← Anatomy of Murder
Anatomy of Murder
Vicky and Ricky (Vicky Purdy & Ricky Dodson)
00:46:52
One is found dead, and the other is missing. Police would need to untangle their lives before uncovering the truth about what happened to them both.
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- [00:00]
A
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C
I'm worried that something's happened to both of them. That's what I'm worried about.
- [01:27]
D
You think they're both still living? Do you think? What do you think? I know you may not want to think it, but tell me what you think.
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C
In my mind, I'm accepting the reality that it's possible for all this to be taking place.
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B
I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
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A
I'm Anna Sega Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of investigation discoveries True Conviction.
- [02:04]
B
And this is Anatomy of Murder.
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A
If you think nothing happens in a small town, well, you probably haven't spent much time in one.
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B
Because in places where everyone seems to know each other by name, people also tend to know everyone's business and their secrets.
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A
It was 2013 when the tiny rural community of Bassett, Virginia, found themselves entwined in a big web of lies, betrayals, and eventually, murder.
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E
I'm Holly Willoughby. I am a lieutenant assigned to criminal investigations at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Franklin County, Virginia.
- [02:48]
B
The daughter of a detective, Holly Willoughby spent 24 years as a homicide investigator in Roanoke, Virginia, a genuine metropolis compared to neighboring Franklin County. But after a long career following in her father's footsteps, she relocated to the country, taking a job with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in southwest Virginia. In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
- [03:14]
E
Franklin county is primarily a Rural community. It has everything that a lot of cities have. It just doesn't have a whole lot of it.
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Holly was hired by the sheriff's office in part to leverage her experience and get her help solving a double homicide case that had been cold for over a decade.
- [03:34]
E
You don't get a lot of homicides in a rural area. Coming from Roanoke city, I had a lot of experience in homicide. That's primarily what I did. That's one of the reasons when I was hired, the sheriff talked to me and said he has these two cases that are sitting out there that they've identified suspects, but they weren't able to put the case together and build it to a point that the commonwealth attorney's office would consider charging.
- [04:02]
B
From the sound of it, the mystery of the murders was all but solved, and Holly just needed to drag it over the finish line. But faced with a cast of uncooperative suspects and less than reliable witnesses, it would prove to be anything but a slam dunk.
- [04:19]
A
And to get the full story, we're going to do what Holly had to do. Go all the way back to the beginning. On October 6, 2013, a local man was driving the rural roads outside Bassett when he noticed something strange. Off to the side of that country.
- [04:34]
E
Road, that was a piece of property that was listed for sale. And this man had pulled up on there to look at the property that was for sale. And that's when they saw the burned car.
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B
This stretch of road was pretty sparsely populated with sagging mobile homes and more than a few old cars gathering rust in backyards. But something told him there was something different about this particular scene.
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E
And out of curiosity, they walked over around the burned car, looked over in it, and they saw a human skull in the back of the burned up car. And that's when they called 911.
- [05:12]
A
Franklin county deputies immediately responded to the intersection of Philpott road and Knob church. They approached what appeared to be a 2004 white Toyota Corolla and confirmed the man's report. In the backseat of the car was a human body burned beyond recognition.
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E
The body is in the backseat of the vehicle. It was completely unrecognizable. It was charred. Remains was all that was left. The car was cool to the touch. So the fire had been out for a little while.
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B
Within minutes, this quiet stretch of country road was crawling with law enforcement from several surrounding jurisdictions.
- [05:50]
E
It was right on the Franklin county, Henry county line, Real close to Franklin County, Henry county and the Virginia state police had all responded.
- [05:59]
A
Out there, Franklin county sheriffs Took the lead in the effort to identify the victim.
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E
And when they processed the vehicle, there were human remains in it. They were sent to the office of the chief medical examiner in Roanoke, Virginia. And the deceased inside the vehicle was identified as Vicky Purdy.
- [06:20]
B
53 year old Vicky Purdy, who was also the registered owner of the car, was a Basset local, a wife and mother with long ties to this area.
- [06:31]
A
And given that she was in her own car, it would be fair to assume that perhaps she had been involved in a terrible accident. Except for one thing. She was in the backseat. And there was no sign of another victim behind the wheel.
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B
And there was also no major collision damage to the car besides the evidence of the fire. So it was clear from the start that something else was going on here. Something the medical examiner would soon discover.
- [06:59]
E
Dr. Benson did the autopsy on Vicki and a small caliber bullet was removed from the brain tissue in the right frontal region of her skull and determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death would be homicide. That small caliber bullet was later determined to be from a.25 caliber gun.
- [07:24]
A
Chemical tests on Vicki's car also showed the presence of some kind of accelerant. Evidence that someone had deliberately set the car on fire in an attempt to destroy the victim's remains and cover up her murder.
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B
It was a gruesome and shocking crime, the likes of which this community had never witnessed. The news of Vicki's death would be especially painful for her daughter and her husband, Robert Purdy.
- [07:51]
A
But as investigators embarked on their mission to find a suspect in her death, they knew that was exactly where they had to start. At home.
- [08:00]
E
Law enforcement went and spoke with Robert Purdy. And he stated that Vicky had left their home on October 3rd around 8:30pm and she took her purse, but she left her cell phone at the house and she told him that she would be back.
- [08:16]
A
And.
- [08:17]
E
And that was the last time Robert saw Vicki alive.
- [08:20]
B
Which means by the time Vicki's remains were found, she had already been gone for three days. And yet, at no time during the period had Robert Purdy report his wife missing.
- [08:32]
A
And while it may not have been the most conventional answer, he did have an explanation. His wife was in another relationship with a man named Ricky Dodson.
- [08:42]
E
Although she was living with her husband, she was in a relationship with Ricky. It was not uncommon for her to be gone.
- [08:50]
B
There were already whispers of an affair, or at least a complicated non traditional triangle taking shape. And for any seasoned investigator, that kind of dynamic instantly raises red flags when foul Play is even a possibility.
- [09:08]
A
It's definitely a factor or at least somewhere that you have to look closely. Because whether or not her relationship with Ricky was a secret, it could still be a sore point for her relationship with her husband, who, let's face it, he's already going to be the first person of interest in the murder of his wife.
- [09:24]
B
But according to investigators, Vicky's husband's shock and grief over his wife's death seemed genuine. And they believed, despite their rocky relationship, he had no motive to kill his wife.
- [09:37]
E
Of course, Robert was upset that Vicki was in this relationship that, but he also stayed in the marriage. I think he was probably hoping it would wear itself out and end at some point. He was hurt, but there was no indication that there was any anger.
- [09:55]
A
After providing police with an alibi for the day since he last saw Vicki, he was cleared of suspicion in her death.
- [10:03]
B
But that was okay because investigators now had another obvious person of interest. It was time to track down her boyfriend, Ricky Dodson.
- [10:13]
E
Ricky lived alone in a camper on his mother's property, within sight of his mom's house. And it was reported that Vicki and Ricky were always together. And when they went to Ricky's family, they had not seen Ricky.
- [10:31]
A
Ricky's mother claimed that her 54 year old son had left the house on October 3rd, the same night Vicki had left her home. His mom had said he waved goodbye, told her he loved her and that he would see her later, but he never came home.
- [10:45]
E
That was highly unlike him. He was close to his mother and he lived right beside her. He saw her every single day.
- [10:52]
B
So it sounds like Ricky was a bit of a homebody, but with his girlfriend murdered and him missing, he was also sounding a lot like a suspect.
- [11:01]
E
They couldn't locate Ricky at that time, so he became their primary suspect.
- [11:06]
A
With an increasing sense of urgency, investigators began asking around town for any information regarding Ricky's location. Yes, he could be a suspect, but also he could be a potential victim.
- [11:19]
E
When you have a missing person, you want to talk to family members and friends to see if they've talked to them, if maybe they've told them where they might be going or if they know of any plans coming up. You just try to canvass the area and you gather as much information about the missing person as possible.
- [11:37]
B
And what they learned was that Ricky had strong ties to the area and was rarely seen without Vicki at his side. So the fact that he was still missing seemed to confirm that he was either in danger or on the run.
- [11:52]
E
They're interviewing friends and family surrounding Ricky because they still believe that Ricky is responsible for what happened to Vicki. Nobody had seen Ricky and they believed that he had fled the area.
- [12:05]
A
But within days, the rumors and gossip about what really happened to Ricky began flying around town, and the truth about what happened to Vicki and Ricky proved to be stranger than they ever could have imagined. If you've got travel coming up, visiting family, heading abroad, or even a dream trip for the New year, imagine feeling confident greeting people in their own language. Rosetta Stone makes it easy to feel more connected and have a richer experience wherever you go. I've always believed that when traveling to a country that uses another language, people appreciate it. When you try, Rosetta Stone helps you jumpstart and stick with that process. I took French in high school and admittedly it's lapsed a bit over the years. But before heading to Paris, Rosetta Stone helped me get it back quickly. And the True Accent feature is such an easy way to get your pronunciation down too. Don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential. Now. Anatomy of Murder listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit RosettaStone.com anatomy to get started and claim your 50% off today. Give a gift that keeps giving. Go to rosetta stone.com anatomy and start learning today.
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Don't let big wireless and your overpriced phone bill take the joy out of holidays this year. Right now, all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50% off. You get three, six or 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for 15 bucks a month. It's their best deal of the year, and it makes it really easy for you to give your expensive wireless bill the Scrooge Treatment. Turn your expensive wireless present into a huge wireless savings future by switching to Mint. Shop Mint unlimited plans@mintmobile.com anatomy that's mintmobile.com anatomy limited time offer upfront payment for $45 for 3 month, $90 for 6 month or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 a month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only over 35 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required Availability speed and see mintmobile.com. In a tiny town in southwestern Virginia, the murder of Vicki Purdy has left investigators searching for the last person to likely see her alive, her boyfriend, Ricky Dodson.
- [15:07]
A
Now, according to those who knew Ricky, he wasn't really the violent type. And despite the fact that Vicki was married, they were virtually inseparable and there were no signs that he would ever intend to hurt her.
- [15:18]
B
But that is not to say that both Ricky and Vicki didn't have their share of challenges. At times, they found themselves around people and places tied to the local drug scene. They knew who was buying, who was selling, and where it was happening.
- [15:34]
A
Now, they themselves knew a lot of that because they also had had their own issues with substance abuse. Right. But with that type of knowledge about others in the narcotics trade in the area, no matter how basic or, you know, really innocent someone's intentions, it can put people in danger.
- [15:50]
B
Case in point, within days of the discovery of Vicki's body, investigators learned that Vicki had a secret. She was acting as a confidential informant in an investigation being run by a neighboring county.
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A
Not only that, but she had already agreed to testify in federal court against a suspected narcotics trafficker named Allen Osborne. And that very sensitive information, by that point, it had been leaked.
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E
Discovery from that investigation was leaked, and the information was put out that Vicki Purdy, she was named as an informant. They didn't name Ricky Dotson, but they named her and said Vicki Purdy and her boyfriend. And of course, everybody knew who Vicki's boyfriend at the time was.
- [16:41]
B
So just before a major meth dealer was about to face charges in federal court, the names of two potential cooperating witnesses for the prosecution were leaked to the public, which annecyga, as you know, can potentially put those witnesses, their lives in mortal danger.
- [16:59]
A
And look, I've seen it in some of my own cases that even just a rumor that someone's cooperating with police against a potentially violent criminal or anyone whose liberty is at stake in a serious criminal trial, that can make them a target for violence. Which is why prosecutors needed or need to go to great lengths to keep these witnesses secret as long as possible, and if necessary, also to provide them with protection.
- [17:23]
B
Now, at this point in Vicki's homicide investigation, this is just one potential theory, but it seemed to have legs because it is a clear indication that, at the very least, she and Ricky may have made some very dangerous enemies.
- [17:38]
A
Vicki's husband, Robert, confirmed to law enforcement that his wife had been trying to get her life together. And part of that was her cooperation with police and federal prosecutors.
- [17:48]
E
He's also who stated that she was a drug informant for the Henry county sheriff's office. And she always carried a silver recorder.
- [17:57]
B
But that silver tape recorder, it was nowhere to be found. Not in the Purdy's home or in the car where Vicki's body was found.
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A
And you have to wonder, was there something on that recorder that someone was willing to kill for.
- [18:13]
B
At this point, it was becoming more and more urgent. And to track down Ricky Dotson, because if rumors were flying that he too, was cooperating with police against a local drug kingpin, his life was surely also in danger.
- [18:27]
E
He was not signed up as an informant, but by them putting in discovery, identifying Vicki Purdy and then putting in there and her boyfriend. That's how information got out on the street that Ricky was an informant.
- [18:41]
A
Also on October 8th, investigators interviewed Daniel Duncan, who was Ricky's nephew. According to several people in town, if anyone knew where Ricky was, it would be him.
- [18:52]
B
Daniel was rumored to be a bit player in the local drug trade, so investigators knew they had to play it cool to get his cooperation.
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D
How you doing, bud? You Daniel?
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B
Yeah.
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D
Okay. I'm investigator Nolan. This is investigator Webb. Reason we are here is we're assisting in a missing person of a Ricky Dodson.
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A
But as you'll hear in the taped interview at his home, he was surprisingly forthcoming about when he last saw his uncle.
- [19:24]
D
Last time you talked to Ricky was when?
- [19:27]
C
Thursday night on Curtis chapter.
- [19:30]
D
I think it's the third. Do you know a time at all?
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E
No.
- [19:36]
C
He texted and then he showed up. He probably texted 9, 10 o'. Clock.
- [19:40]
D
Do you know what he said in the text? Okay.
- [19:44]
C
Then he showed up here. Probably like, damn, one o' clock in the morning.
- [19:48]
E
During that interview, Daniel informed law enforcement that he had been text messaging with Ricky Dodson around 9 or 10pm on October 3, 2013. And he reported that Ricky and Vicki had came by his residence in her white Toyota around 1am on the morning of October 4. He said that Ricky and Vicki showed up, that they wanted to borrow a tool to pull a well pump.
- [20:17]
B
What Daniel was describing was a scheme that he said Ricky had cooked up to steal a well pump.
- [20:24]
E
It's the pump that sits down in the bottom of a well. Ricky knew where there was an abandoned well pump that he was going to go steal. That's how Ricky ended up going to his nephew Daniel for a tool to pull this and help to pull this pump up out of the well. You know, it could be 50ft down, it could be 100ft down. Depends on how deep the well is. And they needed a tool that will pull that well pump up.
- [20:49]
D
Was he by himself or was Vicki with him? Was she in the car? Okay, so she came out, too.
- [20:54]
A
According to Daniel, Vicki was just there along for the ride. And that after they got the tool they needed, they left.
- [21:00]
B
So maybe Ricky's little caper went a bit sideways or the buyer got pinky. So Daniel claimed that he didn't know, but he did say some things that immediately raised some eyebrows. He hinted to investigators that maybe he knew more about Ricky's disappearance and than he was letting onto.
- [21:22]
E
The only thing that I could think.
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C
Of even at all was just this. These rumors of her being the law. If somebody were to want to harm anyone.
- [21:33]
E
Daniel also told him that he had heard that Vicki was working for law enforcement. And then he stated that he was worried that something had happened to both of them.
- [21:44]
C
I'm worried that something's happened to both of them. That's what I'm worried about.
- [21:48]
D
You think they're both still living, do you think? What do you think?
- [21:53]
B
You may not want to think it.
- [21:54]
D
But tell me what you think.
- [21:56]
C
In my mind, I'm accepting the reality that it's possible for all this to be taking place.
- [22:02]
A
Did he say it out of genuine concern, or was it a hint that he knew something the police didn't?
- [22:09]
E
One point during that interview, he was asked about killing someone. And Daniel had stated, under the right circumstances, it's possible for anyone to.
- [22:20]
B
Which is kind of a weird flex, so to speak, when you're talking to homicide investigators.
- [22:26]
A
So Daniel was Ricky's nephew, but he was also a suspected small time narcotics dealer, possibly with ties to the man under federal investigation. So if he thought he was a target of Vicki's cooperation with police, might it stand to reason that he also might have had a motive to kill her and possibly his own uncle, too?
- [22:45]
E
By his own account, he was the last person to see Ricky alive. Ricky and Vicki.
- [22:52]
B
Eventually, investigators realized they weren't going to get more out of him, including a reliable alibi. But there was someone they could talk to. His wife, Regina.
- [23:03]
E
During that time, Daniel was also using drugs and selling drugs himself, and. And he was running around a lot on Regina. So there was problems in their relationship.
- [23:17]
A
The couple was estranged, which, from an investigative point of view, could leave a pretty good opening at that time.
- [23:25]
E
They also interviewed Daniel's wife, Regina, and she reported that Daniel had used her car on October 3rd and the 4th, and she didn't know his whereabouts.
- [23:36]
B
Which meant that Duncan's whereabouts on the night Vicki and Ricky were last seen could not be verified. And she also said that her husband had shared his theory of what had happened.
- [23:47]
E
She told law enforcement that Daniel had told her that he thought Ricky was dead, too, because he had gotten into the middle of Vicki's mess.
- [23:56]
A
It was just enough for investigators to execute a search Warrant at Daniel's residence in search of any more clues that he might somehow be involved in what happened to Vicki and Ricky.
- [24:07]
E
And a silver recorder was located in his bedroom in a jacket pocket that was collected. And when that recorder was shown to Robert Purdy, he advised that that silver recorder was similar in appearance to the one that Vicki was known to carry when she was acting as an informant for the Henry county sheriff's office.
- [24:27]
B
So had Duncan killed Vicki for what was on that tape? That was investigators suspicion. But as it turns out, there was nothing really incriminating on the tape at all.
- [24:39]
A
Still, just the fact that it was in his possession was decent circumstantial evidence that he had taken it from Vicki. Common sense would tell you that if Vicki was working as an informant, she wouldn't be sharing that recorder. So extremely likely taken without her knowledge or against her will.
- [24:56]
B
In the meantime, Ricky Dodson is still missing. So was it possible, and this is just a theory, that Ricky was somehow in cahoots with his nephew in a plot to kill Vicki until they found him? It was a possibility that investigators just couldn't rule out.
- [25:15]
E
They don't know where Ricky is. And there was no activity on Ricky's phone. There was no activity on his bank account.
- [25:21]
A
For two months, the search for Ricky Dotson continued. And despite the rumors flying around town and the growing number of people that seemed to have one connection or another to the victim, the missing, or the suspect in this case, Investigators were not getting much closer to finding Ricky or Vicki's killer.
- [25:40]
E
And then it wasn't until December 5, 2013, that an anonymous tip came in on the state police tip line. And that led investigators to the decomposed body of Ricky Dodson. And he was found lying face down next to a well pump in the woods, approximately a mile from the location where Vicki's body in her vehicle had been found.
- [26:05]
B
It appeared that Rickey had been killed by a single gunshot at close range in what appeared to be an execution style killing.
- [26:15]
E
When the results of the autopsy came back on Ricky, it was determined that his was also ruled a homicide. And the projectile that was found underneath his body was sent to the state lab. It was determined to be a.25 caliber. Same caliber as the one that was found in Vicki.
- [26:35]
A
Which means he was killed by the same gun and likely by the same person. Other evidence rounded out the picture of what may have happened.
- [26:45]
E
And at the scene where he was found, there was a wallet, and it contained identification for Ricky Dodson. There was a cartridge case found. There was a Projectile beneath his body. A cell phone. And a reciprocating saw.
- [27:01]
B
It was a saw Ricky was likely planning to use to remove the well pump. But something was or someone stopped him.
- [27:10]
A
So right away, it comes to mind, like, was there someone with Ricky who may have pretended that he was going to help him take the well pump before then shooting him.
- [27:19]
B
So if Ricky, Vicki, and another person drove in Vicki's car to this remote location, the question becomes whether Ricky was shot first, then Vicki, or was she shot first? Meaning Ricky was complicit in. In her murder and then at least witnessed it. And then eventually he was murdered.
- [27:39]
A
And every one of them's a possibility. But whatever the truth was, it was becoming increasingly clear that Ricky's nephew, Daniel Duncan, was the prime suspect. He was the last person to see them both alive. He knew about the scheme to take the well pump, and he made it clear that he knew that Vicki was a police informant.
- [27:55]
B
And let's not forget that Duncan was the one who ended up with her recorder.
- [28:00]
A
Who?
- [28:00]
B
But there was also reason to believe that he had a motive to kill his uncle as well.
- [28:07]
E
When talking with other individuals, like Ricky's best friend, he said that about two weeks prior to Ricky going missing, Daniel had came to his residence, and Ricky was there at the time. And Daniel was upset with his uncle, and Daniel and his uncle got into an argument.
- [28:28]
A
According to Ricky's friend, the fight was over accusations that Ricky had somehow cheated Daniel Duncan in a recent drug deal.
- [28:36]
E
And that's when, in the heat of the argument, according to Melvin, Daniel tells him that he was going to kill him.
- [28:44]
B
Which could have just been loose talk. But in a murder investigation, it's also important circumstantial evidence to build a theory.
- [28:53]
E
From motive, with Daniel being the last one to see him alive. Daniel saying that Ricky had came by his house looking for a well pump. There were text messages on Daniel Duncan's phone where he was asking for another individual for a tool to pull a well pump. So all these things are just starting to tie Daniel in. And Daniel is starting to look good as the primary suspect.
- [29:17]
A
But those texts found on Duncan's phone also brought in a few new potential suspects to this already complicated story. And subsequent interviews took them down a rabbit hole of the local Franklin county narcotics trade.
- [29:32]
B
And one name kept coming up again and again in interviews and on Daniel Duncan's phone. Her name was Peggy.
- [29:41]
E
They call her Boss lady or Auntie. She was under Allen Osborne in the drug pyramid. Allen Osborne's up top. Underneath Allen is Peggy. Underneath Peggy that's where like Daniel and all these other people fall in. So Peggy is high up on the drug pyramid. She sells drugs to Daniel, but Daniel also did odd jobs with her, whether it was cleaning houses or getting up leaves.
- [30:12]
A
Police discovered texts on Duncan's phone to Peggy, including on the morning after he admitted seeing Ricky and Vicki at his home. The text read, and I quote, I need to speak with you. That text was followed up with several phone calls between them on the morning of October 4th.
- [30:28]
B
With this revelation, investigators added a new twist to their theory. They considered the possibility that if Peggy was threatened by Vicky's cooperation with police, then maybe it was her that had ordered her murder.
- [30:44]
E
They thought that Peggy had orchestrated the hit on on Vicki and Ricky. And there were some and all, and I call them rumors because nothing was ever substantiated or verified.
- [30:57]
A
Ultimately, Peggy agreed to tell police what she knew, or at least what she wanted to tell them. But she wasn't going to do it for nothing. She agreed to a proffer offering information she knew about Vicki and Ricky's murder. In exchange, she wanted the promise that she wouldn't be prosecuted.
- [31:14]
B
The attorney's office agreed, assuming that they found her information to be truthful and reliable. And what she shared was nothing short of explosive.
- [31:30]
D
Foreign.
- [31:35]
B
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- [34:03]
A
Her name was Peggy, but she was known to her criminal associates as Auntie. And she was about to drop a bombshell in the investigation into the murders of Vicki Purdy and Ricky Dodson.
- [34:15]
E
She said that she got a phone call from Daniel on Friday morning, which would have been October 4th of 2013, and he told her that he was on a road behind Philpott Dam and in her words, saving the world, and asked her to come get him. She said when she got there that he was driving Vicki's car. She followed him to a field where he parked the car and she's washing through the side view mirror and she sees Daniel get out of the car. She witnesses him light something and throw it into the car and set it on fire. And then when he got in the car with her, he told her that he had taken care of some things and he also told her that Vicky was in the car, that he'd shot her.
- [34:58]
B
According to Peggy, Daniel Duncan had admitted to killing Vicki Purdy and tried to get away with it.
- [35:06]
E
So Peggy then drove Daniel to her residence, gave him a change of clothes, and he went into the backyard where he burned his clothes.
- [35:15]
A
Investigators immediately executed a search warrant on her property to corroborate her story.
- [35:21]
E
After she provided that statement, law enforcement went to her property. They sifted through the burned area in the backyard and what they retrieved out of that was burned up clothing particles like, you know, like a button, a zipper, snaps off of off of clothes.
- [35:40]
B
During her interview, Peggy claimed that Duncan had also been close to confessing to something about the fate of Ricky as well.
- [35:50]
E
She said that when they were riding back to her house that he started to make statements to her about Ricky and she told him just to stop. You know, she didn't want to hear anything further.
- [36:02]
A
Which on the one hand seems to confirm their suspicion that Daniel Duncan was responsible for both murders, but also suggested that perhaps Peggy Never knew about Duncan's plans.
- [36:14]
B
On the surface, it would seem that her proffered testimony would be a linchpin in the case against Duncan. She was ready to testify that she had witnessed with her own eyes Duncan lighting Vicki's car on fire and then confessing to her murder.
- [36:31]
A
But just before investigators were ready to bring the case to a close, Peggy backed out.
- [36:37]
E
Peggy ends up lawyering up. She's not going to talk anymore.
- [36:41]
A
So if someone agrees to give testimony, exchange for something else, and then they decide to back out for whatever reason. Well, yeah, like, that deal is off the. You don't get the benefit without your part of that agreement, right? So then the question's like, why would she do that? And I think everyone out there is gonna come with their own ideas. But, like, look, maybe you think it's a good idea at first, but then reality sets in. You're not in this private, confidential setting talking to investigators. When you're up on that stand. What if all of a sudden, that exposure puts her at risk? Or maybe she's not telling the truth and it's going to come out like. There's a lots of different reasons people choose not to cooperate, but it's really not that uncommon. But yes, for Peggy would be off the table.
- [37:24]
B
So making a decision to cooperate is not an easy one. In some cases, law enforcement's able to provide incentives, Reduction in possible charges, which could ease the decision for someone who's interested. But all of it comes with some level of risk if people you are providing the information against get wind of it. Right. So in my career, when I would propose an arrangement like this, I'd assess the value of the intel. And if I believe the information was good and I felt the information was really critical to the investigation, I would become an advocate for that subject and to my higher ups as well as go to someone like you anecdote as a prosecutor, just to make sure that you felt the same way that I did. So in this case, without her key testimony, the case against Daniel Duncan was definitely in jeopardy. Months would pass without an arrest, and then it would be years.
- [38:20]
A
So the case really basically stalled out. Despite the circumstantial evidence against Duncan, like the tape recorder and his admission of being the last person to see Vicki and Ricky alive, There were definitely gaps in the case, Right? There's no murder weapon. There's no forensics or physical evidence that could place him at the scene. And now without Peggy's testimony, without that evidence, her account, they're also then are no witnesses.
- [38:42]
B
So Some might say this is a case of law enforcement not prioritizing the murders of people that were known to exist on the fringe of a law abiding society. But here it was also the reality that many cold cases face.
- [38:58]
E
You have an old case, you know, you don't have the best of witnesses. They're hard to find, they're hard to run down. They're hard to get, to cooperate. But once it started to build and I could put it together, where these people saw that they're not the only one testifying because they're scared of these people.
- [39:15]
A
And here, the one person potential witnesses seemed to be particularly afraid of was Daniel Duncan himself.
- [39:22]
E
Daniel Duncan is out of prison at this point. He's living in North Carolina. He's on probation, but he's out there. And everyone was afraid of him because they made comments, you know, he would kill his own uncle. He killed two people. They didn't want to say anything. They didn't want their name in it. They didn't want to get involved. They were afraid of Daniel.
- [39:43]
B
Both Ricky and Vicki faced their own personal demons with drugs, but they also had families that loved them. And no one in any walk of life deserves to have their lives taken in such a violent and cruel manner.
- [39:58]
A
And like in any homicide case, their cases were never closed. Investigators continued to appeal to the public and were convinced that one day somebody just might or would be willing to step forward with new information.
- [40:11]
B
And to help them on that mission was our veteran homicide detective, Holly Willoughby, who was determined to go all the way back to the very beginning.
- [40:22]
E
I started it as though it happened yesterday, and I started at the very beginning and started going back, interviewing these people and, and pulling out more information. And then I'm finding additional witnesses that started to build the case, which, in.
- [40:36]
A
Honesty, like another perspective to think about that can be so daunting and such a painful process, in particular for the victim's families.
- [40:46]
E
When I first called Vicki's daughter, she was really upset with me, and I understand. She said, here we go again. Because I'm asking questions that she felt like, like she's answered all these questions before. And I can understand where she would probably think, what is going on there? You know, we've been through this. Why am I going through this again? Why are we rehashing this? And just very, very upset, very emotional, very upset. And, you know, I explained to her, it's just fresh eyes, a new perspective, trying to bring this case to justice.
- [41:18]
B
And those fresh eyes and that persistence, it paid off. Holly was able to coax some formally tight lipped witnesses out of the woodwork, Some who have been holding onto some pretty critical information about the case.
- [41:33]
E
They interview a girl. She is in a relationship with Daniel. She tells law enforcement on October 6 that she had met up with Daniel, and they were on the way back to his house to have sex. And when they got over on philpott road near the crime scene, they saw a lot of police. You know, she said that the road was lit up like a Christmas tree. And when Daniel saw law enforcement, he asked Lindsey to turn around, take her back home. And she asked him if he knew what was going on. And he told her that he didn't have time to talk about it.
- [42:09]
A
Another female friend of Duncan's came forward and said that she, too, was with him when he drove back by the crime scene a short time later. Only this time, he stopped.
- [42:19]
E
She said that she was looking for a piece of property to put a trailer on. So she pulled up on that land for sale, and the area was scorched out and burned. The vehicle had already been removed, but they got out. And while they were out in that burned out area, Daniel picks up a Toyota emblem off the ground. It was a scorched emblem that came off Vicki's car. He picked it up, and he called it his souvenir, and he took it with him.
- [42:46]
B
What he called a souvenir was a badge off of Vicki's Toyota, which was likely left behind after police removed the car from the crime scene. And that badge, it actually turned up again when police searched Duncan's house.
- [43:02]
E
Well, in the photographs from that search warrant, up on the wall is that Toyota emblem.
- [43:09]
A
But somehow, original investigators had not noticed it or seen the significance of that emblem originally. But you know who didn't miss it? Duncan's wife, Regina.
- [43:19]
E
Shortly after, they started looking at Daniel as a suspect, Regina brought the Toyota emblem to the sheriff's office in a plastic bag and said that it was hanging in Daniel's shed.
- [43:31]
B
It was yet another brick in the case Holly was building against Daniel Duncan.
- [43:37]
A
And look, there's also this other pretty important building block, which is the murder weapon, right? That.25 caliber handgun. And Holly was determined to track it down if she could. Instead, she tracked down a witness who claimed that she once had had a gun just like it.
- [43:53]
E
A girl named crystal. She stole her dad's.25 caliber gun out of the nightstand in his bedroom, and she traded it or sold it to Daniel for drugs. Her father had actually reported his gun gone. He reported it to Henry county But he also reported that his own daughter took the gun. But he didn't want to prosecute Crystal. She was bad on drugs, and that's his daughter. Shortly after Vicki was found, Crystal goes back to Daniel. And she tried to get the gun back, but he told her that it was in a million pieces and it would never be found.
- [44:29]
B
So no gun. But a pretty good story establishing that Duncan was indeed in possession of a.25 caliber gun on the date the murders took place.
- [44:39]
A
But even so, it still wasn't quite enough to bring charges. Holly still needed something more.
- [44:46]
E
In speaking with the Commonwealth attorneys, the former one and the current one, the hang up was Peggy. And they told me, if you can get Peggy to cooperate, we might get somewhere with it. But then on the flip side of that, I'm told you can't approach Peggy because she lawyered up. Well, she lawyered up, what, 12, 13 years ago? Well, you don't get a lawyer for life. It's not like you get a lawyer 12 years ago and there's this blanket over you or shield. I didn't see the problem. Let me go approach her. Let me just go ask her if she still wants a lawyer. All she's got to do is say, I want a lawyer.
- [45:25]
B
Then Holly's quest to get her star witness to reconsider got an unlikely assist from the woman's lawyer.
- [45:33]
E
The Commonwealth attorney's office had sent an email or had reached out to Peggy's attorney, Stuart Pearson, at that time. And Stuart Pearson responded in an email with just stating, I no longer represent Peggy harbor on this matter.
- [45:50]
A
And that opened the door to speak directly to the so called Aunt Peggy, the woman who claimed to have witnessed Daniel Duncan torch Vicky's car with her body inside.
- [46:01]
E
So actually, I went that day and knocked on her door. And she came to the door. I told her who I was and the reason I was there. I told her I wanted to talk to her. I was doing the death investigation involving Ricky Dotson and Vicky Purdy, and I would like to talk to her. Peggy said, I'll talk to you.
- [46:20]
A
The two women, one a veteran investigator and one a suspected narcotics trafficker and potential witness to murder, sat down on the porch to talk.
- [46:30]
E
She said she'd been waiting a long time to get this over with. Things in her life had changed. You know, she was a grandmother. And she said that she's a different person now. And although she was scared of Daniel and scared of what could come out of this, she also wanted to get it all behind her and stop worrying about it she provided a statement which was pretty much spot on with everything that she had said in her original proffer.
- [46:58]
B
In October of 2024, Franklin county authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Daniel Duncan.
- [47:06]
E
It put Peggy at ease. It put a lot of these people that were called as witnesses at ease. Knowing that once he found out, he would be taken into custody. So got the warrant, went to north carolina. He was meeting with his probation officer. We met him there at his probation officer's office and served the warrant on him. He was taken into custody and brought back to franklin county to face his charges.
- [47:34]
B
Duncan was charged with two counts of first degree murder and. And two counts of using or displaying a firearm in the commission of a felony.
- [47:43]
E
We actually arrested him on October 4, 2024. Wanted to do it. On the anniversary date of the homicide.
- [47:54]
A
The sheriff's office stated that they hoped the arrest would provide some measure of closure to the families of both victims.
- [48:02]
E
It was set for jury trial. He came in and pled guilty to two first degree and 28 years to serve.
- [48:12]
B
Given the mountain of evidence and damning testimony that proved he was responsible for killing both Vicki purdy and Ricky dodson, Duncan pled guilty and accepted a sentence of 14 years for each murder. And the sentences were to run consecutively.
- [48:29]
E
Some of the family members didn't like that. They didn't think it was enough. They thought it should have been life.
- [48:35]
A
During the plea hearing, the deputy commonwealth's attorney outlined the facts of the case, explaining how the prosecution would have proved their case against him had the decision been left to a jury.
- [48:46]
B
But the case really came down to one thing. Duncan believed that as police informants, Vicki and Ricky were threats to his life and his livelihood. So we killed them.
- [48:57]
E
Another witness had told me that Daniel told them she was going to take his life, so he took hers.
- [49:06]
A
It was the end of a long, painful road for the families of both Vicki and Ricky, but a road that ultimately led to justice.
- [49:16]
E
I think that they think that when you go to court and you hear that guilty verdict verdict, that you're going to feel any different. But I don't think they do. I think they can close that chapter, but it don't take the pain away or the loss of who they lost or why they're there.
- [49:32]
B
Members of both victims families gave impact statements in court expressing their grief, but also gratitude that the lives of their loved ones were never forgotten.
- [49:44]
E
Vicki's daughter spoke. She spoke very eloquently. Her impact statement was all about her mom. It wasn't about Daniel. It wasn't about what he did. It was about who Vicki was, what that did to her family and what they had been through and how thankful they were that, you know, the Lord had answered their prayers and their mother's murder was put to rest.
- [50:10]
B
What's so heartbreaking about this case is how layered the deception was. Vicky Purdy was trying to rebuild her life. She was battling addiction, trying to make better choices, and had started cooperating with police because she wanted a way out. But that decision, that moment of courage, made her a threat to the very people she was trying to leave behind. The relationship she had with Ricky Dotson only complicated things further. Two people caught the between loyalty, fear, and survival. It's a painful reminder of how manipulation and lies can trap people in a cycle they're desperate to escape, and how the truth, no matter how brave, can sometimes come with a devastating price.
- [51:00]
A
One of the things that has always been important to me about AOM is that we cover all types of cases, not just the cases that make the paper or appear on the news. Because I can tell you, as someone who has handled lots of these awful crimes, the public isn't aware of most of the cases yet. To every family who has lost someone, their loss is as great as anyone else's. All these crimes occurred. All these people have been lost to murder, and we want to talk about them all. All these people are worth remembering. They're all missed by someone or by many. And there are things to learn from every case. Vicki and Ricky were targeted and killed because of the cooperation with police of one or maybe even both of them. That strikes at the heart of our system. But for their families, no matter the reason, the loss is just as great. Vicki was helping police in an effort to get her life back on track. And Ricky likely killed because at the very least, he knew too much. To Ricky and Vicki's families here at aom, we care about their loss, about every loss, and know that you grieve exactly the same as someone who made the papers front page. It took a long time, but investigators didn't give up until they closed the case by getting them the justice they both deserved. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder.
- [52:34]
B
Anatomy of Murder is an audio Chuck.
- [52:36]
A
Original, produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frasetti Media.
- [52:41]
B
Ashley Flowers is executive producer.
- [52:44]
A
This episode was written and produced by Walker Lamond, researched by Ken Kate Cooper, edited by Ali Sierra, Megan Hayward and Phil Jean Grande. I think Chuck would approve.
- [53:01]
F
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- [54:02]
G
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