Snapped: Women Who Murder - Angela Dickinson

Episode Date: January 8, 2023

An Alabama trucker is found shot to death in his own home on the same day his wife is due to give birth.Season 29, Episode 11Originally aired: June 13, 2021Watch full episodes of Snapped for ...FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. They were an unlikely couple who offered their home to anyone in need. They both cared about my kids and let us sleep there with them. It was a, you know, a homie environment, and he was always welcome there.
Starting point is 00:00:34 They invited a friend to come back to the house and stay with him for a while because he didn't have a place to stay. But the welcoming household is shot by a deadly crime. Somebody was either mad or pissed off or angry with him. The amount of shots fired suggest that the killer had a vendetta against the victim. As investigators search for a killer,
Starting point is 00:00:59 a stunning secret is exposed. He had never told his family that she was pregnant. Living under one of the most dangerous investigator search for a killer, a stunning secret is exposed. He had never told his family that she was pregnant. Living under one roof like that, there's a little thing there, that you just can't hide. And the ultimate betrayal of friendship is at the heart of a bizarre murder plot. They milk the venom from the rattlesnake,
Starting point is 00:01:22 put it in his food. This is a situation that's probably as old as time. You have someone who has something that someone else wants. In Waverly, Alabama, friends and family take care of one another above all else. On the afternoon of September 8, 2013, relatives are extending a helping hand to Carl and Angela Dickinson. Angela had just gone into hospital and just had gay birth to a baby. Her family and friends, they were directed to go get a car seat. From the home and some other clothing, items and other stuff.
Starting point is 00:02:14 Angela's husband, Carl, had been on a long haul trucking route for several days. Carl was gone, a good little bit of the time. He was only there maybe a week or two at a time for holidays or something like that. Angela's sister, Sabrina Murphy, heads inside the couple's house to snag the baby necessities. But something out of the ordinary
Starting point is 00:02:39 catches her attention. Walking up through the driveway and through the garage, the interior door was taken open. Sabrina cautiously enters the home. When you go through the garage door, there's a laundry room and then another door adjacent, which is the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Carl Dickens' body was laying in the kitchen floor. which is the kitchen. Carl Dickens' body was laying in the kitchen floor. So bring a Carl 911 and told them that they need to send somebody quick. They didn't know if Carl had committed suicide or what had happened. At 3.17 pm, all units in Lee County are dispatched to Carl and Angela's house.
Starting point is 00:03:25 All units in Lee County are dispatched to Carl and Angela's house. I got a phone call that there was a possible homicide up in Waverley, and that we all needed to pretty much respond and address it. Investigators are met by Sabrina and two men who identify themselves as Angela's stepfather, Jesse Bakk, and a friend, Paul Phillips. From there, we transported Paul, Jesse, and Sabrina to the Lee County Sheriff's Office for interviews. For someone to come into his house and do something like that,
Starting point is 00:04:05 I was kind of in shock. I didn't know what to think. 59-year-old Carl Dickinson was born and raised in Lee County, Alabama. One of five children, he learns to appreciate family values at an early age. Probably the thing that he enjoyed most was just family get-togethers for cookouts, whether it was just somebody's birthday, holiday, or even just picking a day to get together and eating and sitting around talking. Carl was one of the best cooks I've ever met in my life.
Starting point is 00:04:45 He could cook like you never seen. A country boy threw and threw. Carl grew up fishing and hunting on the rural land around his home. But when it came to reeling in the right woman, he wasn't so lucky. His first relationship, I guess you could say they were kind of high school sweethearts. They wound up getting a divorce. After sometime my brother met
Starting point is 00:05:15 someone else, they were married for several years and they wound up getting a divorce. Twice divorced by his mid-40s, Carl was enjoying the bachelor life. He had a steady income as a truck driver and his own personal dream house. He had been wanting to build his own home for a long time. And he built that home from his own two hands.
Starting point is 00:05:42 He took a lot of pride in his home and the things that he did. And in 2002, Carl fell for 19-year-old Angela Webb. Carl had initially dated Angela's mother at one time, and that's how they all knew each other. When their relationship ended, Carl and Angela's relationship kind of blossomed. Like Carl, Angela grew up in rural Alabama. Beautiful blonde hair, some beautiful blue eyes. I mean, a very beautiful young lady.
Starting point is 00:06:17 She was the pageant queen, and she was the cheerleader. Angela was always the mothering type. Like she was the one who would call if we had a problem or if we needed help. The same strength Angela provided her siblings, she found for herself in the much older Carl Dickinson. I think what Angela's saying in Carl was stability. You know, when you really needed someone,
Starting point is 00:06:44 Carl was that person You know, when you really needed someone, Carl was that person you could go to. Naturally, the 20 years or so age difference between her and my brother was a concern, but at the same time, there are people who have a larger age difference than that that have been in a relationship and been happy for a long time.
Starting point is 00:07:06 Despite their age difference, by the end of 2002, Angela and Carl tied the knot. I think the happiest time for him was probably the day that he and Angela got married. Angela moved into Carl's house with him. She had a good life, she was saying happy with Carl. He seemed happy as well. It was hard for him to believe that he had this beautiful young lady that wanted to be with him. And then he wasn't having to be alone anymore, either. The Dickinson's lived with an open-door policy,
Starting point is 00:07:42 sharing their happy home with anyone in need. I couldn't afford to get my own house, so I called my sister and asked her and Carl Cole to move over there, and they didn't care. So I was grateful he cared about my kids and let us live there with them. They bought them clothes, they bought them things
Starting point is 00:08:03 for their rooms. They treated them like they were their own children. Kids and family made Angela happy, I think. She was more happy when she was around them. And in 2006, the couple's generosity extended beyond family when Carl's coworker Paul Phillips needed help. Carl Dickinson and Paul Phillips met in truck driving school. They were a team and they would be able to swap out driving.
Starting point is 00:08:37 But when Carl got a new job with another company, the company didn't do team driving and so Paul couldn't come with them. Carl invited Paul to come back to the house and stay with him for a while because he didn't have a place to stay. Him and Carl seemed to be best friends. They would go hunting together, they would go fishing together. With six people living there, Angela and Carl were happy to have a full house. From time to time, they also took in Angela's brother, Jake Bartlett.
Starting point is 00:09:12 Carl and I were letting a lot of people move in and stay a little while until they got on their feet and then they'd move out. They cared about people, when it mattered the most. Rosa, you know, a homie environment. And you always welcome there. In 2013, news of another future member of the household came when Angela found out she was pregnant. She didn't have her own kids. And when she finally did get pregnant, that's what she wanted.
Starting point is 00:09:38 She was happy she was finally having a baby. having a baby. But that happiness is shattered on September 8, 2013. Lee County Emergency Responders confirm that Carl Dickinson has been shot to death and detectives begin surveying the scene. The first thing we noticed when we walked to the house was there were multiple 22 caliber shell casings in the garage. The shell casings continued in a path into the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:10:17 That indicates that the shooting started at the garage door and walked away into the kitchen. Officers collect 19 casings in total, 14 from inside the house, and five from the car port. He fell pretty much right where he was shot, and whoever the killer was stood over him and finished him off. That's a symbol of rage and most definitely wanting that person to die. The amount of shots fired suggest
Starting point is 00:10:53 that the killer had a vendetta against Carl Dickinson. Coming up, detectives focus on Carl's inner circle in search of a motive. It's definitely overkill, to be able to look into someone's eyes like that. And Carl's wife stuns detectives with a revealing break in the case. Is it one of those stories where I love trying to win bad? Dad. MUSIC
Starting point is 00:11:33 On September 8, 2013, as crime scene tape barricades the once-welcoming home of Carl and Angela Dickinson, word of the 59-year-old's murder spreads through the close knit community. I was part of my family. I just, I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it honestly. You're kind of been a fog a little bit and trying to grasp what just happened,
Starting point is 00:11:57 knowing where this is about to go as far as having an investigation and how lengthy it could be and trying to find out who actually, you know, kills your brother. Lee County investigators send Carl's body to the state lab for an autopsy, then continue scouring the scene.
Starting point is 00:12:22 We found a mark on the back door inside of the garage that appeared to be from a screwdriver or some type of metal object. We were able to locate an orange-handled screwdriver, and we photographed it along with the damage on the door frame. Throughout the home, there are more telltale signs of a burglary gone wrong. Properties thrown about a toolbox knocked over
Starting point is 00:12:52 BB guns out of a gun cabinet laying on the floor, pillow cushions on the floor. It appeared to be a four-century burglary slash robbery gone bad. The residents looked as if it had been ransacked. However, nothing was missing. All items of value were still there, including the victim's wallet, flat screen TVs. It just appeared like it was a setup.
Starting point is 00:13:23 We did not know who the suspect was at the time, but we did have an idea that it's going to be someone close to us. It's definitely overkill. To shoot someone multiple times in the face is a personal... It's a personal feeling anyway. To be able to look into someone's eyes like that. With the clock ticking, investigators divide and conquer. We kind of spread out. Half went to the scene,
Starting point is 00:13:51 and half came to the office. At the Sheriff's Office, they start with the 911 caller, Sabrina Murphy. She was the one that initially made contact with the victim. We start to obtain information what happened, how did you find this victim, you know, what were their circumstances leading up to that.
Starting point is 00:14:16 Sabrina explains she'd been helping Angela at the hospital while Carl was away for work. Sabrina wanted to go get the car seat, and she was surprised by finding Carl. Her reactions were genuine. She appeared to be appropriately upset. She was very adamant that the victim had not possibly killed himself. Sabrina says that Paul Phillips and Jesse Bach were also visiting the hospital and accompanied her to Carl and Angela's home.
Starting point is 00:14:54 Jesse Bach was Angela's, for lack of a better term, stepfather, father figure. He had briefly been married to her mother at one time. They had recently maintained a father-daughter relationship. Jesse Bach, he was in some type of nursing home or something like that. Paul Phillips with Florida picked up Jesse Bach, brought him back. In a separate room, Jesse confirms that Paul Phillips arrived at his place in Florida on Friday afternoon, then brought him back to Alabama where they stayed at the hospital with Angela. He said they were at the hospital, and then Paul wanted to go back to the house.
Starting point is 00:15:38 He rode back to the house with Paul and Sabrina. Paul said that Sabrina went into the house and immediately started screaming. He came out screaming and Paul went in halfway and confirmed that Carl was dead. The group statements are consistent, but offer no leads. Paul or Sabrina or Jesse didn't have any suspects that they thought might be responsible for it.
Starting point is 00:16:08 We questioned them about that. So we all was just shocked. We didn't know what was going on. They cared about people. You know, nobody deserves that kind of thing to amput them. After concluding their interviews, detectives immediately set out for East Alabama Medical Center. We went to the hospital to talk to Angela. We told her that her husband was deceased.
Starting point is 00:16:38 When she understood that, she had a breakdown. Her demeanor was, as anybody should have been, you know, crying and that sort of thing. She said that she had no idea who could have done it, or even if he had any problems with anybody. Once she calms down, Angela explains that she's been in the hospital since going into labor three days ago. She can't be the person who's killed her husband when she's literally in the hospital giving life herself. She got there like about five o'clock, Thursday afternoon, and then she had the baby,
Starting point is 00:17:25 the next day on the six. She says she's been trying to reach Carl the entire time. Angela told us she called maybe four times and did not get a hold of him. She did not think that was super strange because he's a truck driver and he could be out on the road without service. Detectives ask Angela about any guns
Starting point is 00:17:49 that may be missing from the home. She says that she doesn't have anything. They had recently within the last month pawned all of their guns to make money. So there was no guns in the house, only BB guns. Detectives ask Angela why Carl would be out of town while she was giving birth. That's when Angela drops a bomb. We found out that Paul was actually
Starting point is 00:18:19 the father of Angela's baby. She says she's married to Carl. She says that she has a baby by Paul and that he is okay with all this. My feelings at that moment were, oh no, this something's going on. There's more to this than that. Is it one of those stories where love
Starting point is 00:18:44 trying to live bad? You just have to kind of see where the evidence leads you. Coming up, investigators uncover a peculiar lifestyle. You don't ever truly know what happens behind closed doors. Sometimes there is a story that is just so crazy that you can't make it up. Hey listener, it is Jason Bateman. We've been fortunate to attract so many a list guests to our smartless podcast, but we've never put together a lineup quite like this. I'm talking about Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien, Kevin Hart, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon, and more available four weeks early and ad free on Wondery Plus.
Starting point is 00:19:31 If you've seen our docu series, Smartless on the road, you know we had an incredible time on our tour where we recorded 10 amazing interviews, Sean. This is Sean Heist. Not only are these some of the best episodes that we've ever recorded, but the atmosphere with the live crowd is unlike anything we've released before. It was incredible to engage with an audience of thousands of our biggest fans as we traveled all over the country from Brooklyn
Starting point is 00:19:54 to Los Angeles. You can listen to these episodes four weeks early and add free with 1-3 plus, find 1-3 plus in the 1-3 app, or on Apple Podcasts. And this is Will Arnette. I'm telling you, you really should listen. Do it, do it, do it. Do it. Do it.
Starting point is 00:20:09 Do it. Lee County authorities are less than 24 hours into the investigation of Carl Dickinson's murder. And his wife, Angela, has just revealed a shocking twist. Angela was married to Carl, but Angela was having Paul's baby, and that the relationship was weird, but that it worked. According to Angela, Carl was OK with Angela being pregnant
Starting point is 00:20:40 with Paul's baby because Carl couldn't give her a baby so to speak. And while Carl was away on long trips as a truck driver, Angela says Paul kept her company in more ways than one. After a while of him being there for so long, when Carl was gone and stuff, he was with Angela. It was like they were a couple, too. She was very nonchalant about the whole situation was with Angela. It was like they were a couple, too.
Starting point is 00:21:05 She was very nonchalant about the whole situation, about the baby, and who it belonged to, and still being married to Carl. She was like, I wanted him to be here when the baby came. And we're just like, really? You wanted your husband there when you gave birth to your boyfriend's child. Both Angela and Paul have solid alibis for the weekend.
Starting point is 00:21:28 She was in the hospital giving birth, and Paul was with Angela's stepfather in another state. We actually verified his alibi to that point, and sure enough, he had been down there to Florida. he had been down there to Florida. In search of a lead, investigators begin questioning Carl's friends and family. And suspicion's surface about one of Carl's nephews, Mike Smith.
Starting point is 00:22:01 Mike Smith's name came up. He had been to Carl's residence, and they naturally assumed that with his history of drug abuse, that he may have gotten mad at Carl and did something. When investigators bring him in on September 9th for an interview, Mike seems shocked by the news of his uncle's murder. He advised that he had not seen or heard from his uncle
Starting point is 00:22:32 in over a year. We ask him, did he have guns? Did he have a 22 caliber? He said, yes, he had guns, but he was in a different place at the time of the homicide. We ruled him out as a suspect because he was nowhere in the area at the time of the homicide. We ruled him out as a suspect because he was nowhere in the area at the time of the murder.
Starting point is 00:22:49 With one lead off the table, the arrival of autopsy results that afternoon confirms investigator's suspicions. Carl Dickinson had been shot 18 times in the chest, neck, and head area. One or two would have done the trick for him. There was no need to shoot him that many times. It almost makes you think that there's an emotion involved with it, and there's
Starting point is 00:23:15 somebody who was either mad or pissed off or angry with him. The autopsy also provides important information about the time frame of Carl's murder. The date that he was killed actually was September 5th, and that was the day that his wife, Angela, was going into the hospital to be induced. Phone records confirm Angela's claim
Starting point is 00:23:38 that she'd been incessently trying to get a hold of Carl while at the hospital, but they also reveal something else. As the investigation was unfolding, we found through phone records that Angela was calling Paul Phillips on the phone the day of the murder. She would in turn call her husband Carl Dickinson. Detectives consider the possibility
Starting point is 00:24:04 that these phone calls were made to track Carl's whereabouts Carl Dickinson. Detectives consider the possibility that these phone calls were made to track Carl's whereabouts on the day he was killed, casting suspicion on Paul and Angela. What we started doing at that point was anybody who was associated with Carl Dickinson or Angela Dickinson, we started bringing them in for interviews. As detectives question Carl's family, they discover one major inconsistency with Angela's story.
Starting point is 00:24:33 Carl got the vasectomy while he was married before. He had decided that he did not want to have children. When we spoke to Carl's family members and told them that Angela was pregnant, they were all in shock. Nobody had ever mentioned Angela being pregnant. It was always that she had some kind of medical issue that was making her stomach swell.
Starting point is 00:24:59 According to family, Carl was worried she had a tumor. That's the reason why her stomach was so big because she had a tumor and they didn't know what they were going to do. He had never told his family that she was pregnant. He told them that he was trying to work overtime to make money so that he could help Angela with her medical bills because he thought she had cancer. How do you go for nine months? And your husband's family thinks you have
Starting point is 00:25:28 some kind of medical issue, and you hide it wearing big shirts and baggy clothing, and you continue to tell your husband that you have a tumor. I mean, that's just unheard of. You don't ever truly know what happens behind closed doors. Sometimes that there is a story that is just so crazy that you can't make it up.
Starting point is 00:25:52 Investigators turn to Angela's friends and family for more information about the household dynamic. I think a little appallant if they started having sex. That was never separated. If one person was doing something the other person was doing it. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic.
Starting point is 00:26:18 They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. They had a lot of panic. Angela's family tells investigators their hunch was that Carl had finally had enough. I think that he felt a little uneasy about Paul being there. Carl got tired of Paul and made him move out. But Paul didn't exactly leave. When Carl would go to work in his truck,
Starting point is 00:26:45 Paul would stay with Angela inside of the house. When Angela knew that Carl was coming home, Paul would literally leave the house and sleep in the woods. There was a trailer, the old trailer, on the side of their property. I mean, this one only while when Carl was in town, he was staying in a trailer that didn't have water or power or anything. And I think Carl figured everything out. Living under one roof like that, you know,
Starting point is 00:27:14 there's little things there that you just can't hide. According to friends and family, the situation had reached a boiling point. And Paul and Angela began discussing cutting coral out of the picture for good. We had a relative of angeles that told us that Angela had tried to do something to coral before. She was able to acquire some paint pills.
Starting point is 00:27:41 She would crush it up, put it into his food. I don't know what her intentions were behind that, but it did not do anything to him. She told family members and friends that she would crush up peels and put them in his food, but it would only make him sleep. That's when Angela and Paul resorted to desperate measures. They picked up a dead rattlesnake off the side of the road. They milked the venom from the rattlesnake,
Starting point is 00:28:14 put it in called Dickinson's food. Unfortunately for the lovebirds, the venomous murder plot didn't work. It made him sick, but it didn't kill him. That is not how you're going to kill somebody with a rattlesnake venom. I don't know how many plans that you have to go through. Once you get a rattlesnake and try to milk it,
Starting point is 00:28:37 I don't know that you can even make that up without hearing that story. Detectives know it's not plausible that Angela would be capable of taking down carol by herself. She couldn't have been the one to kill her husband because she was in the hospital giving birth to her boyfriend's baby, the ultimate alibi.
Starting point is 00:29:01 So now it's time to go talk to Paul. We just knew that if we could get him to start that ball rolling, then we could find out what happened. Coming up, Paul comes clean about the affair, but investigators encounter another twist. He says, well, OK, I was there, but I didn't shoot him. And we were like, holy s***. Alabama authorities have reason to believe Carl Dickinson's murder may be connected to his wife's affair.
Starting point is 00:29:49 Now they have Carl's former best friend in their sites. On September 10th, they sit down with Paul Phillips again. Paul had been transported to the Sheriff's Office and placed in one of our interview rooms. He was a little nervous, but he wasn't shaking like a tree. Of course, we just asked him flat blank right out in front of him, did he do it? And he says, no. Paul reiterates his original statement And he says, no.
Starting point is 00:30:25 Paul reiterates his original statement that he was not even in Alabama at the time of the murder. But the autopsy revealed Carl was killed days before Paul left for Florida. The incident happened on September 5th. Paul had left for Florida after the incident. He knew that the game was over. We weren't going away. We know he was involved, and he just
Starting point is 00:30:56 needed to tell the story. Paul Phillips was a kind of guy that if you just treat him like you want to be treated, and you talk to him just right, that he would tell you just about anything, I think that's why he opened up so quickly. Paul was in love with Angela. Paul wanted to have a family with Angela and his new baby. He wanted Carl Donne.
Starting point is 00:31:21 To help achieve his dream, Paul says he enlisted Angela's half-brother, Jake Bartlett. He said that Jake Bartlett knew a guy that would actually kill Carl Dickinson. Paul says that after Jake connected him with a hitman named Trap, he finally put his plan into action on September 5th. Paul describes that he goes over to the house with Jake and trap. He had admitted that they used an orange handle screwdriver
Starting point is 00:32:01 to make it look like somebody I'm forced to entry into the back door. Then Paul says he handed trap a 22 caliber rifle from Carl's safe. And the three men laid in wait for their target. There's a trailer on the property. And Jake was also hiding behind the trailer, along with Trap. And then Paul was in the garage ducking down.
Starting point is 00:32:33 Carl had parked his truck where he always parks, and he walked into the house. Paul said that when Carl started walking into the house, Trap ran up behind him with a rifle and started shooting. So his confession was pointing the finger at trap as being the trigger puller. Right after the murder, Paul Phillips took off. He was trying to create an alibi for his whereabouts
Starting point is 00:33:11 during the time of the murder. Paul had left for Florida. He picked up Jesse. He brought Jesse back to show his story that he was in Florida. Jesse back to show his story that he was imploring. Jesse had no association with anything that's going on. Paul also remains adamant about Angela's innocence. He was kind of laying himself out as the sacrifice and saying, OK, Angela had nothing to do with this. It was all me.
Starting point is 00:33:52 Officers arrest Paul and lock him up in the Lee County jail. We immediately make plans to try to identify who the other subjects are. We had Jake Bartlett's name, so we immediately start running his information down. We found Jake Bartlett at his home in Notasaga, Alabama. We picked him up, brought him into the office. Jake insists he had nothing to do with his brother-in-law's murder. He wasn't coming off of it. We were pushing and pushing and pushing. And he finally said, OK, he said, I was there,
Starting point is 00:34:25 but I'm not the one that shot it. And we were like, holy s***, you know, he just said he was there. Like Paul, Jake pins the shooting on trap. Jake also gives investigators traps real name. We found that his real name was Travis Kiles. We also found that Travis Kiles, family in Tuskegee, Alabama, made a missing persons report on him just after
Starting point is 00:34:54 the homicide occurred. Jake Barlett and Paul Phillips statements were pretty much the same. But there is one notable difference. Jake told us that Angela was the mastermind behind the plan. We kind of figured that she was involved already. That just made us believe it even more. According to Jake, Angela had been asking him to help her kill Carl
Starting point is 00:35:23 for months, and Angela's bounty on Carl's head is how Jake convinced trap to join the plot. He also admitted that Angela offered him Carl's 401k plan. Jake had offered to give traps some money. They were going to split the 401k from Carl. This is according to Jake. She was going to pay $4,000 from his 401k plan,
Starting point is 00:35:47 give him the keys to a red F-150, 1977 truck, and an old Monte Carlo that was on the property. Jake also says that Angela played a key role on the day of the murder, something that is backed up by cell phone evidence. Angela was calling Carl back to back on the phone, finding out when he was gonna be home, what time he was getting home,
Starting point is 00:36:15 and she was relaying to Paul Phillips the times when Carl was supposed to be home. The overall plan was that once Angela went into labor to have the baby, that was basically go time. Investigators arrest Jake on murder charges and then set their sights on Angela. We didn't know how deep it went, but we knew she had something to do with it.
Starting point is 00:36:41 knew she had something to do with it. Coming up, officers reel in the alleged mastermind. She was trying to play the sweet innocent person. And the search continues for a fugitive. Anytime we're going after a suspect who has committed murder already, we consider them armed and dangerous. Paul Phillips and Jake Bartlett have admitted to recruiting a trigger man to kill Carl Dickinson. And investigators believe Carl's wife Angela
Starting point is 00:37:27 was the mastermind behind the whole plan. There was no evidence at all that tells us that Carl knew that she was pregnant. As a matter of fact, he always told his family that she had a medical issue. He thought she had cancer. We believe that she came up with this elaborate scheme to have people to kill Carl,
Starting point is 00:37:46 because she did not want him to know that she was pregnant. She planned this whole thing so that the murder would happen on the day that she went to the hospital to be induced with Paul's baby. It's almost as if Angela having the baby was a catalyst for them to start their new life together and to be a family. Only three days after the murder of Carl, on September 11, 2013 with a warrant in hand, Lee County deputies track Angela to the local health department. We was at the health department trying to get the baby to social security card. And next thing I know, just placed our coming through the front door, the guns out. She was a little bit surprised. She was upset.
Starting point is 00:38:39 She was just like my baby, my baby. But, you know, there was nothing nobody could do. At the station, investigators sit down with Angela in an interview room. She was just still denying, denying, denying. Angela's demeanor was this of a meek, sweet girl. She seemed to be very deceptive at what she was trying to tell us. Each interview, she would come off with a little bit more information
Starting point is 00:39:16 than the previous interview. It was almost like pulling teeth. And then she started portraying Carl as the bad guy and kind of deflecting any role that she had in it. So we just flat out told her, you're gonna tell us the truth this time. And she broke down. Angel of under second statement would say
Starting point is 00:39:40 that Carl was abusive to her verbally. Carl would dog cuss her and treat her like trash. According to Angela, both Paul and Jake had witnessed the verbal abuse, but there's one problem with her claim. There were no prior domestic violence cases or any reports that where she had reported any type of domestic situation. DETECTIVES HAVE ANOTHER THERI about the timing of Carl's murder.
Starting point is 00:40:14 Once she got pregnant, she didn't know how to get out of it. When the baby is born, something has to be done. And so it became the timer, if you will. That's when Angela enlisted her half-brothers' help. J. Giazospa for Angela. He liked to protect her. She was surrounded by men that just wanted to protect her. Angela was the little devil on the shoulder,
Starting point is 00:40:41 talking to Paul and J.G. and getting them to do her will. She admitted that she was basically behind the whole idea of Carl being killed. Angela is cuffed and escorted to Lee County lock up. But investigators aren't finished. They still have to find the alleged shooter for hire Travis Kyle's A.K.A. trap. He was put in the nationwide system as a below,
Starting point is 00:41:13 as a missing person. Anytime we're going after a suspect who has committed murder already, we consider them armed and dangerous. The U.S. marshals ended up locating him and his lab. There was no incident. He didn't give him any problems at the time. He went with him to the Atlanta PD. I sent a couple of my investigators up to Atlanta,
Starting point is 00:41:39 and they took him and interviewed him. On October 2, nearly a month after the murder, police finally get traps side of the story. He admitted that he was there at the time of the homicide. But he said that he was outside and that the garage door was closed. Well, there's no garage door on the garage. He puts himself there, but he does not admit
Starting point is 00:42:10 to being the trigger player. Trap doesn't offer any further information about the murder, but the admission of his presence at the murder scene is enough for detectives to arrest him. Once he said that, it was like, okay, we're on that right track, we've got that core group, so we're glad about that. Angela Dickinson, Travis Kiles, Paul Phillips,
Starting point is 00:42:35 and Jake Bartlett all face capital murder charges. There was so much evidence, and you have the confessions from all parties. I don't believe there would have been any doubt if this case would have gone to trial. But none of the defendants would see a Lee County jury. They all pled guilty to murder, and each one got 30 years in prison. The way they killed Carl, the way they planned it,
Starting point is 00:43:07 and then executed it, I think 30 years is like. They still have the opportunity at some point to be walking free. My brother doesn't have that opportunity anymore. They took that from him. My brother doesn't have that opportunity anymore. They took that from him. I'm not going to say he was a perfect person because none of us saw her. But you know, in the end of the day,
Starting point is 00:43:34 Carl was a good person. He was too careful of his family. He worked. And he cared about people. This is a situation that's probably as old as time. You have someone who has something that someone else wants. Carl lost his life.
Starting point is 00:43:52 Four people are in prison. And a child was born into this world and no longer has their mother or father because they're serving time for killing a man that should never have died. She's missing out on her son and we're missing out on him and you know she's just missing a lot pretty much. Angela and Paul Sun is in the custody of a family member of Paul's before accused are
Starting point is 00:44:19 currently housed in different prisons around Alabama. Angela is serving time at the Birmingham Community Work Center and is eligible for parole in 2028. She will be 46 years old.

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