Jurors took about an hour Friday to convict Ryan Dillon on all five counts relating to the brutal beating death of his mother, who had written court officials earlier because she feared for her life.
Jurors found Dillon, 26, guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felony murder, receiving stolen property and tampering with evidence. He will be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. He was accused of killing 59-year-old Vicky Burks and hiding her body in the cellar of their Moorefield Twp. home.
While the murder weapon was never found, prosecutors theorized through forensic testimony that a tee-ball bat was used to severely beat her 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 argued Burks loved her son beyond reason and allowed him to stay with her and his stepfather in their Middle-Urbana Road home 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. On May 9, 2012, prosecutors provided computer records showing Dillon's computer accessed Clark County Municipal Court records, showing 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.
"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. "Her love cost her her life."
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.
Dillon did not take the stand, but he has denied killing Burks. Dillon claimed he was out of town at the time of the attack, despite testimony by his stepfather that he saw him at the home during his lunch break, hours after Burks was killed.
Marty Burks told jurors he did not know his wife was dead, and when he asked Dillon where she was, he said she was out shopping. It wasn't until later that evening that he realized something was amiss and called 911. By that time, Dillon had allegedly stolen his stepfather's truck and fled to Wisconsin, where he was eventually picked up by authorities.
Dillon faces one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property. He faces life in prison if convicted.
