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10 Chilling Facts About Thomas Lee Dillion

Thomas Lee Dillion was a serial sniper born in Canton, Ohio on July 9, 1950. He grew up without a father and he viewed his mother as a cold woman because she never praised him or punished him. Lee told a psychologist that he had no memories of his mother kissing him, hugging him or telling him she loved him. Thomas began killing his victims in the early 1980s until the early 1990s. He shot and killed five outdoorsmen at random in Southeastern Ohio. Lee was later captured in 1992 and he pleaded guilty to all five murders.

Dillion was sentenced to life in prison at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility and he remained behind bars until his death in 2011. Therefore, in this article, we are going to explore more disturbing facts about Thomas Dillion.

1. He had no motive for killing his victims

Dillion who was nicknamed 鈥渒iller鈥� by his co-workers because he boasted about killing a thousand animals turned out to be a serial sniper who murdered five outdoorsmen who were just doing their daily activities i.e., jogging, fishing and bowhunting. When he got arrested and confessed to all murders, he said his reason for the killing was simply: “I have major problems. I’m crazy. I want to kill. I want to kill.” He also stated that there was a voice in his head commanding him to shoot the people. 

2. He murdered people he was not familiar with

Dillion’s first victim was a 35-year-old man who was neither his friend nor relative just a total stranger to him. The man had just gone out for a jog on the roads where he met Dillion and said to him “What’s up” just before Dillion Shot him in April 1989. Later on in November 1990, Dillion shot 21-year-old Jamie Paxton, who had just left his home to go bowhunting. Thomas admitted that he had never seen him before.

He still went ahead and killed his third victim Kevin Loring a 30-year-old man whom he didn鈥檛 recognize either. In March 1992 he shot his fourth victim Claude Hawkins on federal land and in April of the same year he shot his final victim Gary Bradley.   

3. He enjoyed killing animals

When Thomas was a teenager, he used to kill animals and later on he would keep counts of the animals he had killed on a calendar. This disturbing behaviour went on even after he had graduated from Ohio State University. When he was hired as a draftsman Thomas would frequently brag about how he had slaughtered over 1000 animals to his fellow co-workers. His co-workers had even nicknamed him 鈥淜iller.鈥� Things got pretty bad when he started to kill livestock and family pets.

4. He murdered his victims with a high-powered rifle

A picture of rifles. , , via Wikimedia Commons

Between 1 April 1989 and April 1992, Thomas murdered 5 people who were outdoorsmen using a high-powered rifle. Earlier on Thomas had been placed under surveillance by the FBI because he was arrested for using a silencer in the wilderness park and he surrendered all weapons to the police as part of his plea deal. This did not make him stop because he went and purchased another handgun at a gun show. The handgun was later located by the officials who were patting him to arrest him and they found it.

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5. He replied to a letter Jamie Paxton’s mother wrote

Jamie Paxton had just left his home to go bowhunting when he met Thomas who shot him three times and left his body in a field for his friends to find later. This was sad news to his family most especially his mother who went ahead and wrote an open letter to his son’s killer in the local newspaper. Dillion anonymously responded to this letter stating that he was the murderer of Jamie Paxton and that he never knew or saw him he was a total complete stranger to him. He went further to say he was just drinking beer after Jaxton’s murder and he had blocked out all thoughts of what he had just done.

6. Dillion had a passion for weapons

People at a gun show. , , via Wikimedia Commons

According to his fellow friend Richard Fry who was also a hunter said that Dillion was always changing guns. He went further and said Dillion never left his gun behind, he always carried it when he even rode a bike. Thomas would sometimes buy guns from gun shows and most of them came from private sales, mail orders from gun dealers and classified ads. He also did a t of firing about 1000 rounds a year from target practice that he ended up ruining his hearing. Thomas also used a crossbow.

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7. His fantasy became reality

Dillion鈥檚 classmates said that he was very intelligent but was a loner with few friends. They also said he was so quiet and he didn’t participate in any extracurricular activities during his school years. This behaviour continued in his adulthood as he would always take trips alone into the backwoods. He will drive hundreds of miles on these trips fantasying about being a special forces soldier, out hunting for enemy combatants. His fantasy came to reality during the late 1980s and early 1990s.   

8. He was responsible for setting up fires

A picture of a fire. , , via Wikimedia Commons

When Lee was arrested on November 27, 1992, he pleaded guilty to all the five murders he had committed. The authority believed that Thomas took part in the 108 arsons of barns that had been reported but Thomas admitted he was guilty of setting up 160 fires and engaging in other acts of vandalism in Eastern Ohio. The police also believed he was responsible for the abandoned houses in Tuscarawas, Carrol, Coshocton and Harrison counties since 1988.

9. He frightened Fry鈥檚 son with a dead chipmunk.

Fry was a fellow friend and hunter to Thomas. When they went hunting, Fry noticed Thomas’s weird behaviour of killing innocent dogs beside the roads and helped the FBI team to find Thomas when they were searching for him. Before all these Thomas had frightened Fry’s son in the mid-1980s with a dead chipmunk. The boy who was at the age of 5/6 was chased around the yard until he tripped and fell. Thomas then ground that chipmunk on his face.

10. He talked about how easy murder would be

Fry, Thomas’s friend and fellow hunter confessed to how Dillion talked of murder. He told him that it was so easy to murder someone and get away with it simply because you can just easily go in and out of the country and find a victim there to murder and ensure there are no witnesses. He would also ask Fry if he thought he had murdered someone and Fry replied that he doesn鈥檛 think so. While taking long drives with Fry, Lee would shoot innocent dogs on the roads. Lee also had bragged to his fellow colleagues about how he had killed over 1000 animals and they had even nicknamed him 鈥淜iller.鈥� 

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