{{Short description|American serial killer (1950–2011)}} {{Other people}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox serial killer | name = Thomas Dillon | image = Thomas_Dillon.jpg | caption = Mugshot of Dillon | other_names = Ohio Outdoorsman Killer | birth_date = {{Birth date|1950|7|9}} | birth_place = Canton, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|10|21|1950|7|9}} | death_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | victims = 5 known | country = U.S. | states = Ohio | beginyear = April 1, 1989 | endyear = April 5, 1992 | apprehended = November 27, 1992 | penalty = 165 years to life imprisonment | weapons = * .308 Mauser rifle * 6.5×55mm Swedish Mauser Rifle | conviction = Aggravated murder (5 counts) }}
'''Thomas Lee Dillon''' (July 9, 1950<ref name="offender">{{Cite web |url=http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Details.aspx?id=A277618&pg=x |title=Dillon profile at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction |access-date=November 12, 2007 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173558/http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Details.aspx?id=A277618&pg=x |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="weird">Willis, James A., Andrew Henderson and Loren Coleman. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BYHK2lN5KzoC&pg=PA108 ''Weird Ohio: Your Travel Guide to Ohio's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets'', "Ohio's Unsportsmanlike Sniper", pp. 108-110]. Sterling Publishing Co., Ltd. 2005.</ref> – October 21, 2011) was an American serial killer who shot and killed at least five men in southeastern Ohio, beginning April 1, 1989, and continuing until April 1992.<ref name="cbs">{{cite web|last=Kohn|first=David|title=A Sniper's Mind|work=CBSNEWS.com|publisher=CBS News|date=February 11, 2009|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-snipers-mind/|access-date=August 30, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MacDonald |first=Evan |date=2016-09-28 |title=Ohio's 88 most notorious people |url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2016/09/the_most_notorious_person_from.html |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref> He was nicknamed "Killer" for boasting about shooting hundreds of animals.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Pione |first=Carolyn |date=January 22, 1993 |title=Prime Suspect Indicted in Slaying of Outdoorsmen |url=https://apnews.com/article/2ecfa691a6c54ebfaaf2706b70bd58c5 |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref>
==Life and crimes== Dillon was born in Canton, Ohio and was a resident of nearby Magnolia. He had a wife and son and was employed for twelve years as a draftsman at the Canton Ohio Waterworks. He graduated in 1972 from Ohio State University in journalism.<ref name=":0" />
Between the period of April 1, 1989 to April 5, 1992, Dillon shot and killed five people in Ohio. His fourth victim, Claude Hawkins, was shot on federal property and was the reason the FBI stepped in to join the investigation along with officers from the other three counties and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It was after this that the death of Kevin Loring was changed from an accident to a homicide.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Dziemianowicz |first=Joe |date=February 17, 2022|title='Like Shooting Bottles At The Dump': Ohio Serial Killer Said He Had 'No Remorse' |url=https://www.oxygen.com/twisted-killers/crime-news/serial-killer-thomas-dillon-had-no-remorse-for-shooting-ohio-men |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=Oxygen.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Ten days after the task force meeting, Dillon shot his fifth victim, Gary Bradley, in Noble County, Ohio. Dillon was placed under surveillance in 1992 when a friend reported him after hearing the task force's initial press release concerning the murders. Dillon later shot at Larry Ohler of Barnhill, Ohio, who was out hunting in Tuscarawas County, but Ohler escaped uninjured.<ref name=":1" />
In August 1992, after a press conference to build leads from the public, Dillon's high school friend Richard Fry told investigators that Dillon exhibited "suspicious" behavior, such as shooting out store windows, street signs, and cars. While under surveillance, Dillon was seen burning buildings and killing animals. He was surveyed also by an aviation unit.<ref name=":1" />
== Arrest == In July 1992, Thomas Dillon reached a plea agreement with prosecutors involving two counts of possessing an illegal silencer and he was placed under probation.<ref name=":1" /> The agreement prohibited him from possessing firearms. He was then arrested for buying a handgun at a Cleveland gun show on November 27, 1992.<ref name=":0" />
After an initial search of Dillon's home, they found no weapons or ammo. They asked the public for information and asked anyone who bought or sold a gun or ammunition from or to Dillon to come forward. An individual told investigators he'd bought a Swedish Mauser rifle and after a F.B.I. ballistics test, the gun was confirmed to be a 100 percent match with the one used to kill Bradley and a 90 percent match for Hawkins’ homicide.<ref name=":1" />
After the death penalty was removed as an option for punishment, Dillon admitted to the killings. On July 12, 1993, at the Noble County Courthouse, Dillon pleaded guilty to the five murders. Dillon was incarcerated at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for five consecutive sentences of thirty years to life for aggravated murders.<ref name="offender"/>
==Victims== Dillon's shooting victims were:<ref name="Times Reporter">{{cite web|last=Morrison|first=Lee|title=Hunter murderer Thomas Lee Dillon dies at 61|work=TimesReporter.com|publisher=The Times Reporter|date=October 23, 2011|url=http://www.timesreporter.com/communities/coshocton/x464391936/Hunter-murderer-Thomas-Lee-Dillon-dies-at-61|accessdate=August 30, 2017|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424232944/http://www.timesreporter.com/communities/coshocton/x464391936/Hunter-murderer-Thomas-Lee-Dillon-dies-at-61|archivedate=April 24, 2012}}</ref> * Donald Welling, 35, of Strasburg, Ohio on April 1, 1989, while walking or jogging on Tuscarawas County Road 94. * Jamie Paxton, 21, of Bannock, Ohio on Nov. 10, 1990, while deer hunting in Belmont County. * Kevin Loring, 30, of Duxbury, Massachusetts on Nov. 28, 1990, while deer hunting in Muskingum County. * Claude Hawkins, 48, of Mansfield, Ohio on March 14, 1992, while fishing at Wills Creek dam in Coshocton County. * Gary Bradley, 44, of Williamstown, West Virginia, on April 5, 1992, while fishing in Caldwell, Ohio in Noble County.
Dillon was also investigated in connection with the unsolved shooting death of John Joseph Harvat on November 28, 1984, at a hunting camp in Wetmore Township, Pennsylvania. In 1993, officials in Coshocton County notified the Pennsylvania State Police that Dillon had been named a suspect in several similar shootings in Ohio, but Dillon refused to discuss Harvat's case with police.<ref name="crimestoppers">{{cite web|title=Media Release #2282, Suspicious Death of John Joseph Harvat – Wetmore Township, McKean County, PA|publisher=Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers|date=July 6, 2018|url=https://www.crimewatchpa.com/crimestoppers/316/cases/media-release-2282-suspicious-death-john-joseph-harvat-%E2%80%93-wetmore-township-mckean-county-pa|accessdate=July 9, 2018}}</ref>
In 2020, suspicion was placed on Dillon of having murdered Doug Estes and Jim Bennett, two hunters shot in rural Michigan in 1990. A Michigan man, Jeff Titus, had been convicted of the murders in 2002. In 2023, a judge ordered the murder convictions to be vacated and for Titus to be released.<ref>{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Ed |title=Judge releases man in 1990 slayings of 2 Michigan hunters |url=https://apnews.com/article/crime-ohio-michigan-deer-5a1396a3378c79f3cf0fdbddd23c9107 |website=Associated Press |access-date=February 24, 2023 |date=February 24, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Michigan asks judge to release man in slayings of 2 hunters|publisher=Michigan Radio|date=February 23, 2023|url=https://www.michiganradio.org/criminal-justice-legal-system/2023-02-23/michigan-asks-judge-to-release-man-in-slayings-of-2-hunters|accessdate=February 23, 2023}}</ref>
==Death==
Dillon was hospitalized on October 4 and died on October 21, 2011. He died in the prison wing at Corrections Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, aged 61, after being ill for nearly three weeks due to an unspecified illness.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dispatch |first=Randy Ludlow, The Columbus |date=October 21, 2011 |title=Serial killer Thomas Lee Dillon dies |url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2011/10/21/serial-killer-thomas-lee-dillon/23800931007/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=The Columbus Dispatch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ludlow|first=Randy|title=Killer Dillon, who hunted outdoorsmen, is dead|work=The Columbus Dispatch|date=October 22, 2011|url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/22/killer-dillon-who-hunted-outdoorsmen-is-dead.html|accessdate=August 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2011 |title=Serial killer Thomas Dillon dies |url=https://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/local-news/2011/10/serial-killer-thomas-dillon-dies/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=timesleaderonline.com |publisher=The Times Leader |location=Columbus, Ohio |language=en-US}}</ref>
==In popular culture== {{external media | video2 = [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2llhlm ''Crime Stories:'' "The Silent Sniper," 46:00 min. at dailymotion.com] }}
* The Discovery Channel television series ''The FBI Files'' episode "Human Prey," S1, E3, Air date: 1998, depicts how a letter to a local newspaper provides a crucial clue to end Dillon's killing spree.<ref name="Times Reporter" /> * The Court TV (now TruTV) television series ''Crime Stories'' disclosed Dillon's crimes in the episode "The Silent Sniper," in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Steve|title=The Silent Sniper|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682468/|website=imdb.com|accessdate=9 February 2018|date=31 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Crime Stories|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/crime-stories/episode-10644472/348097/|website=TVGuide.com|accessdate=9 February 2018|language=en}}</ref> * In 2013 Investigation Discovery show ''Evil, I'' made an episode about the case (Season 2 Episode 5 - "Hunting Humans")<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evil, I - Hunting Humans - TheTVDB.com |url=https://thetvdb.com/series/evil-i/episodes/5109312 |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=thetvdb.com}}</ref> * In 2020, the TV show ''Killer in Question'' made an episode about the murdered Michigan hunters, in which Dillon is suspected to be responsible.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Kayla |date=2023-02-27 |title=Michigan man granted new trial after docs reveal serial killer was always suspect in 1990 slayings |url=https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2023/02/27/michigan-man-granted-new-trial-after-docs-reveal-serial-killer-was-always-suspect-in-1990-slayings/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=WDIV |language=en}}</ref> * The Oxygen television series, ''Twisted Killers'' highlights the case on the 7th Episode "The Sniper's Bullet"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-03 |title=Twisted Killers |url=https://www.oxygen.com/twisted-killers |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Oxygen Official Site |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal bar|Ohio|Biography|Law}}
* List of serial killers in the United States * List of serial killers by number of victims
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Thomas}} Category:1950 births Category:1989 murders in the United States Category:2011 deaths Category:American criminal snipers Category:American male criminals Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American people who died in prison custody Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:People convicted of murder by Ohio Category:People from Canton, Ohio Category:People from Magnolia, Ohio Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Ohio Category:Prisoners who died in Ohio detention Category:Serial killers from Ohio Category:Serial killers who died in prison custody Category:Violence against men in the United States Category:20th-century American murderers