October 11, 2024 • 40 mins
Chanti Dixson gets off of work after midnight Sunday morning, and immediately orders an Uber to run a quick errand before heading home. When they make it to the drop-off location, Chanti asks the driver to wait for her a moment, she’ll order a second ride home when she finishes her errand. The driver agrees and Chanti orders the second ride. A few hours later, Chanti’s family realizes she never made it home. The mom isn’t answering her phone either. When Chanti is still unaccounted for 24 hours later, her family reports her missing and heads to her home to search for clues. Inside her home, a family member finds Chanti’s Apple watch. The watch shows Chanti’s phone is still pinging, not far from her home. The family walks toward the phone’s location, ending up in a wooded area about two blocks away.
As the confused family walks through the area, Chanti’s mom, Rise Dixon doesn’t find her daughter’s phone—but sees what looks like a crumpled figure behind a concrete barrier. As she gets closer, Rise realizes it’s a woman lying on her stomach. Her head is covered with a sweatshirt, and she’s naked from the waist down and unresponsive. Rise calls 911, fearing the worst. Investigators discover the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the temple. Rise identifies the woman as her daughter, Chanti Dixon.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Darryl Cohen - Former Assistant District Attorney, Former Assistant State Attorney, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, CCEAlaw.com, Facebook: "Darryl B Cohen", Twitter: @DarrylBCohen
- Brian Fitzgibbons - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, Fmr. Marine and Iraq war veteran
- Caryn Stark - Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Dr. Michelle DuPre - Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Author: Author: “Money, Mischief, and Murder…the Murdaugh Saga. The rest of the story"- out the end of September., "Homicide Investigation Field Guide" & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide", Forensic Consultant DMichelleDupreMD.com
- Lauren Conlin - Co-Host of Primetime Crime on YouTube Website: www.popcrime.tv & primetimecrimeshow.com X- @Conlin_Lauren, Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin, YouTube: @PopCrimeTV
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The search for an evil uber driver after a working
mom Shanty calls for a car after work and never
makes it home. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with us. A late night uber
ride turns deadly. The shocking details of a mother of
two's final moments. Shanty Dixon, thirty is described as a fun,
(00:30):
loving go getter, a supportive friend and carrying family member,
but most importantly a doting mom. Shanty would do anything
for her two children, ages nine to thirteen, and works
hard to provide for them. Shanty often works late into
the night, relying on ride share services to get home,
joining me in All Star Pale, but first ione to
goes straight out to a renowned psychologist joining us today
(00:52):
from Manhattan TV Radio trauma expert. He can find her
at karenstart dot com. That's Karen with the Sea if
you're trying to reach her, Karen, thank you for being
with us tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
How many more times does the victim have to be
a mother, Because when the victim is a mother, you
end up victimizing the children too. And I'm not saying
fathers don't do their Here of course they do. But
there's something about losing your mother. It can ruin your
(01:28):
whole life, care and start.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It can Nancy, It definitely can wound your whole life.
And think about these children, I mean mothers. We come
from our mothers. So there's a special connection in bond
between a child and a mother. And when something happens
to a mother, as in this case, then the children
are left with somebody caretaking them. And it's never the same.
(01:52):
How could it possibly be the same?
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Chanty gets off work past midnight Sunday morning and immediately
orders an uber run a quick errand before heading home.
When they make it to the drop off location, Chanty
asks the driver to wait for a moment. She'll order
a second ride home when she finishes her errand. The
driver agrees, and Chanty orders to second ride, which is
completed in just minutes.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Again joining US at All Star, panels straight out to
Lauren Colin, joining US co host Primetime Crime on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Where did this take place?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
This is Indianapolis, Indiana, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay, so a very concentrated population. There's a big difference.
Let me go straight back out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining
US direct operations USPA Nationwide Security. He leads a team
of investigators that specialize in missing people at uspasecurity dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Brian, thank you for being with us tonight. Brian.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
There's a big difference when you're looking for a missing
person and a concentrated urban area.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I mean, you've been to Manhattan a million times. I
raised the children there.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When you're trying to find someone in a concentrated area
like Indianapolis, it's like a needle in a haystack. It
completely changes the search for the missing person.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Absolutely, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
And you know police had to rely on you know
app traffic, you know Uber capturing or lyft, the ride
share in this case, capturing the location of that vehicle
to help narrow down this search.
Speaker 7 (03:32):
It's absolutely difficult in an urban environment, the challenges that
investigators face locating an individual amongst tens of thousands of
other individual vehicles that look the same, people that look
the same. This is a very challenging environment to track
one person down.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It really is, of course, Brian is Gibbons.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
When we're doing a rural search, it has its own problems,
but I think here, at least not out of ping
range in a big city like Indianapolis. You know, sometimes
in a very rural setting, a mountainous setting, a desert setting,
you actually go off ping radar. You can't get a
(04:13):
cell and it makes it so much harder to rely
on technology. So this is what we've got right now.
You've got a mom of two who works at night.
The children wake up, no mom listen.
Speaker 8 (04:27):
A few hours later, Shanty's family realized that she never
made it home. The mom isn't answering her phone either.
When Shanty is still on accountant for twenty four hours later,
her family reports her missing and heads to her home
to search for clues. Inside her home, a family member
finds Shanty's Apple watch. The watch shows Shanty's phone is
still pinging not far from her home. The family walks
(04:47):
toward the phone's location, ending up in a wooded area
about two blocks away.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Okay, I don't like that at all.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
The way that phones are now used, it's amazing. In
this case, they immediately start doing what they can to
find her, and that is trying to ping her phone
find my location. Practically everybody with an iPhone has that,
(05:15):
and there have been a lot of cases where phone
pings yield evidence for instance, who can't forget I can't.
I'll never forget it. The case of Sherry Peppinie. Don't
any of you guess hide under your desk. Sherry Peppinie
was the young mom who goes missing at Thanksgiving, leaving
(05:40):
her husband and children to face the holiday without her.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Everyone assumes she's been kidnapped.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Why because the husband didifyd my iPhone and he finds
her iPhone.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Sitting neatly on the side of the road.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And that's when I smelled a rat right there, Daryl Cohen,
I'm going to Darryl Coe and former felony prosecutor in
inner City Atlanta, now defense attorney. Darryl Interesting, this is
when I first smelt a rat with peppeni But I
wasn't sure, and I didn't want to attack a potential victim,
(06:16):
so I stayed quiet about it for at least a week.
Her phone had the the earbuds that attached to the
phone by wire. She wasn't using speaker phone or bluetooth,
and the attachment had been wrapped neatly around the phone,
(06:38):
tucked in and like sat.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
On top of a mailbox.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay, Darryl Cohen, really you're out jogging. You're forcibly attacked
and dragged off, but you had time to neatly wrap
up the phone wire and place it on a mailbox.
Don't want the phone to get hurt? Okay, right then
rat smells stinks.
Speaker 9 (07:03):
It doesn't stink, it reeks, Nancy. We know that phones
don't have legs and they don't have arms, so they
can't do it themselves. So it's obvious that whatever happened
to her when it happened when it happened, was done
by someone else, someone who was so smart. They were
(07:24):
so actually dumb in what they did and how they
planted the phone, unless the phone decided it had a
mind of its own.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Doctor Michelle Dupree is joining US forensic psychologist, medical examiner
and happily for me, a former detective with the Lextionon
County Sheriff's Department. She's the author of Money, Mischief and Murder,
the Murdog's Saga. The rest of the story, I don't
think so, doctor Duprey. Sadly, I think there's going to
be another chapter, such as a new trial, so you
(07:54):
may have to write any book that aside. This is
where I'm interested, she wrote, homicide Investigation field guide. Amazing,
doctor Dupre, you have handled so many autopsies and death investigations.
(08:15):
When a family, the victim's family, can you imagine this
is her mother out looking for shanty, follows the pings
into the woods.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And they know why would she mom be in the woods.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
The sense of foreboding must have been horrible, Doctor Dupree.
What victims' families go through when they know inside the
person's dead but they don't know it yet, Doctor Dupre.
Speaker 10 (08:48):
Nancy, you know that when you see that that phone
is out in the woods, a place that she would
not normally be, and you just know what's coming next,
and you don't want to see it, You don't want
to feel it. You deny it it but you can't
and you go forward and then you find her.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
A totally devastating What happens next?
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Listen as the confused family walks through the area. Chanty's mom,
Reesa Dixon, doesn't find her daughter's phone, but sees what
looks like a crumpled figure behind a concrete barrier. As
she gets closer, Lisa realizes it's a woman lying on
her stomach. Her head is covered with a T shirt
and She's naked from the waist down and unresponsive. Reesa
(09:31):
calls nine to one one, fearing the worst. Investigators discovered
the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the temple.
Resa identifies the woman as her daughter, Chanty Dixon.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Oh my stars. You know, Darryl Cohen, I pull your
leg a lot. But you and I have seen I
don't know how many thousands of crime scenes and crime
scene photos and autopsy photos. And you know, you and
I from the same district Attorney's office. I remember the
(10:05):
first homicide I ever had.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I thought I was ready for it. I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I opened the file, Darryl, and you know our sop
was that would have all the documents necessary, well up
to that point anyway, police reports, supplementals, client crime lab reports,
autopsy report, and then in the back there would be
a smaller, sturdy Manila folder about six by four, and
(10:34):
in it would be documents and photos you don't want
to lose, such as the autopsy photos.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
But when I opened my.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
First murder case, someone along the way had stapled the
autopsy close up at the very front. And I opened
it up and I saw that, and it barely looked
like a.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Person, and that case I distinctly recalled.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
The victim's name was Mary, and she had been bludgeoned dead,
but she had also been asshxiated with one of those
clear plastic laundry bags over her head, and she had
sucked in the bag trying to breathe. And I couldn't
tell what I was seeing at first. It didn't even
look like a face totally, but there were particles all
(11:27):
around her nose and mouth where she had sucked in
trying so desperately to live, and the medical examiner had
to pull the plastic off of her face. So that
was a shock when I saw that for the first time.
I've seen seasoned, seasoned homicide detectives, and a lot of
(11:47):
rookies literally vomit at homicide scenes. So when we see that,
Shanty's mother, dear Old Cohen see something and doesn't really
realize what it is. It's her daughter's crumpled up body, Darryl.
(12:08):
Sometimes bodies don't even look like people, Nan see.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
It's not something that we can ever, not something I
have ever been able to get used to. I know
I'm ready, I know I'm ready, And then when I
see it, I find I'm not ready. When you see
an autopsy, you know immediately why the autopsy took place,
but what you see doesn't resonate in many times, in
(12:35):
many instances with your brain because you don't want to
see it and you can't see it that you have
to see it. Especially as a prosecutor, you need to
know what you're going after. The person or persons who
committed that heenus crime that made the body in front
of you in a picture real, up close and personal.
(12:56):
And when it gets up close and personal, we who
prosecute to never forget it. You sleep and sometimes wake
up seeing that picture. The image is so real that
you just can't even believe it. And then you think
about the people close to your kids, your family. What
happens if this is terrible? Nancy, there's no word, There
(13:20):
are no words that can explain how those poor kids
feel and her mom felt.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
A community in mourning, a family seeking justice. The ripple
effects of Shanty Dixon's fishes murderer.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
What happened to Shanty before we went to break her mother?
Shanty's mother, her children desperately looking for her, and then
they see what they find out is a crumpled up body.
I would not wish that on anyone. To find your
(14:02):
beloved dead body.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
Dozens of Indianapolis Metro PD officers combed the area for clues.
It appears Shanty's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier.
Her clothing, a green tank top romper, is found next
to her body with both straps ripped at the shoulders.
A canine locate Shanty's phone and wallet tossed in the
woods away from her body. Family members know Shanty's password,
giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigators
(14:28):
notice Dixon's last move was to tip an uber driver
who provided two rides.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Okay, we've got a lot of evidence to go through.
First of all, she was shot. Lauren Conlin joining me,
investigative reporter and co hosts of Primetime Crime on YouTube.
Lauren one shot a single gun shot to the temple. Okay,
(14:54):
I'm going to circle back in just a moment. Lauren
Colin with doctor Michelle Dupree about trajectory path, the likelihood
this could have been some suicide, which I doubt. Statistically,
no woman commits suicide naked or partially clothed. That's just
not going to happen. Why I'm not a straight Lauren Colin,
(15:15):
don't know, don't care, Frankly, I just know that it's true. Okay,
So I'm going to go to her about the manner
in which the body has been found, the mode and
cod mode of death, matter of death, and cause of death.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
But let me understand.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Describe to me, Lauren Colin, exactly the condition in what
Shanty's in which Shanty's body is found.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Her body was naked, crumpled on the ground, and her
head was covered with some kind of sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
She was clearly deceased, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Crumpled on the ground, a T shirt or some sort
of covering over her head, which is a whole nother
psychological aspect. The single shot to the temple of this
thirty year old mom out working at night for her family,
(16:14):
on her way home to her two children, ages nine
and thirteen. Let's talk about it, doctor Michelle Dupree, because
right there, that is a lot of probative evidence, evidence
that proves something to me, critical evidence. Let's start with
(16:34):
a single gunshot to the temple.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
That tells me a lot right there. What can you learn?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
You know, I always talk about trajectory paths, like did
the bullet come in straight to the side and come
out straight to the side? Can I see a trajectory
path going straight across? What does that tell me? That
tells me that the victim did not shoot themselves, because
when you shoot yourself, you end up pointing, whether it
means he or not, up or down one way or
(17:01):
the other.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Also, I can tell if it was point blank.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Is there stippling in other words, burn marks where the
skin has actually touched the end of the gun.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Is there gunshot residue?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Or was the shot from at least thirty six inches
away or more, which would render no gunshot residue.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Around the body? Another thing is a gunshot residue on
her hand.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
We've got a lot to think about, and I've always
been curious how how you what do you open up
the skull to find that trajectory path? How do you
actually get and determine the trajectory path of the bullet?
Speaker 10 (17:51):
Nancy, everything you said is accurate, and we look at
all of that. If there is something we call tattooing
or sipling, as you mentioned, it may be thirty six
inches or so away, then when we do open the skull,
we do trace that bullet path absolutely through the skull
and through the brain, what tissues it did, and we
find that trajectory, was it up or down?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Was it right to left?
Speaker 10 (18:14):
And all of those things tell us a lot about
what actually happened. This is such a beautiful young lady.
I cannot imagine their parents finding her like this.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
You know you mentioned right to left. That's also critical.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I can't believe I left it out of my summary,
because what if I find out she's left handed. A
left handed person cannot shoot themselves from right to left. Okay,
you and I have been carefully analyzing another case where
that comes into play, the suicide of Ellen Greenberg, a
young first grade teacher that stabbed herself twenty times in
(18:50):
the back and the back of the neck and the
back of the head. In that case, a lot of
the stabbings, which is all whole nother animal to try
for the medical examiners to make sense of, and the
stabbings they were many of them would have to have
been done with the left hand, and she is right handed.
(19:14):
Stabbings that I do not believe someone that was right
dominant could have performed with their left hand because of
the force necessary and the accuracy necessary to inflict those
stab wounds. So it's amazing, isn't it, doctor Duprie, what
we can figure out during autopsy based on the wound alone.
Speaker 10 (19:38):
Nancy, The body can tell us so many things. It
gives us all kinds of clues. If we're just there
and looking forward as we should be, it can tell
us the whole.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Story nearly, you know, Karen, start with me. Now, I'm psychologist, Karen.
I need to talk to you about leaving the mindset
of someone that would leave this mom's mostly naked body
out in plain view, crumpled up and interestingly with a
(20:08):
covering over the face. That's something you and I have
analyzed many times.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I always use this example, which I find really odd.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I had one murder victim shot found naked on her
bed in her bedroom at home, and the killer had
placed a white weaker trash basket over the victim's.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Head and left her that way.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Then there of course less odd variations where the victim's
face is covered up with leaves or branches, if they're
out in the woods with a sheet or a blanket,
if they're in a home. Here we see the victim's
face covered with a T shirt or a sweatshirt. It
means something, Karen Stark, What does it mean?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And will it help me catch my killer?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It means that this particular killer could not bear the
thought that this person, even though she's dead, is looking
at him. Doesn't want to see the face, doesn't want
to see what he did. In some instances, Nancy, where
I followed a case, there was a father who killed
his family, and with the children, he put something over
their head so he wouldn't have to see what he
(21:23):
had done, as though they are still alive.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And it happens a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Just like some killers pose bodies, they actually are thinking
about what the victim looks like after they are dead.
We wouldn't imagine that, but they are doing that.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
A brother of two becomes the latest victim and a
disturbing trend. Her story highlights the dark side of ride sharing.
Dozens of Indianapolis Metro ped officers combed the area for clues.
It appears Shanty's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier.
Her clothing a green tank top romper is found next
to her body with both straps ripped at the shoulders.
(22:01):
A canine locate Shanty's phone and wallet tossed in the
woods away from her body. Family members know Shanty's password,
giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigator's notice.
Dixon's last move was to tip an Uber driver who
provided two rides.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Last known digital activity tipping an Uber driver for two rides?
What does that mean? That she took a ride, then
did an errand for a few moments, and then took
another ride with the same driver.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
What more do we know? Listen?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police respond to a nine to one one
call from a hysterical mother looking for her missing daughter.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Reesa.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Dixon is tracking Shanty Dixon's phone when she finds her
daughter lying behind concrete barriers at the dead end on
Wagner Street, shot in the head. Shandy Dixon is naked
from the waist down, with a sweatshirt covering her hand,
the rest of Chanty's clothing found ripped nearby, and her
belongings missing.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Joining me is the Director of Operations USPA Nationwide Security,
Brian Fitzgibbons. Brian, again, thank you for being with us tonight.
I want to talk about the phenomena of Uber driver,
lift driver all the right chairs and how carefully, they
(23:26):
are tracked. There is a central location where you can
see where they're going. Are they deviating from the address
that the client puts in? How does that work? What
is the technology that allows us to know? I mean,
if I do Instacart for Pete's sake, I can look
(23:48):
or Uber eats, I can see where the driver is right,
So how does it work? It sounds complicated, but it's not,
is it.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Well, you're looking at basic GPS technology that's through that
driver's app, Okay, and you know when it comes to
a woman's safety alone with a driver, you know, we're
talking about a volume play here. There are so many
Uber drivers on the road that Uber corporate there there's
no way that they can track any deviations real time.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Brian. The technology of that it's public.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean, if I can see what the driver's doing,
can't Uber headquarters see what the driver is doing?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Absolutely, they're going to be able to, you know, especially
when police request it tell you exactly where that driver went,
what time, what location, et cetera, and if there was
any deviation from what the requested ride passenger had asked for.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
So obviously, Brian Fitzgibbons, we can also determine who is
the uber driver right of course.
Speaker 7 (24:54):
Of course, so in this case they were able to
quickly do that.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And of course also in this case I got to
got a shrink on this. The uber driver that drove
Shanty home from work that night to her children is
a guy named Francisco Valdez, Karen Stark. He's twenty nine
years old, and he lives in mom He's basement.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Help me, so this is somebody who is still attached
to his mom. Remember we talked before how no one
will care for you or really pay attention most of
the time unless it's your a mom. Well, he's a
mature adult, but he can't leave his mom yet. He's
very dependent on her, so he actually has not matured.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
But well, I can figure that much out, Karen Stark.
I mean, help me out. With living with your mom
but not having a relationship of your own with a
woman like you don't date, but you still live with
your mom. Can you be, for instance, and in sel
(26:01):
and hate women but still live with your mother.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
You can still live with your mom and actually hate
your mom, Nancy, I mean that is a possibility. It's
somebody if he's not dating and he's still interested in women,
then he doesn't. He doesn't come across well with women.
He doesn't feel comfortable, he's awkward, and he could possibly
really have a hatred for women that is not coming out.
(26:29):
Even for his mom, he can't leave her yet he
doesn't feel good about being there or.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Who she is. It happens a lot.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
You see guys who fight with their mom all the time,
but they can't leave their mother.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Darryl Cohen with me, now renowned defense attorney throughout the
Southeast and beyond, but former felony prosecutor in a jurisdiction
where there is never a lack of business, Inner City Atlanta,
Daryl Cohen, we did not call them in sales, in
voluntaries celibates, But you and I have had a lot
(27:07):
of cases where well almost always women and children are
the victims in a large, large majority of cases. But
it's so obvious that the perp hated women.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
They were nothing to him.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Whoever did this had to really hate women, not just Shanty.
He didn't even have to know her hated women to
leave a lady like this.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
Obviously what he did was unforgivable and unmentionable. He likely
did not know she was a mother, and didn't really
much care that she was a mother. What he cared
about was killing this woman, killing this woman who absolutely
likely did nothing to him. Maybe she engaged with him
(27:55):
vocally as he was driving, but that's it. He hates
he did her, and he may have hated all women
because what he did show he had no relationship with her.
So as a result, you have to generalize. And in
my view, in my view, what he did was unconscionable
and unmentionable. And when and if he needs to have
(28:19):
one thing and one thing only, and that's the death penalty.
And that's me as a defense lawyer, a former prosecutor.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
So who is twenty nine year old Francisco Valadez, And
let me warn you the lies start immediately.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
The Uber driver is identified as Francisco Valadez, twenty nine,
using his Uber vehicle details. Cops track him down to
a homie shares with his mother. Valadez confirms he drives
for Uber and whilst working early Sunday morning, Valadez tells
cops he owns a nine millimeters pistol but does not
care carriot. When driving, valades recognizes a photo of Chanty
(29:04):
and remembers her back to back rides, but says there
was nothing unusual about them. Valades comments that he heard
what sounded like a gunshot as he drove away from
the second drop off.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Valades says he called the police non emergency line about
an hour and a half after dropping Shanty off. When
asked why Valades's story changes, he now claims that while
stopped at an intersection, a blackmail armed with a gun
approached the back passenger seat where Shanty was sitting and
demanded she hand over her valuables. When Shanty refused, the
man shot her in the thigh. Valades says Shanty declined
(29:44):
his offer to call nine one one and got out
of the car still bleeding. Valades says when police did
not respond to his five point thirty am call, he
cleaned up the blood in the backseat.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I love it when targets start changing their story, not
adding to the story, because that's to be expected. Upon
further questioning, the witness will add facts with the right questions.
But here we get a totally different story. Lauren Colin
joining Me, investigative reporter, co host of Primetime Crime on YouTube.
(30:15):
Lauren now first of all, which is like a big
red flag. Okay, Jackie, I need a red flag to
wave on the sick is this?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Listen to this? He says.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
When he drops her off, he hears what sounds like
a gunshot when he drives away.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
I mean, really, I love that. I roll that. Hey,
I need that, I roll on video. I'm going to
turn that into a meme.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
He hears the gunshot, when a gunshot, but yet he
just keeps driving. All right, that's the first story. Then
he says he called the non emergency when I hear
what I think is a gunshot one a gunshot, I
immediately call nine one one. They recognize my number. He says,
he called not non emergent. See an hour and a
(31:02):
half after dropping her off, and they go why why
an hour and a half. He goes er, oh, darn,
I screwed that up. His story changes. What's his knee story,
Lauren commin?
Speaker 5 (31:14):
Well, his next story was that she got shot in
the thigh. And then police are like, well, she was
shot in the head. They realized that he's lying. They
take him down A minute A minute, what you left
out the black man?
Speaker 12 (31:27):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yes, Susan Smith all over again. Blame the black man.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Okay, yeah, wait, wait wait, okay, Darryl Cohen, Darryl, do
you remember who went on to become an incredible judge,
My former trial partner, Herman Sloane in our office. Okay, when,
of course Susan I happened to be. Okay, he wasn't
(31:55):
really my trial partner. He would just bail me out
when I got in troubling court, which is like every
hour he'd come in and if I have the right lawn,
get me out of contempt. Anyway, great friend. The description
that Susan Smith gave of the black man that took
(32:16):
her children and carjacked her out in the middle of nowhere,
there's a head on also of him.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
That's not the one.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
But I saw that and I went, herman, where were you?
Because the front not in the side one at all,
But the frontal face description she gave looked like herman.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
He goes, I know, I've already been told I.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Looked like the guy a carjack Susan Smith's children. The
black man is the black man did it, and here
we're hearing it again. He now claims that stopped at
an intersection. Somebody's been listening to Susan Smith, a black
man armed with a gun approached the back passenger seat.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
How did that happen? How did the guy get from.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
The intersection into the back passenger seat and demanded she
hand over her valuables, not the driver, and she refused.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
He shot her in the thigh. I mean, really, we
call it PFA.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Herman Sloan got off the bench, came over to that area,
did a PFA, which is a pick from air, and
all of a sudden she got shot in the thigh,
which majestically and as if by magic, went straight up
to her temple and she died.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
The magic bullet like in the JFK shooting. Okay, that's
another thing for doctor dupree to explain how that shot
in the thigh ins that going right to left a
trajectory path through the victim's head.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Okay, listen to this, guys.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
The investigator informs Valadez the Shanty's body was found and
she wasn't shot in the Valades quickly changes his story again.
Valades still blames the mugger, but admits he panicked afterward
and dumb Shanty's body. However, Valades adds another odd comment
saying that shanty was closed when he left her, and
whatever happened after I dumped her I know nothing about.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
But you have to hear this. That's not all. Wait
for it, listen.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Valades tells investigators he's a thirty year old virgin and
asked Chanty if she would have sex with him during
the ride. Valades says Chanty refused him, but eventually agreed
for an undisclosed sum and undressed. Valades claims that while
he was struggling, Chancey made fun of him and eventually
angered him so much.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
That he shot her.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Valades then drags Chanty's body into the woods and decides
to have another go at it. After another attempt at
intercourse with her body, Valades then dumps her belongings and
leaves Lauren Colin.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Let me understand, he is saying that Chanty he's been
working all night. Okay, on her way home, I agrees
to have sex with the uber driver out in the
middle of nowhere. It starts undressing. That's his story, Okay. No,
Lady Gerar is ever gonna believe that. No.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
And he also said at one point too that she
was smacking him on the head, so he was acting
in self defense. But yes, that is such an absurd claim,
and every woman knows that that is.
Speaker 8 (35:28):
Bs Uber faces an alarming surge in sexual assault allegations,
with reported cases skyrocketing from three twenty one in July
to us staggering one three and forty six today, an
increase of over four times in just three months.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
For people that's out there doing stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Man be its in my chap because you picked up
a sure brand work and you thought when nobody don't care,
we care.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, I can't do that.
Speaker 11 (36:01):
From our friends WRTV, this mom has lost her daughter.
Her daughter had two beautiful children that she supported.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Now what I want to take a listen to what
we've just heard. Guys.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Melodes tells investigators he's a quote thirty year old virgin, Okay.
Then he says he gets angry shanty shoots her dead,
then drags her in the woods to quote have another
go at it, and tries to have intercourse with her body.
(36:39):
Believe it or not, Karen, start you and I know
it's not that uncommon.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Well, you're talking again, Nancy about hatred, and you're talking
about men who very often have sexual issues. This is
this rape rape is not about sex. Rape is about violence.
Rape is about anger, and they have tremendous anger. They're
violent and they don't care if their victim is alive
(37:10):
or dead. They're gonna cary get.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
You on the weeds and back into the middle of
the road. Karen Stark, I'm talking about necrythilia, sex with
a dead bactly.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
That's what I'm explaining. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Actually, it's easier if the person is dead for these
particular people, because then they don't feel like they're judged,
they don't feel like someone is watching them, if they're inadequate,
if they're not doing well, and they can just have
a go at it and not have to worry about
what the reaction is death actually turns down.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I'm just saying that's a little ephemistic, Karen Stark. Those
are the words of the defendant, valid as have a
go at it. It's certainly putting perfume on the pig,
doctor dupree, have a go at it. That means trying
(38:09):
to have sex to penetrate a lady's dead body.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Let's just call it what it is, all right.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
That does not mean valades who's presumed innocent until proving guilty.
That does not mean that he is insane. Have you
ever seen that phenomena doctor dupre.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Yes, Nancy, I have, and there's usually there's evidence of
that at the autopsy as well. So this is not
something that we see, hopefully very commonly, but it does happen.
And he is a sick man.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Some may call him sick, I call him a killer.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And let me remind mister valades lethal injection the needle
is the mode of death in Indiana a lot better
than what Ante endured. But here's a tiny bit of
good news. Listen to Chief Chris Bailly.
Speaker 12 (39:08):
After an interview, they arrested twenty nine year old Francisco Valadez,
who was preliminarily charged with murder. I anticipate additional facts
being discovered in additional charges on this individual as we
move forward, like.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Tampering with a dead body, destruction or misuse of a
dead body, desecrating a dead body. And remember a case
cannot be made based solely on the confession of a defendant,
so we've got to find evidence that he did desecrate
her body post mortem. Tonight, our prayers with her children
(39:47):
and her mother. If you are so inclined. There is
a go fund Me set up to help Shanty Dixon's
children after her death. Remember, law enforcement is still building
its case. If you think you have information of any type,
(40:08):
dial three one seven two six two tips. That's three
one seven two six two eight four seven seven.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
We wait as just as unfalls.
Speaker 11 (40:23):
Goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The search for an evil uber driver after a working
mom Shanty calls for a car after work and never
makes it home. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with us. A late night uber
ride turns deadly. The shocking details of a mother of
two's final moments. Shanty Dixon, thirty is described as a fun,
(00:30):
loving go getter, a supportive friend and carrying family member,
but most importantly a doting mom. Shanty would do anything
for her two children, ages nine to thirteen, and works
hard to provide for them. Shanty often works late into
the night, relying on ride share services to get home,
joining me in All Star Pale, but first ione to
goes straight out to a renowned psychologist joining us today
(00:52):
from Manhattan TV Radio trauma expert. He can find her
at karenstart dot com. That's Karen with the Sea if
you're trying to reach her, Karen, thank you for being
with us tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
How many more times does the victim have to be
a mother, Because when the victim is a mother, you
end up victimizing the children too. And I'm not saying
fathers don't do their Here of course they do. But
there's something about losing your mother. It can ruin your
(01:28):
whole life, care and start.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It can Nancy, It definitely can wound your whole life.
And think about these children, I mean mothers. We come
from our mothers. So there's a special connection in bond
between a child and a mother. And when something happens
to a mother, as in this case, then the children
are left with somebody caretaking them. And it's never the same.
(01:52):
How could it possibly be the same?
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Chanty gets off work past midnight Sunday morning and immediately
orders an uber run a quick errand before heading home.
When they make it to the drop off location, Chanty
asks the driver to wait for a moment. She'll order
a second ride home when she finishes her errand. The
driver agrees, and Chanty orders to second ride, which is
completed in just minutes.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Again joining US at All Star, panels straight out to
Lauren Colin, joining US co host Primetime Crime on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Where did this take place?
Speaker 5 (02:25):
This is Indianapolis, Indiana, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay, so a very concentrated population. There's a big difference.
Let me go straight back out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining
US direct operations USPA Nationwide Security. He leads a team
of investigators that specialize in missing people at uspasecurity dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Brian, thank you for being with us tonight. Brian.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
There's a big difference when you're looking for a missing
person and a concentrated urban area.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I mean, you've been to Manhattan a million times. I
raised the children there.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When you're trying to find someone in a concentrated area
like Indianapolis, it's like a needle in a haystack. It
completely changes the search for the missing person.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Absolutely, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
And you know police had to rely on you know
app traffic, you know Uber capturing or lyft, the ride
share in this case, capturing the location of that vehicle
to help narrow down this search.
Speaker 7 (03:32):
It's absolutely difficult in an urban environment, the challenges that
investigators face locating an individual amongst tens of thousands of
other individual vehicles that look the same, people that look
the same. This is a very challenging environment to track
one person down.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It really is, of course, Brian is Gibbons.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
When we're doing a rural search, it has its own problems,
but I think here, at least not out of ping
range in a big city like Indianapolis. You know, sometimes
in a very rural setting, a mountainous setting, a desert setting,
you actually go off ping radar. You can't get a
(04:13):
cell and it makes it so much harder to rely
on technology. So this is what we've got right now.
You've got a mom of two who works at night.
The children wake up, no mom listen.
Speaker 8 (04:27):
A few hours later, Shanty's family realized that she never
made it home. The mom isn't answering her phone either.
When Shanty is still on accountant for twenty four hours later,
her family reports her missing and heads to her home
to search for clues. Inside her home, a family member
finds Shanty's Apple watch. The watch shows Shanty's phone is
still pinging not far from her home. The family walks
(04:47):
toward the phone's location, ending up in a wooded area
about two blocks away.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Okay, I don't like that at all.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
The way that phones are now used, it's amazing. In
this case, they immediately start doing what they can to
find her, and that is trying to ping her phone
find my location. Practically everybody with an iPhone has that,
(05:15):
and there have been a lot of cases where phone
pings yield evidence for instance, who can't forget I can't.
I'll never forget it. The case of Sherry Peppinie. Don't
any of you guess hide under your desk. Sherry Peppinie
was the young mom who goes missing at Thanksgiving, leaving
(05:40):
her husband and children to face the holiday without her.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Everyone assumes she's been kidnapped.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Why because the husband didifyd my iPhone and he finds
her iPhone.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Sitting neatly on the side of the road.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And that's when I smelled a rat right there, Daryl Cohen,
I'm going to Darryl Coe and former felony prosecutor in
inner City Atlanta, now defense attorney. Darryl Interesting, this is
when I first smelt a rat with peppeni But I
wasn't sure, and I didn't want to attack a potential victim,
(06:16):
so I stayed quiet about it for at least a week.
Her phone had the the earbuds that attached to the
phone by wire. She wasn't using speaker phone or bluetooth,
and the attachment had been wrapped neatly around the phone,
(06:38):
tucked in and like sat.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
On top of a mailbox.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay, Darryl Cohen, really you're out jogging. You're forcibly attacked
and dragged off, but you had time to neatly wrap
up the phone wire and place it on a mailbox.
Don't want the phone to get hurt? Okay, right then
rat smells stinks.
Speaker 9 (07:03):
It doesn't stink, it reeks, Nancy. We know that phones
don't have legs and they don't have arms, so they
can't do it themselves. So it's obvious that whatever happened
to her when it happened when it happened, was done
by someone else, someone who was so smart. They were
(07:24):
so actually dumb in what they did and how they
planted the phone, unless the phone decided it had a
mind of its own.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Doctor Michelle Dupree is joining US forensic psychologist, medical examiner
and happily for me, a former detective with the Lextionon
County Sheriff's Department. She's the author of Money, Mischief and Murder,
the Murdog's Saga. The rest of the story, I don't
think so, doctor Duprey. Sadly, I think there's going to
be another chapter, such as a new trial, so you
(07:54):
may have to write any book that aside. This is
where I'm interested, she wrote, homicide Investigation field guide. Amazing,
doctor Dupre, you have handled so many autopsies and death investigations.
(08:15):
When a family, the victim's family, can you imagine this
is her mother out looking for shanty, follows the pings
into the woods.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And they know why would she mom be in the woods.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
The sense of foreboding must have been horrible, Doctor Dupree.
What victims' families go through when they know inside the
person's dead but they don't know it yet, Doctor Dupre.
Speaker 10 (08:48):
Nancy, you know that when you see that that phone
is out in the woods, a place that she would
not normally be, and you just know what's coming next,
and you don't want to see it, You don't want
to feel it. You deny it it but you can't
and you go forward and then you find her.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
A totally devastating What happens next?
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Listen as the confused family walks through the area. Chanty's mom,
Reesa Dixon, doesn't find her daughter's phone, but sees what
looks like a crumpled figure behind a concrete barrier. As
she gets closer, Lisa realizes it's a woman lying on
her stomach. Her head is covered with a T shirt
and She's naked from the waist down and unresponsive. Reesa
(09:31):
calls nine to one one, fearing the worst. Investigators discovered
the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the temple.
Resa identifies the woman as her daughter, Chanty Dixon.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Oh my stars. You know, Darryl Cohen, I pull your
leg a lot. But you and I have seen I
don't know how many thousands of crime scenes and crime
scene photos and autopsy photos. And you know, you and
I from the same district Attorney's office. I remember the
(10:05):
first homicide I ever had.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I thought I was ready for it. I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I opened the file, Darryl, and you know our sop
was that would have all the documents necessary, well up
to that point anyway, police reports, supplementals, client crime lab reports,
autopsy report, and then in the back there would be
a smaller, sturdy Manila folder about six by four, and
(10:34):
in it would be documents and photos you don't want
to lose, such as the autopsy photos.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
But when I opened my.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
First murder case, someone along the way had stapled the
autopsy close up at the very front. And I opened
it up and I saw that, and it barely looked
like a.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Person, and that case I distinctly recalled.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
The victim's name was Mary, and she had been bludgeoned dead,
but she had also been asshxiated with one of those
clear plastic laundry bags over her head, and she had
sucked in the bag trying to breathe. And I couldn't
tell what I was seeing at first. It didn't even
look like a face totally, but there were particles all
(11:27):
around her nose and mouth where she had sucked in
trying so desperately to live, and the medical examiner had
to pull the plastic off of her face. So that
was a shock when I saw that for the first time.
I've seen seasoned, seasoned homicide detectives, and a lot of
(11:47):
rookies literally vomit at homicide scenes. So when we see that,
Shanty's mother, dear Old Cohen see something and doesn't really
realize what it is. It's her daughter's crumpled up body, Darryl.
(12:08):
Sometimes bodies don't even look like people, Nan see.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
It's not something that we can ever, not something I
have ever been able to get used to. I know
I'm ready, I know I'm ready, And then when I
see it, I find I'm not ready. When you see
an autopsy, you know immediately why the autopsy took place,
but what you see doesn't resonate in many times, in
(12:35):
many instances with your brain because you don't want to
see it and you can't see it that you have
to see it. Especially as a prosecutor, you need to
know what you're going after. The person or persons who
committed that heenus crime that made the body in front
of you in a picture real, up close and personal.
(12:56):
And when it gets up close and personal, we who
prosecute to never forget it. You sleep and sometimes wake
up seeing that picture. The image is so real that
you just can't even believe it. And then you think
about the people close to your kids, your family. What
happens if this is terrible? Nancy, there's no word, There
(13:20):
are no words that can explain how those poor kids
feel and her mom felt.
Speaker 8 (13:31):
A community in mourning, a family seeking justice. The ripple
effects of Shanty Dixon's fishes murderer.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
What happened to Shanty before we went to break her mother?
Shanty's mother, her children desperately looking for her, and then
they see what they find out is a crumpled up body.
I would not wish that on anyone. To find your
(14:02):
beloved dead body.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
Dozens of Indianapolis Metro PD officers combed the area for clues.
It appears Shanty's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier.
Her clothing, a green tank top romper, is found next
to her body with both straps ripped at the shoulders.
A canine locate Shanty's phone and wallet tossed in the
woods away from her body. Family members know Shanty's password,
giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigators
(14:28):
notice Dixon's last move was to tip an uber driver
who provided two rides.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Okay, we've got a lot of evidence to go through.
First of all, she was shot. Lauren Conlin joining me,
investigative reporter and co hosts of Primetime Crime on YouTube.
Lauren one shot a single gun shot to the temple. Okay,
(14:54):
I'm going to circle back in just a moment. Lauren
Colin with doctor Michelle Dupree about trajectory path, the likelihood
this could have been some suicide, which I doubt. Statistically,
no woman commits suicide naked or partially clothed. That's just
not going to happen. Why I'm not a straight Lauren Colin,
(15:15):
don't know, don't care, Frankly, I just know that it's true. Okay,
So I'm going to go to her about the manner
in which the body has been found, the mode and
cod mode of death, matter of death, and cause of death.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
But let me understand.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Describe to me, Lauren Colin, exactly the condition in what
Shanty's in which Shanty's body is found.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Her body was naked, crumpled on the ground, and her
head was covered with some kind of sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
She was clearly deceased, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Crumpled on the ground, a T shirt or some sort
of covering over her head, which is a whole nother
psychological aspect. The single shot to the temple of this
thirty year old mom out working at night for her family,
(16:14):
on her way home to her two children, ages nine
and thirteen. Let's talk about it, doctor Michelle Dupree, because
right there, that is a lot of probative evidence, evidence
that proves something to me, critical evidence. Let's start with
(16:34):
a single gunshot to the temple.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
That tells me a lot right there. What can you learn?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
You know, I always talk about trajectory paths, like did
the bullet come in straight to the side and come
out straight to the side? Can I see a trajectory
path going straight across? What does that tell me? That
tells me that the victim did not shoot themselves, because
when you shoot yourself, you end up pointing, whether it
means he or not, up or down one way or
(17:01):
the other.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Also, I can tell if it was point blank.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Is there stippling in other words, burn marks where the
skin has actually touched the end of the gun.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Is there gunshot residue?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Or was the shot from at least thirty six inches
away or more, which would render no gunshot residue.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Around the body? Another thing is a gunshot residue on
her hand.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
We've got a lot to think about, and I've always
been curious how how you what do you open up
the skull to find that trajectory path? How do you
actually get and determine the trajectory path of the bullet?
Speaker 10 (17:51):
Nancy, everything you said is accurate, and we look at
all of that. If there is something we call tattooing
or sipling, as you mentioned, it may be thirty six
inches or so away, then when we do open the skull,
we do trace that bullet path absolutely through the skull
and through the brain, what tissues it did, and we
find that trajectory, was it up or down?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Was it right to left?
Speaker 10 (18:14):
And all of those things tell us a lot about
what actually happened. This is such a beautiful young lady.
I cannot imagine their parents finding her like this.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
You know you mentioned right to left. That's also critical.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I can't believe I left it out of my summary,
because what if I find out she's left handed. A
left handed person cannot shoot themselves from right to left. Okay,
you and I have been carefully analyzing another case where
that comes into play, the suicide of Ellen Greenberg, a
young first grade teacher that stabbed herself twenty times in
(18:50):
the back and the back of the neck and the
back of the head. In that case, a lot of
the stabbings, which is all whole nother animal to try
for the medical examiners to make sense of, and the
stabbings they were many of them would have to have
been done with the left hand, and she is right handed.
(19:14):
Stabbings that I do not believe someone that was right
dominant could have performed with their left hand because of
the force necessary and the accuracy necessary to inflict those
stab wounds. So it's amazing, isn't it, doctor Duprie, what
we can figure out during autopsy based on the wound alone.
Speaker 10 (19:38):
Nancy, The body can tell us so many things. It
gives us all kinds of clues. If we're just there
and looking forward as we should be, it can tell
us the whole.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Story nearly, you know, Karen, start with me. Now, I'm psychologist, Karen.
I need to talk to you about leaving the mindset
of someone that would leave this mom's mostly naked body
out in plain view, crumpled up and interestingly with a
(20:08):
covering over the face. That's something you and I have
analyzed many times.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I always use this example, which I find really odd.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I had one murder victim shot found naked on her
bed in her bedroom at home, and the killer had
placed a white weaker trash basket over the victim's.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Head and left her that way.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Then there of course less odd variations where the victim's
face is covered up with leaves or branches, if they're
out in the woods with a sheet or a blanket,
if they're in a home. Here we see the victim's
face covered with a T shirt or a sweatshirt. It
means something, Karen Stark, What does it mean?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And will it help me catch my killer?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It means that this particular killer could not bear the
thought that this person, even though she's dead, is looking
at him. Doesn't want to see the face, doesn't want
to see what he did. In some instances, Nancy, where
I followed a case, there was a father who killed
his family, and with the children, he put something over
their head so he wouldn't have to see what he
(21:23):
had done, as though they are still alive.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And it happens a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Just like some killers pose bodies, they actually are thinking
about what the victim looks like after they are dead.
We wouldn't imagine that, but they are doing that.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
A brother of two becomes the latest victim and a
disturbing trend. Her story highlights the dark side of ride sharing.
Dozens of Indianapolis Metro ped officers combed the area for clues.
It appears Shanty's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier.
Her clothing a green tank top romper is found next
to her body with both straps ripped at the shoulders.
(22:01):
A canine locate Shanty's phone and wallet tossed in the
woods away from her body. Family members know Shanty's password,
giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigator's notice.
Dixon's last move was to tip an Uber driver who
provided two rides.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Last known digital activity tipping an Uber driver for two rides?
What does that mean? That she took a ride, then
did an errand for a few moments, and then took
another ride with the same driver.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
What more do we know? Listen?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police respond to a nine to one one
call from a hysterical mother looking for her missing daughter.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Reesa.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Dixon is tracking Shanty Dixon's phone when she finds her
daughter lying behind concrete barriers at the dead end on
Wagner Street, shot in the head. Shandy Dixon is naked
from the waist down, with a sweatshirt covering her hand,
the rest of Chanty's clothing found ripped nearby, and her
belongings missing.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Joining me is the Director of Operations USPA Nationwide Security,
Brian Fitzgibbons. Brian, again, thank you for being with us tonight.
I want to talk about the phenomena of Uber driver,
lift driver all the right chairs and how carefully, they
(23:26):
are tracked. There is a central location where you can
see where they're going. Are they deviating from the address
that the client puts in? How does that work? What
is the technology that allows us to know? I mean,
if I do Instacart for Pete's sake, I can look
(23:48):
or Uber eats, I can see where the driver is right,
So how does it work? It sounds complicated, but it's not,
is it.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Well, you're looking at basic GPS technology that's through that
driver's app, Okay, and you know when it comes to
a woman's safety alone with a driver, you know, we're
talking about a volume play here. There are so many
Uber drivers on the road that Uber corporate there there's
no way that they can track any deviations real time.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Brian. The technology of that it's public.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean, if I can see what the driver's doing,
can't Uber headquarters see what the driver is doing?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Absolutely, they're going to be able to, you know, especially
when police request it tell you exactly where that driver went,
what time, what location, et cetera, and if there was
any deviation from what the requested ride passenger had asked for.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
So obviously, Brian Fitzgibbons, we can also determine who is
the uber driver right of course.
Speaker 7 (24:54):
Of course, so in this case they were able to
quickly do that.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And of course also in this case I got to
got a shrink on this. The uber driver that drove
Shanty home from work that night to her children is
a guy named Francisco Valdez, Karen Stark. He's twenty nine
years old, and he lives in mom He's basement.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Help me, so this is somebody who is still attached
to his mom. Remember we talked before how no one
will care for you or really pay attention most of
the time unless it's your a mom. Well, he's a
mature adult, but he can't leave his mom yet. He's
very dependent on her, so he actually has not matured.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
But well, I can figure that much out, Karen Stark.
I mean, help me out. With living with your mom
but not having a relationship of your own with a
woman like you don't date, but you still live with
your mom. Can you be, for instance, and in sel
(26:01):
and hate women but still live with your mother.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
You can still live with your mom and actually hate
your mom, Nancy, I mean that is a possibility. It's
somebody if he's not dating and he's still interested in women,
then he doesn't. He doesn't come across well with women.
He doesn't feel comfortable, he's awkward, and he could possibly
really have a hatred for women that is not coming out.
(26:29):
Even for his mom, he can't leave her yet he
doesn't feel good about being there or.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Who she is. It happens a lot.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
You see guys who fight with their mom all the time,
but they can't leave their mother.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Darryl Cohen with me, now renowned defense attorney throughout the
Southeast and beyond, but former felony prosecutor in a jurisdiction
where there is never a lack of business, Inner City Atlanta,
Daryl Cohen, we did not call them in sales, in
voluntaries celibates, But you and I have had a lot
(27:07):
of cases where well almost always women and children are
the victims in a large, large majority of cases. But
it's so obvious that the perp hated women.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
They were nothing to him.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Whoever did this had to really hate women, not just Shanty.
He didn't even have to know her hated women to
leave a lady like this.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
Obviously what he did was unforgivable and unmentionable. He likely
did not know she was a mother, and didn't really
much care that she was a mother. What he cared
about was killing this woman, killing this woman who absolutely
likely did nothing to him. Maybe she engaged with him
(27:55):
vocally as he was driving, but that's it. He hates
he did her, and he may have hated all women
because what he did show he had no relationship with her.
So as a result, you have to generalize. And in
my view, in my view, what he did was unconscionable
and unmentionable. And when and if he needs to have
(28:19):
one thing and one thing only, and that's the death penalty.
And that's me as a defense lawyer, a former prosecutor.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
So who is twenty nine year old Francisco Valadez, And
let me warn you the lies start immediately.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
The Uber driver is identified as Francisco Valadez, twenty nine,
using his Uber vehicle details. Cops track him down to
a homie shares with his mother. Valadez confirms he drives
for Uber and whilst working early Sunday morning, Valadez tells
cops he owns a nine millimeters pistol but does not
care carriot. When driving, valades recognizes a photo of Chanty
(29:04):
and remembers her back to back rides, but says there
was nothing unusual about them. Valades comments that he heard
what sounded like a gunshot as he drove away from
the second drop off.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Valades says he called the police non emergency line about
an hour and a half after dropping Shanty off. When
asked why Valades's story changes, he now claims that while
stopped at an intersection, a blackmail armed with a gun
approached the back passenger seat where Shanty was sitting and
demanded she hand over her valuables. When Shanty refused, the
man shot her in the thigh. Valades says Shanty declined
(29:44):
his offer to call nine one one and got out
of the car still bleeding. Valades says when police did
not respond to his five point thirty am call, he
cleaned up the blood in the backseat.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I love it when targets start changing their story, not
adding to the story, because that's to be expected. Upon
further questioning, the witness will add facts with the right questions.
But here we get a totally different story. Lauren Colin
joining Me, investigative reporter, co host of Primetime Crime on YouTube.
(30:15):
Lauren now first of all, which is like a big
red flag. Okay, Jackie, I need a red flag to
wave on the sick is this?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Listen to this? He says.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
When he drops her off, he hears what sounds like
a gunshot when he drives away.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
I mean, really, I love that. I roll that. Hey,
I need that, I roll on video. I'm going to
turn that into a meme.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
He hears the gunshot, when a gunshot, but yet he
just keeps driving. All right, that's the first story. Then
he says he called the non emergency when I hear
what I think is a gunshot one a gunshot, I
immediately call nine one one. They recognize my number. He says,
he called not non emergent. See an hour and a
(31:02):
half after dropping her off, and they go why why
an hour and a half. He goes er, oh, darn,
I screwed that up. His story changes. What's his knee story,
Lauren commin?
Speaker 5 (31:14):
Well, his next story was that she got shot in
the thigh. And then police are like, well, she was
shot in the head. They realized that he's lying. They
take him down A minute A minute, what you left
out the black man?
Speaker 12 (31:27):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yes, Susan Smith all over again. Blame the black man.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Okay, yeah, wait, wait wait, okay, Darryl Cohen, Darryl, do
you remember who went on to become an incredible judge,
My former trial partner, Herman Sloane in our office. Okay, when,
of course Susan I happened to be. Okay, he wasn't
(31:55):
really my trial partner. He would just bail me out
when I got in troubling court, which is like every
hour he'd come in and if I have the right lawn,
get me out of contempt. Anyway, great friend. The description
that Susan Smith gave of the black man that took
(32:16):
her children and carjacked her out in the middle of nowhere,
there's a head on also of him.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
That's not the one.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
But I saw that and I went, herman, where were you?
Because the front not in the side one at all,
But the frontal face description she gave looked like herman.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
He goes, I know, I've already been told I.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Looked like the guy a carjack Susan Smith's children. The
black man is the black man did it, and here
we're hearing it again. He now claims that stopped at
an intersection. Somebody's been listening to Susan Smith, a black
man armed with a gun approached the back passenger seat.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
How did that happen? How did the guy get from.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
The intersection into the back passenger seat and demanded she
hand over her valuables, not the driver, and she refused.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
He shot her in the thigh. I mean, really, we
call it PFA.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Herman Sloan got off the bench, came over to that area,
did a PFA, which is a pick from air, and
all of a sudden she got shot in the thigh,
which majestically and as if by magic, went straight up
to her temple and she died.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
The magic bullet like in the JFK shooting. Okay, that's
another thing for doctor dupree to explain how that shot
in the thigh ins that going right to left a
trajectory path through the victim's head.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Okay, listen to this, guys.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
The investigator informs Valadez the Shanty's body was found and
she wasn't shot in the Valades quickly changes his story again.
Valades still blames the mugger, but admits he panicked afterward
and dumb Shanty's body. However, Valades adds another odd comment
saying that shanty was closed when he left her, and
whatever happened after I dumped her I know nothing about.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
But you have to hear this. That's not all. Wait
for it, listen.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Valades tells investigators he's a thirty year old virgin and
asked Chanty if she would have sex with him during
the ride. Valades says Chanty refused him, but eventually agreed
for an undisclosed sum and undressed. Valades claims that while
he was struggling, Chancey made fun of him and eventually
angered him so much.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
That he shot her.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Valades then drags Chanty's body into the woods and decides
to have another go at it. After another attempt at
intercourse with her body, Valades then dumps her belongings and
leaves Lauren Colin.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Let me understand, he is saying that Chanty he's been
working all night. Okay, on her way home, I agrees
to have sex with the uber driver out in the
middle of nowhere. It starts undressing. That's his story, Okay. No,
Lady Gerar is ever gonna believe that. No.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
And he also said at one point too that she
was smacking him on the head, so he was acting
in self defense. But yes, that is such an absurd claim,
and every woman knows that that is.
Speaker 8 (35:28):
Bs Uber faces an alarming surge in sexual assault allegations,
with reported cases skyrocketing from three twenty one in July
to us staggering one three and forty six today, an
increase of over four times in just three months.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
For people that's out there doing stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Man be its in my chap because you picked up
a sure brand work and you thought when nobody don't care,
we care.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, I can't do that.
Speaker 11 (36:01):
From our friends WRTV, this mom has lost her daughter.
Her daughter had two beautiful children that she supported.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Now what I want to take a listen to what
we've just heard. Guys.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Melodes tells investigators he's a quote thirty year old virgin, Okay.
Then he says he gets angry shanty shoots her dead,
then drags her in the woods to quote have another
go at it, and tries to have intercourse with her body.
(36:39):
Believe it or not, Karen, start you and I know
it's not that uncommon.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Well, you're talking again, Nancy about hatred, and you're talking
about men who very often have sexual issues. This is
this rape rape is not about sex. Rape is about violence.
Rape is about anger, and they have tremendous anger. They're
violent and they don't care if their victim is alive
(37:10):
or dead. They're gonna cary get.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
You on the weeds and back into the middle of
the road. Karen Stark, I'm talking about necrythilia, sex with
a dead bactly.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
That's what I'm explaining. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
Actually, it's easier if the person is dead for these
particular people, because then they don't feel like they're judged,
they don't feel like someone is watching them, if they're inadequate,
if they're not doing well, and they can just have
a go at it and not have to worry about
what the reaction is death actually turns down.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I'm just saying that's a little ephemistic, Karen Stark. Those
are the words of the defendant, valid as have a
go at it. It's certainly putting perfume on the pig,
doctor dupree, have a go at it. That means trying
(38:09):
to have sex to penetrate a lady's dead body.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Let's just call it what it is, all right.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
That does not mean valades who's presumed innocent until proving guilty.
That does not mean that he is insane. Have you
ever seen that phenomena doctor dupre.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Yes, Nancy, I have, and there's usually there's evidence of
that at the autopsy as well. So this is not
something that we see, hopefully very commonly, but it does happen.
And he is a sick man.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Some may call him sick, I call him a killer.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And let me remind mister valades lethal injection the needle
is the mode of death in Indiana a lot better
than what Ante endured. But here's a tiny bit of
good news. Listen to Chief Chris Bailly.
Speaker 12 (39:08):
After an interview, they arrested twenty nine year old Francisco Valadez,
who was preliminarily charged with murder. I anticipate additional facts
being discovered in additional charges on this individual as we
move forward, like.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Tampering with a dead body, destruction or misuse of a
dead body, desecrating a dead body. And remember a case
cannot be made based solely on the confession of a defendant,
so we've got to find evidence that he did desecrate
her body post mortem. Tonight, our prayers with her children
(39:47):
and her mother. If you are so inclined. There is
a go fund Me set up to help Shanty Dixon's
children after her death. Remember, law enforcement is still building
its case. If you think you have information of any type,
(40:08):
dial three one seven two six two tips. That's three
one seven two six two eight four seven seven.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
We wait as just as unfalls.
Speaker 11 (40:23):
Goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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