A North Carolina man has been charged with four counts of murder after he called authorities to say he had killed his children.
Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, was being held without bond in the Johnston County Jail, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
Newsweek has contacted the sheriff’s office via email for comment.
The Context
Dickens called 911 around 10 p.m. on Monday and told the operator he had killed his children, the sheriff’s office said in a news release posted on Facebook.
Deputies who responded to his home found his 3-year-old son alive, as Dickens had said, inside the residence on the outskirts of Zebulon, about 25 miles east of Raleigh. Dickens told deputies four of his other children were deceased inside the trunk of the vehicle inside the garage. The deputies discovered what they believed to be “multiple bodies” in the trunk and determined the remains had been there for a long period of time, the sheriff’s office said.
What To Know
The sheriff’s office said Dickens was charged with one count of murder Tuesday in the death of a juvenile child. Three more murder counts were filed later in the day, records show.
The sheriff’s office said investigators believe Dickens killed three of his biological children and his 18-year-old stepchild. The victims have been identified as Leah Dickens, 6, Zoe Dickens, 9, Wellington Dickens, 10, and Sean Brasfield, 18.
The arrest warrants say authorities believe the victims were killed May 1.
Dickens’ wife, Stephanie, died in April 2024, and Dickens said five children lived in their Zebulon home, according to court records from his wife’s estate.
Her death came just over a year after Dickens’ father died when his car crashed into a box truck in Lee County, North Carolina.
Dickens’ great uncle Charles Moore told WRAL-TV that Dickens was an Iraq War veteran. Moore said he last saw him about a year ago and that he “seemed fine.”
What People Are Saying
Wellington Dickens’ great uncle Charles Moore told WRAL-TV: “He was in the service, and he had a problem ever since he came back, I think.”
The sheriff’s office said: “Through further investigation it is believed Mr. Dickens killed three of his biological children, ages 6, 9 and 10, and his 18-year-old stepchild. The State Medical Examiner’s Office was contacted and responded to the scene. Crime scene investigators with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation were contacted and responded to the scene to assist the crime scene investigators with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.”
What’s Next
Dickens appeared before a judge on the initial murder charge on Tuesday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
