NC Dad Kills Four of His Children, and His Confession is Haunting

A North Carolina town is reeling after four siblings were discovered dead. And police say someone close to the children confessed to killing them and leaving their remains in the trunk of a car as early as May.

It was late Monday (Oct. 27) when Wellington Delano Dickens III called authorities to share a gruesome confession. According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, the 38-year-old dad admitted to 911 operators that he killed his three biological children and 18-year-old step child.

Deputies who arrived at Dickens’ home on Springtooth Drive in Zebulon, a city about 20 miles outside of Raleigh, around 10pm, made the horrific discovery. Inside the garage was a parked two-door Honda sedan that held “multiple bodies,” authorities said. The victims were identified as Leah Dickens, 6, Zoe Dickens, 9, Wellington Dickens, 10, and Sean Brassfield, Dickens’ teenage step son.

The sheriff’s office said the kids’ remains appeared to have been there for an extended period, and that their deaths occurred over the span of months and as early as May 1, according to court records obtained by USA Today. The kids were reportedly homeschooled, as Wake County and Johnston County school systems said they were not enrolled in either district.

But one child was left alive, per reports.

The suspect’s 3-year-old son was found by authorities in the home alive and unharmed. As of now, there’s no known motive.

“I never saw a child outside playing,” Fran Majkowski, Dickens’ neighbor, said, per WRAL. “I never saw him mowing a lawn. The only time I ever saw them was the day they moved in and like I said … you just get the feeling someone is to themselves.”

Last April, Dickens’ wife, Stephanie, died at home on April 21, Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said in a press conference. Stephanie, who was three months pregnant at the time, was found deceased by Dickens. Her death was attributed to miscarriage complications, local news station ABC 6 reported, as Dickens told authorities that she was severely bleeding the night before she died and refused to go to a hospital.

Debra Riley, who lived next door to Dickens, said the father had “became more of a recluse” after his wife’s death. A third neighbor, Sherry Burton, also told the outlet how her son smelled something “very, very strong” coming from the house, so strong her son almost vomited from the stench.

Dickens was arrested, charged with four counts of first-degree murder, and currently behind bars at the Johnston County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty.

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