was just about to say like we've talked about him before. He is someone that gets brought up in a
decent amount of cold cases from all over because of how mobile this guy was throughout the '90s. He is suspected of
killing like 23 people. and his MMO was to hop on and off railway cars committing murders along the way in
numerous states, Florida, Texas, even as far away as California. And while Indiana is not on the list, Illinois is.
So, he's like within shouting distance. And were there train tracks near the park? There were. Now, according to the
book, it sounds like the earliest of Rendez's known crimes happened in 1986. He murdered a couple in Texas and at
least one of those victims were shot to death with a 38. So, the murder weapon lines up. The majority of his known
crimes though took place in the '9s and often involved him strangling or beating
his victims to death. And unfortunately, Detective Sloan isn't able to speak to himself because he was executed by the
state of Texas in 2006. And maybe it doesn't matter because ultimately it sounds like Detective Sloan doesn't
think Rendez is his guy. he's able to like close that door. So whether it's a local criminal like Jimmy or a serial
killer like Rendez, nothing is sticking for Sloan. And in light of closing all the doors, there is one more that
Detective Sloan needs to look at probably more than anything else. Like to rule in or out once and for all. And
we're back to Dawn. We're back to Dawn. You got it. In April 2013, Detective Sloan interviews Kimberly's stepfather,
Dawn, to see what he has to say after all these years. Don's story is the same, and Sloan presses him on some of
the odd things that he said to police back in the 85 interviews. But according to the book, Don tells Detective Sloan
that he was just tired then and the statements didn't actually mean anything. And in this, does Detective
Sloan have the same hunch about Don that police had back in ' 85? No. So, according to the book, he comes away
from the interview ruling Dawn out as a suspect. He closes the door. He also even returns two guns that police had
seized from Dawn at one point that turned out to have nothing to do with the murder that they had like all those
years. And while he's, you know, talking to Don and like talking to her family, he circles back to Ethan's family, too.
and he talks to Ethan's dad, but he doesn't learn anything new or anything earthshattering all these years later.
So much like back in 1986, nothing is really there to be gained from their families. However, in light of talking
to families, Jimmy's family members offer investigators some new information that is very interesting. Again, I'm
going to give you the TLDDR because spoiler alert, everything they learn about Jimmy feels super incriminating,
but it's all just hearsay that they can't actually use against him. Like, he might have had a Monte Carlo. He might
have stolen a gun from a family member, and maybe that gun was used in the murders. Oh, and he might have killed
two other people, one of which was his brother Jackie, whose death was ruled undetermined.
But in early 2014, Detective Sloan interviews Jimmy's mother. And I think the the whole brother story is really
interesting. So in early 2014, Detective Sloan interviews Jimmy's mother, and she
tells him that Jackie's wife had Jimmy's baby, some 9 months after Jackie died. Oh, that's an a motive. Mhm. She also
claims that Jimmy was in the room when Jackie died back in 1981. And according to the book, she tells Sloan that she
thought he was capable of committing the Westside Park murders and she had heard
a rumor that he was arrested in connection to it, which obviously we know wasn't true. But this is just to
say like what everyone in the area is talking about at the time. And it's like no matter where police look or what
roads they go down, it always keeps coming back to Jimmy who has made it clear that he is not going to cooperate
willingly. But in what seems like the first lucky break they get, the courts rule that his willingness is neither
here nor there. According to Royden and Walker's book, on November 14th, 2018, a
judge approves a warrant to get his DNA. So, a few days later on the 20th, Detective Sloan and another colleague go
to see Jimmy. And surprisingly, this time he is cooperative. He like lets them do the swab, which again like they
had to do. And according to the book, he sits for a 40-minute interview, which he
didn't have to do. But in his interview, Jimmy denies any involvement in the murders. In fact, he points to the rumor
a lot of people had heard over the years that it was Kimberly's stepfather, Dawn. You said DNA. What were they
trying to match Jimmy's DNA to? So, according to the book, potential DNA evidence on the holster got left behind
that like I can't tell when, but sometime between 85 and like when he's all these years later like looking into
this cold case. Obviously, they were able to like test old evidence. But here's the thing, whatever they have, it
doesn't match Jimmy. Now, despite this, Detective Sloan still seems to think that he has his guy.
Remember, I mean, right? Like there's potentially multiple people, but others like former deputy chief Marvin
Campbell, who's one of the OGs in this case, like not so sure. But without more evidence, they'll never know. I mean,
does he still think it's Don then? Like, was Don's DNA tested? Well, here's the problem. Unfortunately, Marvin Campbell
recently passed away, so I can't ask him if he still thinks it's Dawn or what he
thinks about Dawn. And if others like Don were compared to the DNA or like that grieving guy or whatever, like
that's never been reported on. In the book, the DNA evidence is described as being damaged and muddied. So, I assume
that like any advanced testing like IGG is out of the question. I don't know that for a fact though. And as far as
things like remember they found like prints in the car, like some sources claim like one was found in the car, on
the car, whatever. Like I just know none of those helped in the case either. Chances are like the killer never even
touched the car. Right. Mhm. Oh, and by the way, like we did attempt to reach out to Jimmy in prison but haven't
gotten connected. And same again, I said this earlier, but goes for the Muny police. Now, in January of 2020,
Detective Sloan became chief of police in Muny. And according to the Star Press, as late as 2022, he continues
following up on leads in this case when he can. Chief Sloan admits in that article that he hadn't assigned a new
investigator to the case. Like the time commitment and other investigators case loads just hasn't allowed it. But I did
see like so that's the last official update from police in 2022. But I did see like something interesting on here's
my disclaimer Reddit. Cool. But this was from 2023 and someone posted on a Reddit
forum that their neighbor confessed about a murder that sounds like what happened in Westside Park. Now, this
person doesn't name names or even a name where this happened. Again, it sounds like Westside Park, but they don't say
that. But the story that this neighbor told them goes a little something like this. The neighbor had claimed to be
involved with a girl at his high school that he very much liked. One day he and his friend happened to be at the park
where he saw this girl with another boy that he hated. So he went over to the car and shot the girl in the head and
then shot the boy in the chest. And he shot the boy in the chest because he wanted to watch him suffer.
Okay, that's all public information about like the crime scene. Even if he's talking about Westside Park, like this
could just be a troll. It is. And it's what some of the users in the forum wondered. But like some other people
felt strongly about this confession, like so strongly that they contacted the police with this information, although
like they never heard back from them. And like there were other people who were like, you know, could this have
been some kind of deathbed type confession from someone? Now, one big flag for me on this, besides the whole
like Reddit of it all, is that the poster said the neighbor said he used a 22 caliber in the shooting, while we
know it was a 38 used to kill Kimberly and Ethan. The poster also said that he brought out a piece of evidence that he
took from the car, but he doesn't say what the evidence is. And unless police are holding something back, the only
thing that we know that they were looking for was the murder weapon, which they never found. No one like talks
about anything ever being stolen or taken from them. Yeah. So like it makes this whole confession a little and you
can write whatever you want on the internet. And eventually they did take this down from Reddit. So like it's, you
know, if we got to talk to Chief Sloan, this is what I would have loved to ask him if we ever get the chance. It's what
I would love to ask him about if this ever got looked into. I mean, I think it's interesting, especially when you
think about when the confession says like they hated the guy, knowing that Ethan was being bullied. Like, I don't
know. It feels like there could be something there. Yeah. Well, and what I keep coming back to is like Jimmy's DNA
didn't match the holster. Like, that's huge, right? And again, like was he there or knew something? Maybe. But like
there's someone else that we should we should be still looking for, right? And I think it's at this point it's
important to point out that no one, not Jimmy, who is due to be released from prison in 2030, by the way, and despite
all the rumors, not Kimberly stepfather Dawn, or any of the other possible people police looked into, none of them
have ever been charged in this case. It remains unsolved, which means Ethan Dixon and Kimberly Dow's families have
never been given the closure they deserve. So, if you know anything about the murders of Ethan Dixon and Kimberly
Dowel on the night of September 28th, 1985 in Westside Park located in Muny, Indiana, please contact the Muny Police
Department at 765747-4867. You can also contact them anonymously through Crimestoppers at
765-286450. We'll also have a link to send a tip online in our show notes. You can find all the source material for our
episode on crimejunkiepodcast.com and you can follow us on Instagram at crimejunkypodcast.
[Music]

Today, we explore the mystery of the Westside Park Murders in Muncie, Indiana, where on September 28, 1985, teens Ethan Dixon (16) and Kimberly Dowell (15), both Northside High School students, were tragically found dead in a Volkswagen Rabbit at Westside Park. Discovered by Muncie Police K-9 officer Terry Winters just before midnight, the case along White River Boulevard remains unsolved. The Muncie Police Department pursued numerous leads, including suspects like Donald Vogelgesang and theories from random acts to personal disputes, but answers eluded them. Officer Nathan Sloan’s efforts in the 2010s, including a 2018 DNA test, brought hope but no resolution. While the answers to many of these long-asked questions remain unknown, we're hoping someone watching or listening can help.

For even more stories like this one, join the Crime Junkie Fan Club today: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=episode_description&utm_campaign=signupfanclub

Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

Follow Ashley: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ASHLEYFLOWERS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ash_flowers TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleyflowerscrimejunkie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyflowers.af/

Check out these other great crime channels: @annieelise The Absolutely DISGUSTING Case of a Cop Who Used His Badge For TERROR | Daniel Holtzclaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb_m6KPEZ-8 @KendallRae Journalist Writes Eerie Facebook Post Hours Before Dying: The Unsolved Case Of Sarah Greenhalgh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfwXNk-Gdko @CoffeehouseCrime He Studied Crime to Commit The Perfect Murder | The Case of Nasen Saadi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBc7njkvKI @48hours The Farris Wheel | Full Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X41tNgE2yqo

Brief Summary

The Westside Park murders remain unsolved, involving two teens shot in 1985 and various suspects, including their families and local criminals.

Key points

The Tragic Discovery. Officer Terry Winters discovers two teenagers shot dead in a parked car.
The Victims' Background. Ethan and Kimberly were standout students with bright futures before their tragic end.
Dawn's Alibi. Dawn, Kimberly's stepfather, has a solid alibi but raises suspicion with his behavior.
The Pressure Mounts on Dawn. Deputy Chief Campbell publicly pressures a key suspect, hinting at a refusal to cooperate.
A New Lead Emerges. Detective Sloan discovers a familiar name in the case, reigniting old suspicions.
DNA Testing Approved. A judge approves a warrant for Jimmy's DNA, marking a potential breakthrough.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's hard for anyone to fathom.

Reactions to the victims' deaths

4:54WatchMay 1, 2025

Tension

70/ 100High tension

More from Crime Junkie

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.