May 21, 2026

Alex Murdaugh Gets New Trial | Josie Dikeman Convicted | MMA Fighter Testifies | Daily Crime and Justice

Show Notes
Transcript

Garret Fisher covers the South Carolina Supreme Court overturning Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions, Josie Dikeman's conviction in the death of six-year-old Alexavier Pedrin in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the testimony of former MMA fighter Ross Johnson in his Panama City manslaughter trial. Becky Hill's bathroom conversations with the jury foreperson get Murdaugh a new trial, and now he's suing her while the AG threatens the death penalty. A Wisconsin jury rejects first-degree intentional but convicts on reckless homicide. The Juggernaut takes the stand and says he just pushed Dayvon Larry. Cases covered: Alex Murdaugh, Becky Hill, Josie Dikeman, Alexavier Pedrin, Derek Pedrin, Ross Johnson, Dayvon Larry.

Join our new FB groups page here. Take the poll!

Join the Daily Crime & Justice community on social media! We're building a passionate group of true crime enthusiasts who love diving deep into the most shocking cases in America.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Daily Crime & Justice" on either platform.

You'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, breaking news updates on cases we're covering, and early alerts when new episodes drop. Our social media is where Garret Fisher's hottest takes live, including reactions that don't make it into the show.

But more importantly, it's where YOU come in. Share your theories, debate the verdicts, and connect with fellow listeners who are just as obsessed with justice as you are. Did the jury get it right? What questions do you still have? Your comments and insights often shape future episodes.

We cover the trials that matter, but our community makes the conversation unforgettable. Come for Garret's signature cynical commentary, stay for the incredible discussions with thousands of true crime fans who get it.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.000
Kalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Garrett Fisher. This is

2
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.719
Daily Crime Injustice, Friday, May twenty second, twenty twenty six. Today,

3
00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:19.640
Alex Murdah has been granted a new murder trial by

4
00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.879
the South Carolina Supreme Court. Josie Dyckman has been convicted

5
00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:26.839
in the death of six year old Alexavier aj Pedron

6
00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:30.640
in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and in Panama City, Florida. A former

7
00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.920
MMA fighter named Ross Johnson took the stand in his

8
00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:37.520
own defense yesterday. We're back two weeks with the Fighting

9
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.439
Back series, which I hope you enjoyed. But the docket

10
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.920
doesn't stop while we're away, so let me catch you

11
00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:47.439
up the big one. First. Nine days ago, May thirteen,

12
00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.039
the South Carolina Supreme Court did what almost no one

13
00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:54.640
in the Low Country expected. They reversed Alex Murdaw's murder

14
00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.719
convictions unanimous decision. They are giving him a new trial.

15
00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.439
The reason the Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, was caught

16
00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:06.200
having private conversations with the jury four person sometimes in

17
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.560
a single occupancy bathroom, and the Supreme Court said, in

18
00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.239
their words that Hill placed her fingers on the scales

19
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:16.000
of justice. That's not a metaphor I made up. That's

20
00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:20.159
the actual language from the unanimous opinion. Five days later,

21
00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.719
Murdoff filed a civil lawsuit against Becky Hill. And because

22
00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.840
everything in this case has to be a circus, South

23
00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:31.599
Carolina's Attorney General responded to the new trial news by

24
00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.799
floating the death penalty. We'll get to all of it. Second, Lacrosse, Wisconsin,

25
00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.400
Josie Dykman, we last sat with you on May fourth.

26
00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.239
We were four days into her trial. The trial has

27
00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.920
now ended. She has been convicted, but not on the charge.

28
00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:51.799
The prosecution wanted reckless homicide instead of intentional There's a

29
00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.239
story in that. And Third, a new trial just wrapped

30
00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:01.000
its defense case in the Florida Panhandle. Ross Johnson years old,

31
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.840
former mixed martial arts fighter with a five and two record.

32
00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:08.360
His nickname in the cage was the Juggernaut. He's on

33
00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:10.719
trial for the death of a US Air Force airman

34
00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:14.280
named Davon Larry after a bar fight in Panama City

35
00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:17.680
two and a half years ago. Yesterday, Johnson took the

36
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.960
stand and said he just pushed the guy. We'll get

37
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.840
to that one too. This is daily crime and justice.

38
00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:31.919
Let me walk you through this because this story has

39
00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:33.800
so many layers that if I just gave you the

40
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:37.400
headline Alex Murdad gets a new trial, you'd miss what's

41
00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:40.960
actually happening. If you've been with us since season one,

42
00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.719
you know the Murdac case. Eighty seven years of legal

43
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:51.639
dynasty in South Carolina's Low Country, three generations of solicitors, power, money, influence,

44
00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:56.199
until June seventh, twenty twenty one, when Alex Murdau's wife

45
00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:58.919
Maggie and his twenty two year old son Paul were

46
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.639
shot to death at the family hunting estate at Mosel.

47
00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.080
Alex Murdaw said he found the bodies. The prosecution said

48
00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.479
he killed them. In twenty twenty three, after a six

49
00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.520
week trial, a Colleton County jury took less than three

50
00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:17.400
hours to convict two consecutive life sentences no possibility of parole.

51
00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.280
That trial was run by a county Clerk of Court

52
00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:24.439
named Rebecca Hill Becky Hill. She managed the courtroom, she

53
00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.360
managed the jury, she managed access to everyone, and while

54
00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:32.080
the trial was happening, she was quietly writing a book

55
00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:36.800
about it, Behind the Doors of Justice, The Murdaw Murders.

56
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:40.840
She published it after the conviction. Then the defense started

57
00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:44.120
talking to the jurors, and the jurors started telling stories.

58
00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.800
One of them, identified in the court record only as JURORZ,

59
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:51.000
said that Becky Hill had told them not to be

60
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.719
fooled by evidence the defense presented, suggested they should quote

61
00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:00.360
watch him closely, look at his actions. That what's a

62
00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.319
court officer telling jurors how to interpret what they're seeing.

63
00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:07.439
That's not how this is supposed to work. That's not

64
00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:11.719
even close. Another juror, the one famously known in the

65
00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.719
Murdaw case as the egg Lady, was kicked off the

66
00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:18.319
jury after Becky Hill personally interrogated her about her social

67
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.399
media posts. Hill knew this juror had a fear of

68
00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.040
her ex husband. Hill told her that the ex husband

69
00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:26.920
had been questioned by law enforcement and offered to reinstate

70
00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:30.600
a restraining order. And then he'll speculated that and again

71
00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.439
this is in the court record, that the Murdaws probably

72
00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.319
got to him when he called her on the morning

73
00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.759
of the verdict. The Murdaws probably got to him. The

74
00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.560
Clerk of court telling a juror that, of course she did.

75
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.360
The egg Lady was dismissed. The new four person appointed

76
00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:50.160
to replace her was Juror eight two six and Juror

77
00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.519
eight two six. According to the lawsuit Alex Murdaw's team

78
00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:57.000
filed on Monday, was repeatedly seen going off with Becky

79
00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:02.279
Hill for private conversations five minutes, ten minutes. Sometimes they

80
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.800
went into the single occupancy jury room bathroom together. The

81
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.519
juror has never said what they talked about. When the

82
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.680
jury visited Mozelle, the murder site, the actual property where

83
00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:16.920
Maggie and Paul were killed, Juror eight two six and

84
00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:21.040
Hill walked off and had yet another private conversation while

85
00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:23.800
the jury was viewing the scene, the clerk of court,

86
00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:29.160
the four person off having a private conversation. And Hill's book,

87
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.920
her actual book, the book she was writing while the

88
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:36.399
trial was happening. There's a passage where she writes about

89
00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.759
the Mozelle visit, and she says, and this is where

90
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.560
you have to remember she was a court officer paid

91
00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:46.959
by the state of South Carolina to administer a trial fairly,

92
00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:51.000
she writes, and I'm quoting her here. While the jurors

93
00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.800
viewed the Mozelle property, we all could hear and see

94
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.759
Alex's story was impossible. Some of us, either from the courthouse,

95
00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:00.720
law enforcement, or jury at Mozelle had a an epiphany

96
00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:04.160
and shared our thoughts with our eyes. At that moment,

97
00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.319
many of us standing there new I knew, and they

98
00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.399
knew that Alex was guilty. I knew and they knew.

99
00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.199
That is the clerk of court writing a book describing

100
00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:18.000
how she communicated her belief in the defendants guilt to

101
00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:21.759
jurors with her eyes while the jury was at the

102
00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.040
crime scene, and she wrote it down she published it.

103
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.000
Becky Hill has already pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice

104
00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.279
and perjury for showing a reporter sealed court exhibits and

105
00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.600
then lying about it. She was never criminally charged for

106
00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.360
the jury tampering itself. She just got to keep all

107
00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.920
of it until last week May thirteenth, twenty twenty six

108
00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:48.199
South Carolina Supreme Court unanimous opinion. They wrote, both the

109
00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:52.920
state and Murdau's defense skillfully presented their cases. However, their

110
00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.720
efforts were in vain because coll Itton County Clerk of

111
00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:59.040
Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice,

112
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.399
thereby denying Murdaw his right to a fair trial by

113
00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:06.920
an impartial jury. There it is their efforts were in vain.

114
00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:10.639
The whole six week trial, the hundreds of witnesses, the

115
00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.920
kennel video, the cell phone evidence, the financial motive testimony,

116
00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.639
all of it in vain because the Clerk of court

117
00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.879
could not keep her hands off the jury. The justices

118
00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:27.120
acknowledged what this means. They wrote, although we are aware

119
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.040
of the time, money and effort expended for this lengthy trial,

120
00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.759
we have no choice but to reverse the denial of

121
00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.560
Murdaw's motion for a new trial and remand for a

122
00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:41.639
new trial. No choice, that's the language. The court did

123
00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.040
not want to do this, but Hill made the trial unfixable.

124
00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:49.920
Five days later, Monday May eighteenth, Alex Murdaw's attorneys held

125
00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.519
a press conference and they announced two things. Number One,

126
00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:58.519
Murdaw is suing Becky Hill civil lawsuit six and fourteenth

127
00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:04.439
Amendment violations, compensatory and punitive damages. Murdaw's attorney, Jim Griffin,

128
00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:06.720
made a point of saying, none of the money. If

129
00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:10.600
they win any we'll go to Alex personally. The point

130
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.920
of the lawsuit, he said, is to hold Becky Hill accountable.

131
00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.560
Number two, there will be no plea deal. Dick Carputlian,

132
00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:21.160
the lead attorney, said it as plainly as it can

133
00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.680
be said no plea deal, nor will he ever plead

134
00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:28.120
guilty off the table. We want a trial or they

135
00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.399
can dismiss it. Griffin added, he'll never enter to a plea,

136
00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.440
which requires some admission he did something he didn't do.

137
00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:40.519
That's not good enough. So that's where Murdaw's defense team

138
00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.320
is suing the clerk demanding a trial, no interest in

139
00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.639
a plea. But the other side of this is the

140
00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:51.080
Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who is, and

141
00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:56.159
this is important context, currently running for governor. Alan Wilson

142
00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.360
responded to the Supreme Court ruling by floating the death penalty,

143
00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.360
suggest yesting his office might seek death this time around.

144
00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.080
Now Maggie and Paul were shot in twenty twenty one,

145
00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:10.039
five years ago. Wilson did not seek the death penalty

146
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:13.240
the first time. The case has not gotten any new evidence,

147
00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:16.720
the fact pattern has not changed. The state just has

148
00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:20.840
to retry the case. And Harputlan, who is not exactly

149
00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.200
a man who lets things slide, went after Wilson directly.

150
00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.960
He said, and I quote, clearly, he's not talking to

151
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.679
the lawyers in his office. He's probably talking to his

152
00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.360
political consultants who thought that it was a good SoundBite

153
00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:37.000
for his governor's campaign. There is a playbook for this.

154
00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.080
Sitting attorney general decides to run for higher office, major,

155
00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:45.679
high profile case becomes available for theatrics. Suddenly the death

156
00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:49.360
penalty is on the table, not because anything legally changed,

157
00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.799
but because death penalty plays well in a Republican primary.

158
00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.519
Harputlien called it out by name. That's not a defense

159
00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.879
lawyer being clever. That's a defense lawyer pointing at the OBVI.

160
00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.840
Whether the death penalty is even legally available here is unclear.

161
00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.559
Harpoutlin pointed out the law may not allow it. The

162
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:12.320
next step now is procedural. The case gets formally remanded

163
00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.919
back to a trial court. A judge gets appointed in

164
00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.000
the next couple of weeks, and then the question becomes,

165
00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:21.159
how do you retry a case this high profile? Where

166
00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:23.840
does the jury pool come from? How fast can it move?

167
00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.679
Here's what I want to leave you with on this story.

168
00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:30.000
Alex Murdaugh has not been declared innocent. He has not

169
00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:33.679
been exonerated. The South Carolina Supreme Court did not say

170
00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.200
he didn't do it. The court said the trial was

171
00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.039
unfair because the clerk of court interfered with the jury.

172
00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:43.360
That's a very narrow ruling. The evidence against him hasn't moved.

173
00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.720
The kennel video, the cell phone data, the twenty two

174
00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.279
minute window, the financial motive, all of it still exists.

175
00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.879
All of it can be presented again, and the new jury,

176
00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.120
if there is a new jury, will hear most of it.

177
00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.559
A new trial does not equal acquit. A new trial

178
00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:05.279
means doing it all over again. But the court was

179
00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.320
unambiguous on one thing. What Becky Hill did was wrong.

180
00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:13.360
And no matter how guilty Alex Murdall might be, and

181
00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:16.320
the original jury thought he was guilty in under three hours,

182
00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.759
the system cannot let a court clerk pick the outcome,

183
00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.960
not even when the system agrees with her. Maggie Murdall

184
00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:27.120
was fifty two years old when she was shot. Paul

185
00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.919
Murdall was twenty two. They have been dead for almost

186
00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.480
five years. Their justice, whatever justice is going to look like,

187
00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:38.159
got handed back to the start of the line this

188
00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.759
week because of a clerk who could not stop herself

189
00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.759
from playing god in a courthouse. Someone has to say

190
00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.960
their names, Maggie, Paul. We'll be back when there's a

191
00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:58.279
judge assigned in a trial date set. Welcome back to

192
00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:02.080
Daily Crime and Justice. I'm Garrett Fisher. Three weeks ago

193
00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.159
May fourth, I sat down with you and walked you

194
00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:09.840
through the start of the Josie Dyckman trial Lacrosse County, Wisconsin.

195
00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:13.440
The defendant is the now thirty three year old girlfriend

196
00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.240
of a man named Derek Pedron. The victim is Pedron's

197
00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:21.840
six year old son, Alexavia Pedron. They called him a J.

198
00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:25.919
He died in February twenty twenty three. If you missed

199
00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:30.559
that episode, the very short version is this AJ was

200
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.600
in Josie Dyckman's care while his father was in jail

201
00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.879
on a domestic violence arrest. AJ had previously been hospitalized

202
00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.480
for a broken femur, the strongest bone in a six

203
00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:44.240
year old's body, and the hospital had flagged possible abuse.

204
00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:48.840
Five weeks later, AJ was dead. Deaconman called nine one

205
00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.440
one and said he'd gotten into a bag of medication.

206
00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.759
The medical examiner found blunt force trauma, a torn liver,

207
00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.240
brain swelling, and xanax in his system. That was where

208
00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.000
we left it. On May fourth. Trial was four days in.

209
00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.960
While I was away, the trial finished, so let me

210
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000
catch you up. Day five, May fifth, the state Putdikaman's

211
00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:12.919
eleven year old son on the stand. Her own son,

212
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:17.759
eleven years old, testified that he saw his mother hit, punch, kick,

213
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.440
and choke Aj. Repeatedly said the abuse happened when his

214
00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:25.519
father was at work or away. Said the day before

215
00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.600
AJ died, he watched his mother choke Aj with both

216
00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.919
hands while AJ's legs and arms flailed trying to get away.

217
00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.320
Said his mother wouldn't let Aj eat, would give him

218
00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:38.480
only pizza, cruss, would make him eat hot sauce, would

219
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.159
make him eat on the floor. Said he saw his

220
00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.360
mother push Aj down the stairs the same fall that

221
00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:48.519
broke AJ's leg. An eleven year old, describing his mother

222
00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.279
from the witness stand under oath that happened day six.

223
00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.440
The younger child testified to the same things. Said Aj

224
00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.519
got in trouble for stealing cheetos the night before he died,

225
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.919
and Dykeman kicked him for it. Said Dykeman beat him

226
00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.639
with a spatula. The chief Medical Examiner of Lacrosse County

227
00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:11.639
testified to the autopsy AJ died of blunt force trauma

228
00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:15.440
due to homicidal assault and the toxic effects of alprisolum.

229
00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:19.720
Alpersolum is the chemical name for xanax. The death certificate

230
00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:22.279
had been amended in June twenty twenty three to call

231
00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:26.919
it a homicide. Day seven, the nurses and the pediatric

232
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.879
hospitalist from the leg fracture in January twenty twenty three testified.

233
00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.399
The nurse practitioner said that Aj kept looking at Dykeman

234
00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.120
whenever he was asked how his leg got broken. A

235
00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:39.879
six year old child looks at the woman in the

236
00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:44.399
room before answering questions about his injuries. That tells you everything.

237
00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:51.919
Day eight, investigators bodycam search warrants. Day nine, the state

238
00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.039
put the defendant's pattern of behavior on display through phone

239
00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:59.440
records texts, the evidence that during the hours AJ was

240
00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:04.080
dying six pm to midnight on February tenth, Dykman exchanged

241
00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:07.759
about one hundred text messages with another man setting up

242
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.080
a date for the next day. The next day, then

243
00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:15.240
Pedron's ex girlfriend, Misty Craig, testified, and so did a

244
00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.039
friend of Derek Pedron, who said Pedron had used xanax

245
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.679
himself and had threatened to and I quote cut Misty

246
00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.799
Craig's head off and ship it to her mother if

247
00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.480
she talked about AJ or the trial. So the defense's

248
00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:30.519
witness pool also includes some of the worst sentences I

249
00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:33.200
have read out loud on this show. Pedron is not

250
00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:37.240
a defendant here, but he is, by everyone's testimony, a

251
00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:41.159
violent man. The state rested on day nine. Day ten,

252
00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:46.320
Josie Dyckman took the stand, denied everything, said she loved

253
00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.320
Aj as much as her own children, said Pedron was

254
00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.840
the abuser, said she is one hundred percent disabled with

255
00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.039
traumatic brain injuries from being assaulted by Pedron, and a

256
00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.879
previous ex girlfriend said she never withheld food, said so

257
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.200
sometimes AJ would eat things that made him sick. A

258
00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.279
forensic psychologist testified on her behalf diagnosed her with major

259
00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.600
neurocognitive disorder, said her memory deteriorates over time. Said she

260
00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:16.039
views the world as hostile and untrustworthy. The defense's theory

261
00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.200
Dyckman is too damaged to have done this, Pedron is

262
00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:24.120
the real killer, and AJ overdosed. Day eleven, the defense's

263
00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:28.440
forensic pathologist, doctor Eric Christensen, testified that he could not

264
00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:32.039
definitively determine cause of death. Said it could have been

265
00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.679
respiratory failure from xanax. Said the blunt force injuries could

266
00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:38.919
have been from rough play with siblings. That is and

267
00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.440
I want to say this carefully. That is one expert's opinion.

268
00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.720
The state's medical examiner had already ruled the death a homicide,

269
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:50.240
so the jury had two experts giving two different stories.

270
00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.919
The defense rested on day eleven. Day twelve closing arguments,

271
00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:58.519
State went hard. Pointed to the timing, pointed to the

272
00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.440
text messages, pointed out that Dykeman texted her date before

273
00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:04.880
calling her own mother before calling nine to one one,

274
00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:07.839
pointed out that Derek Pedron was in jail when the

275
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.240
xanax got into ajsystem, meaning Dykeman was the only adult

276
00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:16.319
with access. Pointed out that Dykeman deleted surveillance video and

277
00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:20.759
got rid of SD cards. The prosecution's words were, quote

278
00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:25.559
Dykeman forever silenced Alexavier with a brutal assault and intentional drugging.

279
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.920
The defense came back medical science doesn't support murder. The

280
00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.839
death was tragic, but not intentional. The children were coached

281
00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:39.319
Day thirteen, May fifteenth. The jury asked to see several

282
00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.720
videos again. Then they came back with a verdict guilty.

283
00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.759
But and this is the part that matters, not on

284
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:51.680
the top charge. The state had filed first degree intentional homicide.

285
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.160
The jury rejected that they came back with the lesser charge,

286
00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:00.319
first degree reckless homicide plus chronic neglect of a child

287
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.960
resulting in death plus repeated physical abuse of a child

288
00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:08.079
causing death. Let me walk you through what that distinction means,

289
00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:13.319
because it matters. First degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin means

290
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.799
the jury agreed she meant to kill Aj, mandatory life sentence.

291
00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:20.680
Reckless homicide means the jury agreed her conduct showed utter

292
00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:24.440
disregard for human life, but they did not unanimously agree

293
00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.799
she meant to kill him. Reckless homicide carries up to

294
00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.000
sixty years. Why does that matter Because the jury heard

295
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.599
about an eleven year old testifying that he saw his

296
00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:37.519
mother choke Aj with both hands a day before his death.

297
00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.279
They heard about a torn liver, They heard about brain swelling,

298
00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:44.200
They heard about xanax in the bloodstream of a six

299
00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.680
year old. They heard about a hundred text messages to

300
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.960
a date during the dying hours. And what they came

301
00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.960
back with was, we're not certain enough that she meant

302
00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:57.519
to kill him to call it intentional. I'm not going

303
00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:59.839
to pretend to know what was in that jury room.

304
00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:04.200
They saw the videos, they listen to the children, They

305
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:07.839
watched Josie Dykman testify and tell them she didn't do it.

306
00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:12.759
They split the difference. But Alexavier Pedron was six years old.

307
00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.920
He had a broken femur five weeks before his death,

308
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.599
a leg bone that in a six year old does

309
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.240
not break in a fall. He had a hospital that

310
00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:24.319
flagged abuse and sent him home anyway. He had a

311
00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.680
mother figure who, according to the testimony of her own children,

312
00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:30.200
kicked him while he was on the floor and choked

313
00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.759
him with both hands. He should be nine years old today.

314
00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:36.279
He should be a third grader. He should be playing

315
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.119
with the cousins his grandmother called the Three Musketeers. He

316
00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:44.680
should be alive. Instead, he's dead, and the woman who

317
00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:46.960
was the only adult with him when he died is

318
00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.599
going to prison, but not for the rest of her life,

319
00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:54.440
just for most of it. Someone has to say his name,

320
00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:59.279
A J. Pedron. Alexavier will bring you the sentencing when

321
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:10.279
it's scheduled. Last story, Panama City, Florida. Ross Johnson, twenty

322
00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:14.119
six years old, former mixed martial arts fighter, five wins,

323
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:18.519
two losses, cage name the Juggernaut. He is on trial

324
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:21.400
for manslaughter an aggravated battery in the death of a

325
00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:25.480
US Air Force airman named Devon Larry. The fight happened

326
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:29.480
April ninth, twenty twenty three. Larry was thirty one years old.

327
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.400
Here's the setup. Ross Johnson and his friends were at

328
00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.519
the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Panama City. There was a

329
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.519
scuffle with another group at the bar. The scuffle moved

330
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.400
outside and in the parking lot, things escalated. Davon Larry,

331
00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.240
a member of the United States Air Force, was killed.

332
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:51.519
Johnson took the stand in his own defense yesterday May twentieth,

333
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:55.160
twenty twenty six, and his testimony was let me give

334
00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.359
it to you. In his words, he was protecting his friend.

335
00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:01.920
Johnson said his focus the whole time was on a

336
00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:07.079
man named John Chester. Chester is, by Johnson's testimony, a

337
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:10.759
friend who he had previously seen get beaten up. Johnson

338
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.039
said when he turned around in the parking lot, he

339
00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:17.200
saw Davon Larry with his arm outstretched towards Chester, pushing him,

340
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.319
pointing at him. The defense played surveillance video from inside

341
00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:25.319
the bar walk the jury through it. Johnson narrating standing

342
00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:28.599
near two women, putting down a drink, putting his hands

343
00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:32.839
in his pockets, just quote making sure everything was under control.

344
00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.359
Then he saw Larry empty a bottle of beer but

345
00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:40.000
keep holding the bottle. That concerned him, and then his

346
00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:43.359
attention went back to Chester, who by this point was

347
00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:48.200
outside in the parking lot in the fetal position. Johnson said, quote,

348
00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:51.440
I saw two people putting hands on John Chester and

349
00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:55.000
he was lying in the fetal position on the ground, defenseless.

350
00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:59.440
So Johnson said he ran to help, and he pushed

351
00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.160
Larry out of the way, and he told his attorney

352
00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:05.200
he believes he only pushed Larry, he did not hit him.

353
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:09.559
Then prosecution got him on cross. The prosecutor pushed back,

354
00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:14.000
asked him repeatedly whether he remembered hitting Larry. Johnson conceded

355
00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:16.960
he had MMA training, conceded he had a five and

356
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.279
two record in official fights. Conceded his nickname was the Juggernaut.

357
00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:26.160
The prosecutor also got him on this in MMA, in

358
00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.279
the sport, it is a foul to hit your opponent

359
00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:33.279
in the back of the head. Johnson acknowledged that. The

360
00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:38.079
prosecutor asked why that rule exists. Johnson said, for protection.

361
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.400
For protection, that is the answer. The rule against hitting

362
00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:45.720
people in the back of the head. In mixed martial

363
00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.359
arts exists because hitting someone in the back of the

364
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:52.799
head can kill them. Ross Johnson knew that rule was

365
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:56.119
trained in it had been competing in fights for years

366
00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:59.079
where that rule was enforced, specifically because the back of

367
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:02.920
the skull is fra After the fight ended, Johnson did

368
00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:05.279
not stay at the scene. He went back to the hotel.

369
00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:09.799
He saw police, but did not stop. He said, quote,

370
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.920
I didn't know that they were there for me. Then

371
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:14.960
he left the hotel with two women he had met

372
00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.519
at the bar to spend the night with them. He

373
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.680
did not know Davon Larry was dead until officers told him.

374
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:25.200
The defense rested after his testimony. Now here's what I'm

375
00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:28.920
gonna say about this. Carefully. The trial is not over.

376
00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.599
Closing arguments and jury deliberations are still to come. The

377
00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:36.319
standard for manslaughter in Florida is going to require the

378
00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.559
state to prove certain elements about Johnson's actions and intent.

379
00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:43.880
The defence's theory that Johnson was protecting a defenseless friend

380
00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:49.559
is a recognized defense. The presumption of innocence applies. But

381
00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:51.400
I want to lay out what the jury is going

382
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:54.400
to weigh. A man with a five and two record

383
00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:59.400
in mma, a trained fighter walks into a bar fight situation.

384
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:03.519
He's a friend on the ground, engages with another participant.

385
00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:08.119
The other participant, Davon Larry, US Air Force, thirty one

386
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.720
years old, ends up dead. Johnson says he didn't hit him,

387
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.640
just pushed him, and then he left the bar, left

388
00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:18.240
the scene, went to the hotel, saw police didn't stop.

389
00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.400
Spent the night with women he had just met. That

390
00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:25.160
is the fact pattern. Davon Larry was thirty one years

391
00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:28.480
old United States Air Force airman, was on a night

392
00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:31.279
out in Panama City. He is not here to tell

393
00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:34.720
his side of the story. Closing arguments are expected next.

394
00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:36.880
We will bring you the verdict when it comes in.

395
00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:45.119
Make this make sense. That is Daily Crime and Justice

396
00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:48.759