Oak Ridge Today

For members: Charged with attempted murder, man pleads guilty to aggravated assault

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A Knoxville man was sentenced to eight years in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault after originally being charged with attempted first-degree murder in Oak Ridge.

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Daniel Ray Price

A Knoxville man was sentenced to eight years in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault after originally being charged with attempted first-degree murder in Oak Ridge.

Daniel Ray Price, 38, had a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday, August 26.

A Knoxville man was sentenced to eight years in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault after originally being charged with attempted first-degree murder in Oak Ridge.

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Attempted murder charge sent to grand jury

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Miccarrow D. Trice Jr.

An attempted murder charge filed against an Oak Ridge man was sent to the grand jury on Tuesday after a woman was allegedly shot in the face at an apartment complex in May.

There was a preliminary hearing for Miccarrow D. Trice Jr., 25, in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

After the hearing, Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller bound over an attempted first-degree murder charge against Trice. That means the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton could now consider whether to file charges against Trice. There is no timeline for when the grand jury might hear the case, but the process can take six months or so. A grand jury indictment moves the case from general sessions court to criminal court.

The shooting was reported at Manhattan Apartments on North Purdue Avenue at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 20.

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Psychiatric, mental health exams scheduled for Finnegan, Dishman

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge some time between December 2019 and August 2020, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Psychiatric and mental health evaluations have now been scheduled for the two defendants charged with murder, sex crimes, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse in a series of gruesome crimes allegedly committed against a 36-year-old woman in a home in east Oak Ridge between December 2019 and August 2020.

The mental health evaluation for Sean Finnegan, 52, the first co-defendant, is scheduled for Monday at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in Oak Ridge. His evaluation was ordered by Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller on Friday, August 21.

Finnegan’s evaluation by Ridgeview is expected to include his competency to stand trial and his mental capacity at the time he allegedly committed the crimes against Jennifer Gail Paxton, the 36-year-old Knoxville woman who was killed, according to arrest warrants. Finnegan’s evaluation is also expected to include an IQ test and an evaluation of his ability to assess his conduct.

The results of the evaluation will be reported to public defender Kathy Kroeger, the court, and prosecutors. The results are usually not available to the public.

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Evaluation ordered for Finnegan, charged with murder, rape, kidnapping

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge between December 2019 and August 2020, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

An evaluation at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital has been ordered for a 52-year-old man charged with murder, rape, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse in a series of gruesome crimes allegedly committed against a 36-year-old woman in a home in east Oak Ridge between December 2019 and August 2020.

The evaluation was ordered for Sean Finnegan in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Friday. The evaluation was recommended by Finnegan’s attorney, who was able to show why it should be conducted, Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller said in the order.

Finnegan is represented by Kathy Kroeger, a public defender in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.

The evaluation by Ridgeview is expected to include Finnegan’s competency to stand trial and his mental capacity at the time he allegedly committed the crimes against Jennifer Gail Paxton of Knoxville. It is also expected to include an IQ test and an evaluation of Finnegan’s ability to assess his conduct.

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Judge denies motion to reduce bond for Dishman, who could face death penalty

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Rebecca Dishman, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Note: This story was last updated at 11:45 p.m.

An Anderson County judge on Tuesday denied a motion to reduce the $1 million bond for Rebecca Dishman, and a prosecutor said the state could consider the death penalty in the “especially heinous” murder.

Dishman, 22, is one of two defendants charged with murder, sex crimes, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse in a series of gruesome crimes allegedly committed against Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36, of Knoxville, in a home in east Oak Ridge sometime between December and August.

Dishman had a hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday afternoon. She was represented by defense attorney Paul Sexton.

Sexton said Dishman waived her right to be in court, and she did not appear to hear the discussion of her case. On Dishman’s behalf, Sexton asked Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller to reduce her bond.

“She’s a woman of limited means,” Sexton said, and there is no way she can afford to be released on bond.

Under the law, Dishman is entitled to a reasonable bond, Sexton said.

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For members: Police say they found parts matching defendant’s car at fatal hit-and-run

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Police officers investigating a hit-and-run collision that killed a pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Tuesday morning said they found vehicle parts matching the defendant’s car at the crash site.

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Christhian Ordonez-Alvarenza

Police officers investigating a hit-and-run collision that killed a pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Tuesday morning said they found vehicle parts matching the defendant’s car at the crash site.

Shortly after the crash, police found parts of his car, a 2008 Honda Accord, in a trash can on the street at his home, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Police officers investigating a hit-and-run collision that killed a pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Tuesday morning said they found vehicle parts matching the defendant’s car at the crash site.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

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Oak Ridge Today
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Bond for Finnegan set at $1 million in murder, rape, kidnapping case

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Sean Finnegan

Note: This story contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Bond for Sean Finnegan was set at $1 million on Monday. It’s the same bond his co-defendant, Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, received on Friday.

Finnegan, 52, and Dishman, 22, are charged with murder, sex crimes, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse after a 36-year-old woman, Jennifer Gail Paxton, was allegedly tortured, raped, and strangled, and her body was allegedly cut and broken before being stuffed into a freezer in a home in east Oak Ridge.

Finnegan has been charged with five felonies after the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a homicide report at the home on East Fairview Road on Wednesday night and found Paxton’s body during a search of the home early Thursday. The five felony charges against Finnegan are first-degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

Dishman has also been charged with five felonies: first-degree murder, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

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Victim identified, bond set at $1 million for Dishman

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Rebecca Dishman

Note: This story contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Bond was set at $1 million on Friday for Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman, one of two Oak Ridge defendants charged with first-degree murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping after a 36-year-old woman was allegedly tortured, raped, and strangled, and her mutilated body was stuffed into a freezer.

The identity of the victim, Jennifer Gail Paxton, hadn’t initially been released because authorities wanted to ensure that family members had been notified of her death. On Friday night, the City of Oak Ridge said Paxton’s family had been notified.

Dishman, 22, one of the two defendants, has been charged with five felonies after Paxton’s death: first-degree murder, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

Her co-defendant, Sean Finnegan, 52, has also been charged with five felonies: first-degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

Finnegan could have his bond set Monday, according to records in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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Warrants: Woman tortured, raped before being killed

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Sean Finnegan

Note: This story contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

The 36-year-old woman found dead in an Oak Ridge home early Thursday had been lured there with the promise of a place to stay, according to arrest warrants.

But once at the home on East Fairview Road, she became the victim of a series of gruesome crimes, including murder, according to the warrants, which were filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Sergeant Marvell Moore.

The woman was held against her will, tortured, and raped before she was killed, the warrants said.

She was chained to a bed and shackled with a dog collar, said the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. She was struck on the head and an arm with a baseball bat so she wouldn’t resist or try to escape the attacks, and her arms were bound with zip ties, the warrants said.

Once she was incapacitated, the two defendants in the case, Sean Finnegan, 52, and Rebecca Dishman, 22, both of Oak Ridge, repeatedly raped her before strangling her, causing her to die, the warrants said.

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Three people shot, two arrested, one charged with attempted murder

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Adrian C. Curb

Three people were shot in Oak Ridge on Thursday, four bystanders were allegedly in imminent danger, and two people have been arrested, with one facing two charges of attempted first-degree murder, according to police and court records.

Adrian Conan Curb, the 40-year-old Oak Ridge man charged with attempted murder after the shooting, allegedly had a handgun with a drum-style magazine attached, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The shooting was reported at about 8:39 p.m. Thursday on South Dillard Avenue in Scarboro.

The three people who were shot were taken to hospitals with injuries that aren’t considered life-threatening, the Oak Ridge Police Department said in a press release Friday.

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Man charged with attempted murder after stabbing

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An Oak Ridge man has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing was reported early Monday.

Jordan Young, 33, was charged with attempted second-degree murder, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The warrants said the stabbing was reported on Utica Circle at about 4:24 a.m. Monday.

Police learned that a man had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen and leg, the warrants said. Friends had taken him to the hospital.

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Man charged with attempted murder after woman shot in face

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An Oak Ridge man has been charged with attempted murder and attempted robbery after a woman was allegedly shot in the face on May 20 while the man allegedly tried to take her vehicle.

Miccarrow D. Trice Jr., 25, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and attempted especially aggravated robbery.

The charges were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on May 21. Trice’s bond has been set at $175,000.

The shooting was reported at Manhattan Apartments on North Purdue Avenue at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 20.

[Read more…]