The case recently gained renewed attention after being featured in American Monster (Season 13, Episode 5), in an episode titled “Momma’s Boy,” now streaming on HBO Max.
About the case
While the murder weapon was never found, prosecutors theorized through forensic testimony that a teeball bat was used to severely beat Burks in the head and hands.
The blows fractured her hands and skull and caused her to lose consciousness well before the assault subsided.
The killer then dumped Burks’ body down the cellar steps, covered the door with objects and wiped up the blood.
Clark County assistant prosecutor Brian Driscoll at the time argued Burks loved her son and allowed him to stay with her and his stepfather in their Middle-Urbana Road home.
Burks allowed this even after writing a letter to the courts in 2009 that she feared he would kill them because he had allegedly threatened to do so if he ever went back to jail.
Dillon had an extensive criminal record, which included domestic violence charges against both his mother and stepfather.
On May 9, 2012, prosecutors provided computer records showing Dillon’s computer accessed Clark County Municipal Court records and found there was a warrant for his arrest. Later that morning, Driscoll said Dillon allegedly approached his mother in the kitchen and beat her to death.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Dillon battled mental illness for years. Although he had been diagnosed as bi-polar, suffered from depression and told doctors he could hear voices, two examinations deemed him fit to stand trial.
There were no actual witnesses to the killing, and defense attorney Shawn Murphy argued there is no direct evidence tying Dillon to the murder. As a result, Murphy asked Judge Douglas Rastatter to declare a mistrial, but that request was denied.
Investigators said the attack was so ferocious, Dillon fractured Burks’ hands as she tried to cover herself, and he left dents in the floor when his swings missed. He then dumped her body down the cellar stairs, cleaned up the blood and fled to Wisconsin in a stolen pickup truck.
“Even in the purest forms of love, if that child is filled with hate, if that child is filled with anger and if that child is filled with rage, all the love in the world can do nothing,” Driscoll said at the time. “Her love cost her her life.”
Jurors found Dillon, 26, guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felony murder, receiving stolen property and tampering with evidence.
A week later, a judge handed down a life sentence with no parole for Dillon. Friends of his mother exchanged hugs and wiped tears from their eyes.
Dillon received the news alone, staring stonily ahead. During the five-day trial, he had no supporters in the courtroom other than his attorney — no friends, no family. Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson remarked at the time it was the only case he could recall not seeing someone there who cared about the defendant.
About the Author
