Brutal murder of boy, step-mom still unsolved 10 years later

FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) — One of the most gruesome crimes to ever happen in Johnson County is still unsolved, ten years later. A woman and her 10-year old step son were stabbed to death, police say, for no apparent reason.

Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye for the Dickus family. Unable to truly move forward, they’re still stuck in 2006. They do, however, find a ray of light through police, who believe they have a break in the case.

Old home videos shows Blake Dickus grinning ear to ear. A birthday cake with ten candles lit, as his family surrounds him singing Happy Birthday. It wasn’t just birthdays that made him smile though. His mom, Christina Dickus says it was life in general.

“He liked to be funny. He liked to make everyone laugh. He had a heart of gold and he wanted everyone to be happy,” she said.

The same could be said about Blake’s step mom, 26-year-old Chyna Dickus. Before her murder, she had just gotten back from a mission trip in El Salvador.

“That woman was pure and perfect and helped me to become the man that I was for them,” said Sean Dickus, Chyna’s widower.

But that came crashing down, one tragic day. July 24, 2006, Blake had spent the weekend with his dad, and Chyna.

“Blake called. He wanted to stay longer to have lunch with his dad,” recalls Christina.

Sean added, “I came home for lunch. I had a nice, pleasant lunch. I got to spend a little time with Blake and I got to spend time with Chyna, working on school work, ate some chow, then I went back to work.”

Sean got home around 5 that evening. Everything seemed normal from the outside. But on the inside a horrific crime scene. He found his wife and son bloody and lifeless. They both suffered multiple stab wounds. Blake also died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.

“It’s your worse nightmare. You saw your loved ones and they were just wasted, tortured. They suffered. It’s the worse imaginable nightmare,” said Sean.

Christina didn’t know what happened right away. She had made plans with Blake to see a movie that night. Chyna was expected to drop him off at his maternal grandparent’s home. Christina had already purchased movie tickets. She excitedly drove to her parents to pick Blake up. He wasn’t there. She tried contacting both Sean and Chyna, but they didn’t answer. So, she drove to Sean’s Franklin home in the Branigin Creek Subdivision. Before she even arrived, she noticed the neighborhood was lit up with police lights.

“I get out of my car and I went running down the sidewalk. I see the caution tape around the home. The garage door was up and I’m screaming for Blake,” she says.

Christina was met by a detective with the Franklin Police Department, “I was just like please tell me where Blake is. Tell me what hospital he’s at…and he couldn’t look at me in my eyes. He put his head down and I started screaming, ‘NO,’” she cried.

Sean became numb, “Time stopped. It just felt like you were on a foreign planet.”

But time didn’t stop for Franklin Police, “We’ve investigated over 532 leads on this investigation. As a result, we’ve conducted thousands of interviews, submitted countless pieces of evidence to the laboratory at the State Police,” said Detective Sergeant John Borges.

One break in the case came last year. Borges says a common denominator came in the form of a window screen, “The screen was cut in a T pattern, sliced over and sliced down to where it layed open to where somebody could actually crawl through a window.”

Borges believes the Dickus case is related to a string of five burglaries in Franklin that were similar.

• All of the break ins had window screens that had been cut in a T shape.
• The burglaries all happened during the summer months of June and July.
• They were all committed during the daytime.
• The victims in each case reported ransacking and refrigerators that had been gone through.
• Each happened within a half mile radius of the Dickus home, on Aberdeen Drive.
• One occurred on the same day and street as the Dickus murders.

“We believe there is a direct correlation. We believe the scene are connected and we’re seeking the public’s help. (We’re) trying to find out who is responsible for those burglaries as well as the homicide,” said Detective Sgt. Borges.

By reliving the tragedy and sharing their story, the Dickus family hopes that somebody will have the heart to come forward.

“He would be 20 years old. I just wish I had one more day with him,” cried Christina.

Sean added, “My boy and my wife will get justice. They deserve that.”

Police believe somebody knows what happened, or somebody has information on those burglaries. If that is you, authorities ask that you contact your local police, even if you think your tip is minor. There is a $25,000 reward being offered in this case.