Thomas Dillon: The Ohio serial killer who killed people for just existing

Like countless others, reading about serial killers has always fascinated me. And no, I am not morbid or creepy. I am intrigued by how a seemingly normal person can kill innocent people without even thinking about it. Moreover, it comes as a surprise how people can deceive both their close friends and significant others for years.

Ted Bundy is among the most notorious serial killers in American history. As Bundy once said, "We serial killers are your sons, husbands, and fathers, and there will be more victims tomorrow." FBI profilers have spent years trying to profile these vicious killers, hoping to stop them.

A serial killer terrorized southeastern Ohio between 1989 and 1992. Ultimately, he would kill five innocent men. He may also have other unidentified victims. Thomas Dillon was the name of this killer.

On July 9, 1950, Thomas Lee Dillon was born in Canton, Ohio. His father had died when he was an infant and he said his mother was cold and indifferent. Dillon would later say that his mother didn’t show him much love. He would follow in the footsteps of many other serial killers. Before killing people, he killed and tormented animals. According to him, he had killed at least 1,000 animals. Dillon had earned a degree from the Ohio State University and had worked as a draftsman for the city of Canton.

Dillon considered himself a “hunter of men.”

Thomas Dillon's first known victim was Donald Welling, a 35-year-old man in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, who was jogging on the roads near his home in April 1989.

His next victim was 21-year-old Jamie Paxton, who left his home to go hunting. In November 1990, Dillon shot and killed him. Paxton’s body was found in a field. In the year following his death, his mother wrote to a local newspaper asking the killer why he killed her son.

Dillon saw the letter and responded to it.

He said he killed Paxton without remorse because Paxton happened to be in his field of vision. Kevin Loring, a 30-year-old man, became Dillon's third victim. It wasn't until after Loring's death that law enforcement determined the killings were connected. Claude Hawkins and Gary Bradley were Dillon's final two victims.

An acquaintance of Dillon’s named Richard Fry would eventually help law enforcement capture Dillon. Fry had seen a criminal profile on television that made him suspicious of his friend. Fry also remembered that Dillon had previously told him that killing people in rural areas was an easy crime to commit. After Dillon’s capture, law enforcement asked him why he killed five men he didn’t know. He had no explanation.

He simply said, “They were just there.”

Dillon was sentenced to aggravated murder in five consecutive 30-year sentences on July 12, 1993. His sentence was served at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The 61-year-old Dillon died in a prison medical facility on October 21, 2011 after becoming ill. Why would a seemingly normal college educated man like Thomas Dillon decide to kill people for no reason? Was he insane or did he just enjoy killing people for no particular reason? It will remain another one of life’s unsolved mysteries.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.