Casper Homicide Suspect: ‘I Think My Brain Is Broken’
The declining health of an elderly couple, and concerns over their caregivers may have contributed to the circumstances leading to the fatal attack on the husband and the critical wounding of the wife.
The affidavit accompanying the second-degree and attempted second-degree murder charges against George Kevin Dickerson outlines the events leading up to and after the death of Andy Martin Jr., 75, and the wounding of Rose Dennis, 84, on Saturday night.
Dickerson, 61, heard those charges against him during his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court on Monday. Judge Nichole Collier set his bond at $600,000 cash-only. The next court appearance will be his preliminary hearing when a judge decides whether to bind him over to district court for trial.
The case started at 6:51 a.m. Sunday when Casper Police Dispatch received a 911 call from an adult male, later identified as Dickerson, who reported a double homicide. Dickerson told the dispatcher that he killed his mother-in-law and her husband, and said he did it last night, but balked when asked how he killed them.
During that conversation, he asked the dispatcher to send a police car to to pick him up at a gas station at the Sunrise Mall.
Dickerson told the dispatcher he wanted to confront Martin about abusing Dennis' health care workers.
"Dickerson stated Andy 'came at me and I just lost it,'" according to the affidavit. "'Rose jumped on me and I knocked her up against the wall and it just went from there.'"
He then told the dispatcher he used a kitchen knife and the bodies were in the master bedroom on the main floor of the house at 1676 Begonia St.
A patrol car met Dickerson at the gas station. The responding officer asked Dickerson to show his hands and asked what happened.
"I think my brain is broken," he responded.
Dickerson was agitated and took deep breaths to stay calm. He said he went home and took a shower before coming to the gas station.
Another officer arrived, handcuffed him, put him in the back of the patrol car, read him his rights, took him to the police station and placed him in an interview room. He asked a detective how "Rose" was doing, but the detective didn't have any updates.
Police identified his residence at 3520 Navarre Road, and officers went there to execute a search warrant. His wife -- Dennis' daughter -- arrived, was taken to the police station and interviewed. She gave an officer her cell phone, but Dickerson had installed something that erased all his content including recent calls and texts from her.
The search of the Navarre residence did not yield any clothing that Dickerson would have worn during the assault.
Police also executed a search warrant at the house on Begonia.
Martin was in the process of rigor mortis.
"Dennis was moaning in distress," according to the affidavit.
Both had stab wounds.
She was taken to the Banner Health Wyoming Medical Center, where surgery was performed, and she was moved to the Intensive Care Unit, according to the affidavit.
At the house, police found blood throughout the bedroom and a paring knife on the floor.
The Natrona County Coroner arrived, took Martin and would hold the body until an autopsy was performed.
Two detectives contacted Dennis' daughter, who said she and her sister -- Dickerson's wife -- had been trying to relocate Dennis to an assisted living facility because of medical issues including developing Alzheimer's.
The daughters also had issues with Martin, Dennis' husband of 30 years, who was suffering from health issues that made him difficult to deal with.
That daughter had contracted with health care providers for them, but Martin didn't what them in the house.
She also said Dickerson knew about the health issues of her mother and her husband, but had no idea why he would go to their house, confront them and attack them, according to the affidavit. "It was a shock to the whole family that Dickerson would behave in that manner."
A camera at the Begonia house was activated at 10:53 p.m. and showed a dark-colored SUV, which matched one owned by Dickerson. The camera activated activated at 11:03 p.m. and the SUV was gone.
Detectives learned that Dickerson's wife was a pastor at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 4700 S. Poplar St.
Dickerson occasionally did work there. An officer searched the church and found a plastic bag in a waste container that had clothing and shoes with blood on them.