Woman’s wrongful death nets $45 million verdict

In 2007, 68-year-old retired banker Sara Jones Dixon was murdered in her home. Today, three men, including her stepson, are serving prison sentences related to her killing.

Earlier this month, an Alamance County jury returned a $45 million wrongful death verdict against the trio in a civil case. Dixon’s son, James Michael Neese, the executor of his mother’s estate, filed the suit in September 2009.

In December, a Wake County Superior Court Judge granted partial summary judgment for the estate and determined that a jury should determine the damages.

On the evening of Nov. 28, 2007, or early morning hours of Nov. 29, Matthew Fields and Thomas Friday kicked in Dixon’s door, snuck into her bedroom and shot her twice in the head, according to news reports. Authorities said money was the motive in the murder-for-hire plot, and the men were enlisted by Dixon’s 42-year-old stepson, Robert “Dennis” Dixon.

Prosecutors alleged that Dennis Dixon began to plan his stepmother’s demise in the spring of 2007 as medical costs began to mount when his father was placed in a full-time nursing facility. Court documents show that Sara was forced to sell pieces of her husband’s 41-acre estate to pay the bills.

The state initially argued for the death penalty, saying that Dennis Dixon had arranged the killing – including providing Fields and Thomas a map of the home – to save the family property so he could inherit it.

With the belief that it would be cheaper to have his father cared for at home, authorities said, Dennis Dixon contracted Friday, whom he knew through a business connection, to kill his stepmother. Friday, authorities say, then recruited Fields.

Friday avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to first-degree murder and testifying against his co-defendants. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Dennis Dixon was convicted of murder and burglary and is also serving life.

Fields was acquitted of murder but convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to a minimum of about 17 years in prison.

It is unclear whether any of the defendants have assets or what, if any, recovery of damages can actually be made. Plaintiff’s attorney Daniel Bullard of Walker Bullard in Gibsonville indicated that if there is a recovery, it is unlikely to be anywhere near the amount of the award. But the one thing the verdict did provide, he said, is some degree of closure for the family.

“They are gratified that the jury placed that kind of value on the life of their mother,” Bullard said. “The criminal process provides means of punishment but really doesn’t look at the value of the victims.”

VERDICT REPORT

Wrongful death

Injuries alleged: Loss of life/murder

Case name: Estate of Sara Jones Dixon v. Robert Dennis Dixon, Thomas Clay Friday, Matthew Devon Fields

Case number: 09 CVS 3222

Court: Alamance County

Special damages: $4,500 for funeral expenses

Amount: $45 million

Date: Feb. 19, 2015

Attorney for plaintiff: Daniel Bullard of Walker & Bullard, Gibsonville

Attorney for defendant: N/A

Has the plaintiff been successful in collecting the judgment? No