Sword and Scale - Episode 199

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

Deep in the hills of Ohio, where people keep to themselves - hunting, fishing, and partying around the fire pit, sometimes the predator becomes the prey. When Jim Whitaker of Hocking Hills, Ohio, turns up missing, his family naturally becomes concerned. They are even more shocked to find a suicide note he left, implying a twisted love affair that may have brought about his demise. But where is Jim? Only the hills know.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sort and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences Listener discretion is advised And my wife lived daddy and she asked the question first she was like did you kill that old man? Did you or did you not and turned his head like a smirk on his face. I said you did motherfucker. This is season 8 episode 199 of sword and scale. A show that reveals that the worst monsters are real and to prove it to the guy that keeps complaining in the show notes every week that we play dubstep in the intro Enjoy Well, we're almost at episode 200, I can't believe it. I can't believe I've been doing this for almost nine years now.

It doesn't even feel real sometimes, but without each and every one of you, this would not have been possible. Don't let me burn Burn Burn Burn Burn Burn Burn Burn If you ever overstayed, you're welcome. You've ever been one of those house guests that just won't leave?

You know the saying. It's used when someone becomes an annoyingly present. But have you ever actually been that person, though, the annoying one? Would you even know if you were? You know it because the air in the room suddenly becomes tense. And the person or people who are entertaining you start giving you nonverbal signs like yawning, avoiding eye contact, and just going about their business as if you weren't even there.

It's not a good feeling when you know you're no longer wanted, and despite how well the occasion went or how great it was getting together again, that time has passed. And there you are. Still, there. Knowing, without a doubt, that it's now time to make up an excuse and leave. Hawking County, Ohio, is home to Hocking Hills. And if you've never heard of this place, you're missing out. Hocking Hills State Park is the main attraction. Cool caves for spillunking.

If you're into that sort of thing, if you're maybe Batman, they got rocks for climbing and beautiful shimmering waterfalls. Canoeing, hiking, camping, trailblazing are among the many things to do when visiting this scenic wonderland. It's also not surprisingly a popular wedding venue. Cabins and barns are also available for the rustic wedding experience. Hell, you can even have one of those antebellum weddings that the left hates these days.

However, beneath the scenic exterior, in the masses of tourists, is a seedy underbelly of distrust, secrecy, and repulsive murder. Giving his perspective on Hawking County is Lieutenant Detective Dustin Robinson. So Hawking County is located in rural southeast Ohio it's part of the Appalachian Flut Hills. Populations roughly 29 just a little at less than 30,000. The big tourist attraction of the area is a place called Hocking Hills State Park.

It's part of the Howe Department of Natural Resources Park system for Ohio. And average, we've have about 3.5 million visitors a year that actually visit our area, which with the residents see less than 30,000, 3.5 million visitors as quite a bit. In contrast to the tourist mecha of Hawking Hills, Hawking County is considered part of Appalachia, also known as Appalachia, to natives in this geographic location.

You say Appalachia, I say Appalachia, it's a big debate. Anyway, moving on. Sitting within the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, the region is considered part of central Appalachia, and includes southern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, most of West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia. Speaking of Appalachian natives, have you ever seen the movie Deliverance? If not, it's kind of a cult classic must-see. And I'll help you understand how clannish and hostile this part of the US is to outsiders. Just the name alone stirs up images of banjos and butt-rate. This area definitely seems intriguing, but what's more

intriguing is an unusually despicable murder that took place here. Certain scale took a long drive to Hawking County to get more information and experience a bit of the area for ourselves. We spoke to prosecutor Ryan Black while we were there. I can certainly say as somebody who's recently obviously assumed obviously the prosecutorial capacity that the area in which dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and

dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and dust and kind of a general anti-social attitude, very minimal of them out of pursuit of education, even to the more standard GED equivalent would be considered an amelist

for some of the occupants in these very small regions. It's very a family clickish. Now, regarding it kind of has its own specific and almost notoriety, but I wouldn't take that also as a slight to the entire area. There are clearly plenty of people out there that are just absolutely wonderful. The largest town nearby is Columbia, just an hour northwest of Hawking Hills. The route into this area took us past some large towns and through flat areas of nicely maintained farms, the typical landscape of Ohio. But the scenery suddenly changed as we approached South Central Ohio, where the road began winding and hills appeared out of nowhere. Big hills.

Billboards advertising Amish goods and furniture, glass blowing shops, lots of buffet-style restaurants like Cracker Barrel, which is delicious by the way, that sort of thing. The plush cornfields were now giving way to unkempt meadows, with dilapidated silos, and barns advertising male pouch tobacco, straight out of another era. We had to pick up some records pertinent to this story, but we also wanted to know what the locals thought of the case, especially since it just happened a few years ago. So we went to the local tavern in Logan, Ohio, that was chilly in the tavern, and I don't mean the temperature. Appalachian people are known for their clannishness and suspicious nature.

They don't trust outsiders, and this was the case with a few local guys whom we sat next to at the bar. They were unwilling to say anything about the murder. It was obvious they barely wanted to talk to us at all. Despite our friendly, rosy personalities and willingness to fit in, all we got out of them were these statements. Yeah, I remember but nah, I'm not gonna say anything about it. This is a small town. There's a reason the dead are dead We just need to let the dead lie dead The statement didn't really make any sense let the dead lie dead

But I get it in a small town like this. You don't want to piss off anyone or say something against someone's family and possibly Be the next to die. There are too many caves and wells for bodies to just disappear into. Families living in the outermost skirts of the county could be classified as hill people. These people typically don't want to be bothered. And there are lots of guns and hostility in these areas. A deadly combination. There can also be a lot of infighting between families and neighbors, like the Hatfields and McCoys.

Another story you young ins are probably not familiar with. So, there are other families just going to work every day and living their lives like everyone else in America. Once such family is the Whittakers, whose dad lived in the hills of Hawking County in a cabin he built for his late wife. Detective Robinson knows this family well. The Whittaker family I grew up with, the daughter, and we went to school together, we were a couple years apart, but we knew of each other.

We also had mutual friends at part of this time. They were a nice, normal, educated family. Originally, I think they moved to Hawking County when we were little. I know the daughter, with me, or through school with me, I went through the same school, we have a rather large. Logan Hawking School District is a, it's probably about 8% of the county is what it incorporates.

So this family is a nice family, the daughters are excellent. I know mom, the wife died to believe us cancer a few years ago. So this is a traditional good family from our area. The patriarch of the family was Jim Whitaker. Now in his late 50s and living in the cabin he built for his wife. On the property, Jim had a large garage

where he fixed cars as a hobby. He was a generous guy and also allowed his friends and family to bring vehicles by and use a space and tools. Jim was also an avid hunter, and his trophies adorned almost every wall in the house. Taxi-dermied bucks with huge racks along with a couple of clocks for every wall. The cozy cabin that sat on a hill in the woods

was built for the enjoyment of Jim and his wife, who sadly developed cancer and died in 2017. Jim became lonely, but kept himself busy with visits of locals using his garage, hunting with him, or just hanging out around a fire. Dr. Julie gives a more accurate picture of her dad. My parents were married my entire life until my mother passed away. My dad was a very hardworking, you know, enthusiastic.

We call him the natural leader. He always, you know, taught us things to anybody. He would teach anyone anything. Pretty smart guy. Like the venture hunting and always with us for girls. He didn't have any boys. So even though hunting per se is a guy's activity, he took us along and taught us how to do, you know, everything. It took to kill the big bucks and taught me how to build stuff. He was very skilled. He had a lot of, you know, different skills. He could build a car, you know, tear it down and rebuild it.

Mustang or Fairlane, you know, he had a lot of friends. We always did big parties for the holidays, like 4th of July. For several years, he lived there alone, but his mother and daughters checked on him regularly. However, on July 25th, 2020, his family was convinced that Jim had gone missing and filed a missing person report. Having not heard from him since Friday, July 3rd, they were all more than concerned. Although Jim had been known to take off for a few days here and there, he always answered his phone well within a week, if he couldn't be reached immediately.

When an investigation into Jim Whitaker's disappearance began, all Jim's acquaintances were interviewed, including his best friend. According to Jim's friend, there were signs that Jim's mood was off, and he might just decide to disappear. In fact, a suicide note had appeared, corroborating his friend's theory that Jim had killed himself. Maybe I thought we all cared about each other, but didn't know what I was doing. I care for you, Mike. Melody. If we became more of a family, our lives would be great. Better than things have been.

But I've seen you, Mike, as someone I was looking out for. And then Melody, I fell in love with not knowing how things were between you. She showed me the woman she is, being lonely and wanting to give a human care and in love. And I think of her wanting you, what you have for each other. I'm in my end to this life. I'm hurting. I'm lonely. Without anyone. I didn't think I would ever matter again. And I'm right. I don't. I'm giving my life so that your pain goes away. Among other friends and relatives, Jim's best friend weighed in on his disappearance. So what do you think has happened to him?

Yeah. I'm hoping nothing. I'm hoping he just took off, but I don't know why. Still, there was the suicide note. I'm hoping nothing. I'm hoping you just took off, but I don't know why. Still, there was the suicide note. But he talked about suicide quite often, because Kate couldn't just wipe died, I think three, four years ago. No, just kids are... We're seeing this green kid, you want him to allow to see that bothering you. You got the talk to your daughter very often either, didn't you? No.

Already there with conflicting information, did Jim's children check up on him daily, frequently, or was there family turmoil? Perhaps the family wasn't in touch with Jim after all, and his best friend was the only person who understood Jim's struggles. I've heard that he was depressed at times.

And anything about that? We talked about killing ourselves before, and I always told him that one more of this. Do you think that's what's happened to him? I'd like to hope not, but he kept talking about it. And then he talked about some well or something, no one had fined him. I was thinking of you with them walking distance because he said if you walk there, I walked all them, works, class, a couple weeks, and I never could find others.

But again, the suicide note, the note implied that the causes for Jim's apparent suicide went well beyond the death of his wife or the assrangement of his family. It strongly hinted at a love triangle between a man named Mike and a female named Melody. Apparently Jim had fallen in love with Melody, having had no idea about, quote, how things were between her and Mike. Wakes had gone by, and Jim was still not responding to the family's attempts to reach him. Since he had been reported missing, investigators had sought out every contact Jim had, every location that he had been, and every possible lead.

Until ultimately, they were led directly onto Jim's very property. Jim, he was in that burn pile. Was he put anywhere else? Any parts of him putting anywhere else? After you burn, you dig through there and haul some of the material out. So every bit of that material, or every bit of Jimmy is in that pile. We want to make sure we get closer for Jimmy and Jimmy's family. If all of Jimmy is not in that pile, we need to get him. A 56-year-old family man in Aid hunter, Jim Whitaker was living peacefully in his hand-built

cabin and the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, when his family declared a missing after trying to reach him for three weeks. In July of 2020, his family had filed a formal report, and just three days later, Jim's cremated remains were discovered on his property in his burn pile. The suicide note that was produced to Jim's family was mysteriously missing now, although pictures of the note begged some questions. First and foremost, who were the individuals implicated in a love triangle? Detectives made other important observations about the note as well.

We never did find the actual suicide note. What we have is photographs that was taken by a family friend, indicating that it was kind of a weak suicide letter of as why he tried to claim. But we never actually did find that letter. And then the other thing with that suicide note where I said it was signed by Jimbo, his name was James, nobody ever, ever heard him called or even referred to himself as Jimbo. So him talking to his family or friends as Jimbo, that was a big telltale sign that that would not be an accurate depiction of his name. A picture of homicide was beginning to come into focus with the only remaining option being an assisted suicide that ended in a

homemade funeral pyre. Seemed unlikely yet still a possibility. Remember the details in the suicide note? A man named Mike was indicated as someone Jim cared for. Michael Dixon, the best friend you heard from earlier in the story, had been living with Jim for about two years prior to Jim's disappearance and death. Michael Dixon was homeless and Mr. Whitaker took him in because he wanted to be a good person and help out his friend. They've known each other minor staining for years. I believe they had a they used to hunt together or

something clicked in the past where they became friends with each other. The two were known to party together, hunt together, and generally cohabitate together as roommates. And although it was widely known that there were arguments, Jim and Mike seemed to get on pretty well. But when Jim came up missing, one of his daughters came to the cabin to investigate. Michael Dixon just happened to be home. I was looking around the kitchen where we were standing and there was a lot of things missing. Personal effects of my father's, my dad's existence essentially was gone.

I'm 37 years old, known my dad in my whole life, lived with, at least half of it. And he had just like most other people, you know, a place he sat and things that sat around that place. The captain's chair, that's what we call it, his chair. The captain's chair was there, but there was nothing else there that looked like my dad was even represented in his home. Everything was gone. Now Jim's daughter, Julie, had a burning question for Michael.

I said, where the fuck is my dad's TV? I realized my dad's TV was gone because it would have been right beside where his eyes were looking. I said, so who did he leave with or how did he leave? And he said, he just took off. And so I said, so he just took off walking and said, so you mean to tell me, he took off walking with all of that stuff, Mike. Given the missing items, this is a suspicious suicide note and the length of Jim's disappearance,

the intensity of the investigation increased. Hawking County detectives put together a formidable team to solve this mystery and began canvassing the county to interview all of Jim's known contacts. Julie was right. It was highly unlikely that a 56-year-old man, although resembling Santa Claus, would have packed a merry bag full of his belongings and marched off into the wilderness with a 60-inch TV and other stuff. The search led to the locations of the missing items scattered throughout the county.

But Tommy the reason why we wanted to come out and talk to you, I'm assuming Michelle already told you what we come out about but just some nuts and skinny of it we were giving some information and stuff that Michael was trading some stuff with you or selling. So we'll do something. Yeah he tried to sell me crossbow Okay, see me and Michael had a fallin out and it's on your guy's his records, too Where I beat the shit out of him into my driveway, so me and him really didn't talk you know, no mean too long after that Then he came up and want to trade me a crossbow, okay?

Me and I told him I didn't want it you more welcome coming you know, I mean no, I know But I don't I know you don't have a crossbow. No, I'm? Not, well I know, I know, but I don't, I don't, I don't, I know you don't have a crossbook. No, I'm just, I'm lazy. I don't, I'm, I know this far as well. I mean, that's no lie. I'm lazy, I don't get off my couch. I'm selling my call of duty. But this fast-talking lazy gamer had much more to tell officers.

So much more. How long have you guys found this guy's been missing? And what I'm asking this question is because about a month and a half ago, and it's been about a month and a half ago, it's been about a month and a half ago, it was actually probably two weeks after you guys came out arresting my dad, I ended up getting a Rimmington 1100 off of him shotgun. Okay, that's that's the gun that we're looking for. That gun is? That is. Okay. Okay. Okay, and I've ever talked to my neighbor about it too because I sold it to my neighbor down the street. Okay. He

just told me a few minutes ago too to same thing because I'm my to talk to my neighbor about it too because I sold it to my neighbor down the street. He just told me a few minutes ago to the same thing because I was over there, my brother, where he was at, and he and my wife had said to you guys, you know what I mean was wanting to ask me some questions. And I already knew it was going to be about anything that Michael was, you know what I mean? And the reason, like I say, we kind of need to track that gun down. The gun in question that Tommy Tachelot was referring to, what turned out to be a crucial piece of evidence in this case, and the fact that Michael was trying to sell it just didn't look good.

Rumors had begun circulating throughout Hawking County about the relationship between Michael and the now deceased Jim. Everyone wanted to know if Michael had something to do with his disappearance. Tommy for one tried to find out for himself. When this stuff had come out, you know what I mean? Nobody thought the Michael did it. I mean straight up. You started before all this tangent.

You started talking about what happened in the trailer. Oh yeah. You can front of them. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. So anyway, he brings the bow in, blah, blah. He asked me if I wanted it. I thought I told him no right and my wife looked at

He and she asked the question first. She was like did you kill that old man did you or did you not and I was like She was like just like this like I told you he had this like Not so much a shitty green, but he turned his head like a smirk on his face. I said you did motherfucker I was like, I know you did I was like dude look at that face right there. No, I, look at that face. I said, no, I didn't know I wouldn't do nothing like that. You think I'm going to go to jail? So then after I told him to get the fuck out of my house, he went home, right? I hear from the neighbors that Michael had all started over. Michael was supposed to come in and call the old man in bed with his daughter, and that's

why it all happened. As the detectives went door to door gathering any information they could about the missing weapons and other things, they became more suspicious of Michael. So on July 26th, they went searching for him. Although he had been in the cabin when Jim's daughter confronted him, she had warned him that he needed to get off the property, and police were on their way. Michael wasn't hard to find. At the home of his stepfather, he was arrested

due to an outstanding warrant for another offense. There was one more rumor that detectives needed to check into. The one Tommy Tucker had alluded to. An altercation between Michael and his late host, Jim Whitaker, over Jim allegedly sleeping with Michael's daughter, named Melody. Think back to the suicide note for a minute and remember the three individuals named in it. It all kind of makes sense now, doesn't it? It was time to get some answers from Jim's best friend, Mike.

On the evening of July 27, Michael was brought in for questioning. An interrogating detective pulled out a relatively new voice-stress analysis test to try it out on Michael, shiny new toy at the police station. Unlike the polygraph, which made its first appearance back in 1921, this new test was developed in 1988. Seems like a long time ago to a lot of you probably. But you probably know by now that the polygraph is inadmissible in court, well the same is true for the voice stress analysis, which measures vocal

frequencies detecting nervousness and thus bringing attention to potential lies. A lot of cops have that built in though, so it's kind of interesting they made a due dad, that does the same thing. Little did Michael know that with this form of test, only 15% of lies are detected, making it pretty unreliable as a resource.

But that didn't matter though, because the detective had God on his side. And we need to get to the bottom of those five questions. Okay, I will know before I leave this room what happened to Jimmy, because of this particular machine here. And you know the biggest combination of this whole puzzle is going to be you, what you tell me. Because I'm telling you right now, you're a good guy. You always have it. You've just done some things that were questionable in your past.

And it's how you bounce back from those. It's what defines you as a person. And I don't think you're a bad person. I think some things that happen in your past that probably went a little sideways. But that's okay because God for his, you believe in God? God for his, very much, very much so. But I'm telling you, we can do this together that I'll be right there with you, but you have to tell me the truth. All right, and that's just the God's honest truth, man.

Not only was the detective employing God in the matter, but he was also giving Mike the chance to ask his own questions. Pretty clever. This technique of self interrogation. What questions should I ask? What questions should I particularly ask you about Jim? What questions should I ask you? What would you think would be fair? I know what happened to him. OK. How would you ask yourself that question?

If you were sitting over here with me, how would you ask that question? Do you pretend to be me? Would it be fair for me to say, did you urge him? Would that be an okay question? We're going to hold the weight of this together. That's how much I bite you. Okay? It's because we are going to do this together.

All right? I told you I wouldn't leave you hanging in a womb. With God on his side and a less than reliable voice analyzer, the detective pressed on, and never left Mike's side. But we need to know what happened to him. Can you give me something of what happened that particular day. Because he was good to you. And you were good to him, but something happened that particular day. And Jim was good to Mike indeed.

He took him in, got him on his feet, and allowed him to have a place to stay for a while. Even Mike had to admit it. Did he find it? It really supported you? Not all the way, he helped me. How much did he help you? Quite a bit. Quite a bit.

Like what would you say is quite a bit. About 50% for the last two years. Do you get angry at me? Not really. You never flew off the handle or got upset over something that he's done. Oh, you've got an argument. It was And what was the last argument you got that to you? About three months ago. What was that argument? I cleaned in something in the garage.

And then he came out there and he was yelling about me moving something. Okay. What happened on that argument? Pretty much nothing. Okay. We're trying to figure it out to just talking it over. It didn't seem like Mike was budging. He was sticking to a story that Jim was depressed, packed up his belongings, and guns, and 60-inch TV, and headed off into the woods. Or a well, or a cave, or somewhere.

But the detectives didn't give up. Only in the Bible bought with these tactics prove effective. Bible-bought would these tactics prove effective? When they offered a cleanse, Mike Sins didn't work. The detective pulled his chair around the desk, sitting face to face with Mike, with knees almost touching. He took Mike's hand gently, and he pleaded with him, like a mother pleading with her child to eat his peas. It's okay, I promise you'll like them.

Just one bite. Here comes the airplane into the hangar. You know I've been doing this for a long time. I'm not some people say I'm a dick. I'm human. You're human. Jim is human. Let's give him a proper burial.

Let's treat him like a human. He was really good to you. Wasn't he? You know? He was good. Let's give it back to him. Now it's your chance. Because you didn't mean what happened. What happened to Jim? It didn't need to happen.

It was an accident. Was it an accident? No. It was. Okay. So what happened then? In your own words, tell me what happened. Yes, it was an accident. so what happened then? And your own words tell me what happened. Yes, it was

an accident. Do you fall on the head of his head? Did a gun go off? Did a nice, you know, accidently stabbing in an argument? It's coming from his gun went off. According to Mike, it was early morning on July 5th or 6th and he had arrived at the cabin with his daughter. He alleged that Jim had already called his mom the previous evening with a foreboding message. He was going to kill him when he got home. When Mike arrived with his daughter, things went sideways.

And he ended up blowing a huge hole into the side of Jim's face. He was asked about the extent of the injury with Mike replying. I don't know who would shoot a guy in the head and then go and examine him. The truth was, half of Jim's head was taken off and plastered onto the refrigerator behind him.

My daughter had done what to the bathroom. I unlocked the door. was taken off and plastered onto the refrigerator behind him. I wasn't a welcome there anymore. When we were fighting, it all just property was for fucking kill me. Mike was asked what he did directly after shooting Jim. Did he check for a pulse to see if Jim was dead? So what did you do between the time that he shot him until the three to five minutes? I don't know if it was very deep five minutes, I'm just guessing. I mean that's why I'm saying. That's why I'm saying. That's why I'm saying you're, I'm guessing. I'm using your words. So I can go. I don't have. Took you guys here to scum. We're right in the nature that he wasn't going to be

shooting me with him. I kicked it out of the way and then it probably wasn't. It's 3 to 5 minutes. I just, I just want to kick it a test gun to make sure he won't be shooting anybody. Got it out the way I went, which I didn't think so, because there was blood and stuff everywhere, but I checked it and I've been filmed on my thought all the time. The menu was for the now. I told her to write, took her down to the basement, told her to stay down there, and let's my gun down there, and I went to clean and stuff up.

You're at Mike Tell Melody to go back to the basement and wait. In the basement was a bedroom and this is where he and Melody slept in one bed together. The part that was left out of the story is not only Mike had been living in the cabin with Jim, but his daughter had also moved in when she turned 18 and had been sharing a bed with her dad for months. Jim was just lonely and offered all he had, food, company, and a spare bedroom. While Mike professed that, of course, nothing was going on between him and his daughter, it did seem Jim upset with Jimmy and her how to sex.

Mike had no proof that Jim and Melody had intimate relations while living there. But he must have had a strong suspicion and he didn't like it. In fact, more than several reports coming from neighbors and friends said Mike threatened to kill Jim if he ever caught him in bed with melody Well, Jimmy Messner out of melody I'm going so Were you okay with that? She's a worried team I kind of think that's what led up to him

We'll put now at the end though because he told him that you didn't want nothing to do with him I was hoping now at the end, because he told him that he didn't want nothing to do with him. So, first thing was just smoking dope together, because I never did smoke dope. If you wanted someone to smoke dope with, Jimmy thought according to Melody did it, it was more than it was, and Melody told him, I guess one night he tried to do something with her, and she told him that he didn't want anything to do with it. And we left and went over to the Circleville State of the Motel for about three nights. He got a whole new man's test. If we could come back out and we did, it seemed like everything was all right. About a month later, when all this has happened. After a while, most of the community had already heard or witnessed that there were, in

fact, inappropriate activities going on between the dad and daughter. A good friend of the family had frequented the cabin and had some real concerns. He also remembered that he talked Jim about getting Mike out of his house. You endeavored to help Jimmy move Michael Dixon out of that house? I had asked him if he could be moved out. Why? Why? Because I believe that Mike was having sexual relations with his daughter and I thought nothing good could come of that

Sir, there was no objection There was only one bedroom down there and In that bedroom how many beds were there one Now let's just say on a given night when you're over there and Michael would go downstairs to bed. What would typically happen before he went downstairs to bed? When melody was there. He told her to come to bed.

Yes. I'm going to be more specific. Did you ever, you've got a child. So I presume that you've also had sexual relations with someone at some point, right? Correct. You're 38 years old. Do you know what the sounds of intimacy are?

Yes. Coming from a bedroom? Yes. Thinking about those sounds that you heard in that bedroom when Melody Dixon was in there and Michael Dixon was in there, would you consider those sounds of intimacy of sexual relations? Yes. I would.

Well, typically you have two people going to bed to sleep. There's not, you know not any type of noise, there's typically stillness or quietness. If you hear any type of thumping or bumping, rumbling around of the house or walls or floors, I would say it's not sleeping. The actual sounds of repeated movements. Correct.

Generated by a bed. Correct. I never saw them lie together, but they went to bed together, and I Jimmy said that they stayed down there together. The rest of Michael's friends, acquaintances, and relatives also had a lot to say about the sick love triangle, especially about Michael and Melody. Here's Tommy Tuckelot again, when he was asked if there was proof

of this father daughter relationship. I mean, I don't know, I mean, if you call it children's service and stuff and ask about the Michael case, you guys have a cops out here where he was messing with his own daughter. So his oldest daughter, the one that's in jail too, him and her sleeping again. He was sleeping with his own daughter and had his when I was in know this room everybody tell you each stuff at any neighbors house up here

No, I told you They said it is very proof of it. Well Because I said that they had drove by and called her all Michael's laugh blah blah blah but I mean Put to you like this dude a half month fuckers on this room and less like I said you talk to like the old people. You can tell you you know I mean about it. Now Mary and Brian I guess the one daughter, Michael's other daughter, not Melanie the other oldest one. What's her name? What's Michael's destiny? Her name. She told the neighbors down the street that Michael, she seen Michael touching his daughter and stuff. Some of the information about Melody and Mike came straight from Melody's mouth to a woman

she's spent a lot of time with. And what she said was appalling. She said some stuff that I couldn't wrap my head around, you know, with her dad and my husband. Well, I don't know if I have sex and I'm bedding together. I told her I was like, you know that's not right. And she just acted like it was no big deal. She just told Averin Avergan.

She stopped to go out a few people in there. I mean she just told Andrea and then about her health. And then I had a sexual relationship and she thought it was like funny like nothing wrong with it and Like what ask is like have you ever done? She got like butt sets and stuff and like I know your business, you know, and she just laughed about it. She acted like nothing was wrong with Nothing wrong with the relationship her and that is I mean, every day, you have a tower and ask her, like, why are you, like, she's in love with her dad.

Also, she did say that she was the one that initiated it the first time that he went with it, I guess. After speaking to residents living in the fringe time, and he went with it, I guess. After speaking to residents living in the fringe of Hawking County, Detective Robison believed the rumors were true. Based on the suicide letter and what we were told from other people that may new about this investigation or other incidents in the past,

we heard this time after time again that Michael was having sex with Melody. Did we ever prove that beyond a reasonable doubt? No, we didn't. There were some legal issues with that that would have to go to the Attorney General's office, not us of what we could do, what we could not do. Did that have a plan?

Yeah, I think it did because it was based off the neighbor's testimony saying that if this was from Michael from a neighbor saying that if he ever slept with Melody, I was going to kill him. So did it fall into it? Yeah, I think it did. I think it had a piece to the pie of why this actually did happen. This would be the neighbor and I want to be careful. They testified a trial. so I don't want to say. And I was not present when they testified, but during the investigation, Michael made a statement to him when he was over at the house, said that if Whitaker ever slept with Melody being his daughter, he was willing to kill him. By now, you have many pieces of this sick mystery. Old, lonely man living in a cabin

takes in his homeless friend Mike and supports approximately 50% of his lifestyle. Mike invites his daughter Melody into the home and they share basement bedroom. They share other things too, like fluids. Jim takes a fancy to melody, and Mike doesn't like it. Something happens early in the morning of July 5th, when Mike and Melody return from partying, and Mike shoots Jim dead. He admits to dragging the body to the burn pile and burning it for days. So what exactly did happen on that morning? My story evolved throughout days of interviews, from Jim pointing a gun at him, and he struggled in self-defense while Melody was in the bathroom, to all three of them being in the kitchen area, and the struggle taking place there.

To the truth, Melody was in the vicinity of Jim. We know this because neighbors testified that Melody showed up around the time of the murder asking for gasoline. She was wearing a white dress with a blood stain on it. Mike did not shoot Jim in self-defense. He shot from approximately 18 feet away after going to the basement to get his gun. I think he just sniped him. I think he killed him. It was pre-meditated.

And again, that was based on the statements he made to the neighbor saying that if he ever slept with my daughter, I want to kill him. He left, went downstairs and grabbed his gun, came back upstairs. He just murdered Mr. Whitaker, out of cool blood. And then what you saw the next 20 days, he just took over his life, took over his property, took over his food and water, and lived his life for 20 days as long as he could until the family Not knowing we couldn't get a whole to dad. They finally showed up there This was I spoke about this in the trial I think what hit when it hit me that this actually did happen is

on the Tuesday when we're doing the search warrant and going through the burn pit with BCI when we actually found Mr. Whitaker's skull. The top of his skull is what we found in the burn pit. And I think that clarified and validated Mr. Dixon's story that Mr. Whitaker was murdered and he was burned up in the burn pit. I think that's what solidified for me like hey this actually did happen. Somebody tragically lost their life because of this decision that Mr. Dixon made. Even though officers had already visited the Whitaker cabin to interview both Mike and Melody, what they didn't realize was they were standing only 10 feet away from Jim's charred remains.

standing only 10 feet away from Jim's charred remains. It wasn't until Mike confessed and took them there that they realized the horrific reality of Jim's mutilated body that was cut up into small pieces before being burned. Although most of Jim's bones were so small that they were almost unidentifiable, one key bone stood out from the rest. Things were very unidentifiable, so as we started to find the bone fragments towards the bottom of the burn pile, over the hillside we took those pieces and placed them on a table up at the top of the hill and then once we were done one of the BCI members started to take those pieces and individually wrap each one in a piece of foil, and they were placed into small boxes. Here I think is where they found a decent sized piece of bone. The BCI agents believed that it might have been a piece of skull cat, but obviously they

weren't 100% sure or two. Everything got sent off to for autopsy. An anthropologist was called in to testify as to what she thought Mike had used to chop up Jim's body before taking him to the burn pile to rest among the trash. Although a chainsaw blade was found in the burn pile, it seems this wasn't an effective enough tool, because the marks on the bones were serrated, as if a hacksaw or jigsaw was used. I don't know how a human being could murder somebody to start with.

I'm not talking about self-defense, I'm not talking about saving somebody else's life. I'm talking about cold blood murder, I don't know how another human being can do that. Even worse and inconceivable is how can you then cut up this person and burn this person? I've been around burning flesh before and it stinks. You can smell this. You can smell the smell of human flesh burning miles away. I've been to different burn calls and investigations

before where you can smell is how I can't think of anything even rotting flesh. I can't think of anything worse than the smell burning flesh. How can a human be that human being do that to another human being, especially a person that you knew that took care of you and took you in? I don't know. I can't believe that. I think that came out in the trial where how outrageous this truly was. I think the normal layperson was shocked of how gruesome this was. I would have to agree with Detective Robinson there. It's obviously the taking of another human

life, especially in the capacity, which Mr. T to Mr. Whitaker is already kind of shocking and appalling to the conscious already to then just go so far beyond the pale of comprehensive human behavior to engage in something so repugnant, so calculated, so time consuming with so little disregard for ethics, for morals, for honor, for other people. I would certainly, like Dustin said, I mean obviously neither of us are psychiatrists, as a ecologist, we're not in any way qualified to give professional opinions onto the man's mental state, but the behavior alone to me and I think the dozen certainly bears some indicia of something absolutely removed from the normal standard human conscience to the point of just the absolute

good testery. The only pieces of Jim that were still missing were a jawbone and Jim's teeth. Michael admitted that he had used a hammer to smash Jim's teeth. And while he swore for days that all of Jim was in the burn pile, this was a lie. This monster kept a peace for himself. He talks about pulling this jawbone out. I call that a trophy. It's exactly what he did. He put it in a tub work container in the basement. We went back to look for it. Couldn't find it. And then we brought him back out there to show us exactly where this was at. Still couldn't find it. We do another additional search warrant at the house, I believe the next

day or day after that. And we actually remove every single item from that basement to verify that that that jawbone is not located in the basement or no other parts are located in the basement. So it was never explained whatever happened to that Jalbone. At this point, investigators knew, beyond question who the murderer was. But now, they needed to know if Melody was involved. And it made out Southeast Ohio Regional jail. This call is subject to recording and monitoring.

To accept this pre-call press, one, to refuse this pre-call press, two, thank you for using Securus. You may start the conversation now. Hello? Hello? Hey, is this mom? Yes, this is mom.

Why'd you say it like that? It's, it's really, really true that you didn't have nothing to do with it. I have nothing to do with it. I've been trying to calm get a hold of everything else. I think you could have been jailed. What did you hear? What's the story you heard about it? I heard that you was making that look the old man and Michael Codham and killed him.

That's not true, Mom. Well, what's the truth? The truth is, me and dad came inside and he was screaming at dad, told him that he had to leave and I wasn't allowed to leave with him. He grabbed me by the throat with a gun to my face. Dad saw him with the gun to me and went downstairs and got the his gun. I know that he's that because... I don't know, but I'm going to have a talk with these motherfuckers. In the wee hours of the morning on July 5th, Michael Dixon and 18-year-old daughter Melody were returning to the cabin they'd been living in with Jim Whitaker. Jim had kindly taken in Mike because he was lonely, and even welcomed his daughter Melody. The problem was that he was so lonely and Melody was so friendly. He fell for her. No one but Melody knows the truth about

whether Jim had come onto her, had put a gun to her and said she wasn't leaving her. Whether Michael had just discovered them together, Whatever happened, Mike snapped and blew a hole in the side of his friend's head, then transported him to another location via a sled for hunt a down deer, chopped him into bloody bits, and burned him with the trash for days. Now Melody was in jail for her pardon obstructing justice. It was a parent that she and her dad had collaborated on their stories. But the stories

kept changing. Detailed surface putting Melody in the middle of a huge cover-up. I can't believe people are falling. It's so dra not happening. If that happens, why didn't nobody call the law that night? Because that's how he knew how the cops were, and they were going to see it, I self-decent, and they just put it in both of these jail. The police went out there and he could have went down to the store and got the law.

You know, these minutes have to take you out right away. He could have went and called 911. He has a cell phone, too. You could have written car 911. He has a cell phone too. You could have walked around the door and down 911. So if something happened like that and you had to shoot that guy to protect you, it would have been a 911. But if you did, Mom, why don't you believe me?

You know, you could have told me when you was over here, and you could have went to the cost and got you place you know I didn't want to put in jail because you know he did it to protect me. He can't kill people and then not tell nobody. He said a guy I'm 901 if he meant that you know I mean and when he said that he killed somebody before and he killed you and he killed that old man. He's not a safe person to be with. And then he kept trying to threaten to kill us. And that one night he thought he was over here. He was going to kill your brothers and sisters.

He came down here after him. The kids brought back to film with Adam and everything else trying to get him to leave. He's not a safe person. Out of all Mike's children, Melody was the only one who stayed loyal to him. Mike's other kids had estranged themselves from him, and Melody seemed to be his favorite. She's now serving nine years, for that, by the way. One of Jim's daughters lamented Melody's role in the killing of her father, saying, it was never able to say goodbye to him.

And remarked that if Melody had come forward with what she knew, the family's pain and fear would have been partially relieved. Another of Jim's daughters said, she doesn't think Melody is sorry at all for her part in the exceptionally gory crime. She also wonders if, quote, the Dixon family is going to come after us next.

The ever-so-elegant professor of Ryan Black rounds out the gruesome tale with his philosophical thoughts on this particular murder. I would put it this way as a story is only ever going to be as interesting as it's villain. A story is only ever going to be as interesting as it's villain anybody. Through unfortunate circumstance, tragedy or fate can become a victim or have something nasty happen to them, but it really takes something extreme or different that goes past the realm of human behavior, where you start to see these monsters come out of humans. And like I said, it's what separates it,

and then that becomes intriguing. And the curiosity is what's so different about them. Is any of us can be victimized at any moment, but only a select and rather despicable few, I think are capable of exercising such extreme acts of violence against their fellow men. Sword and scale was fortunate enough to make contact with both Detective Dustin Robinson and Attorney Ryan Black, a couple of friendly folk who were willing to impart to us what

they knew of the Hawking County murder. This was in stark contrast to the two men at the bar we encountered. It wanted nothing less than to speak to us about the Whittakers or the Dixins, let alone about much of anything else, really. The people of the hills are especially private and reclusive. Where it not for the dedication of Detective Robison and his entire team, the truth would have been lost in the ashes of Jim Woodaker. Coincidentally, we learned right before leaving Ohio that Michael Dixon had been given

50 years to life for the heinous killing of Jim Woodaker. Mike had been given the gift of hospitality and he clearly overstayed his welcome. A house guess that not only doesn't leave but becomes hostile. It was the worst. For whatever reason, and I think we can deduce what that was, Jim wanted him off his property. Before leaving Hawking County, we got the same impression from some of the inhabitants. The eerie feeling that we had overstayed our welcome. And it was time to go. Well, we're off. That does it for this episode of Sword and Scale. Stay safe and do yourself a favor. Stay the fuck away from Appalachia. 1.0-1.1 2.0-1.1

2.0-1.1 Like, where do I even begin? You're an amazing soul, as much as this world wants to blame you for all of its problems. And I mean, you just bring everything to light. You know, you've helped me through so many different things. I'm a new listener in last couple of months. Recently, you became a subscriber. You're with me when I'm making my custom-made things for my business. You're with me when I watch my dishes. You're with me when I watch the laundry from my family.

You're just, you're amazing. And keep doing what you do. Love you. Bye. 1.0-1.1 2.0-1.1 2.0-1.1 2.0-1.1 you you