Why is victim’s truck in his driveway 13 years after his grisly murder?

At least 50 residents with ties to Shelby County, Iowa heard one of my book presentations on Thursday, Aug.6, at the downtown library in Harlan, Iowa.

During a break between my 2 p.m. event and the 7 p.m. talk, I made the 12-mile drive up Route 59 to Defiance, which is where the famous murder involving Scott Shanahan happened at his home on Third Avenue. While in Shelby County, I took a number of photos and videos to give readers of WildBlue Press books a little something extra, in addition to the content and photos you’ll find in my January 2015 book, DIXIE’S LAST STAND: Was it Murder or Self-Defense? wildbluepress.com/Dixie

Rolling through this small town of less than 400 people in a big red van with Wisconsin license plates, I stood out. Slowly, I came upon the murder house. The house where Shelby County law enforcement executed a search warrant on Oct. 20, 2003 and found Scott Shanahan’s remains in his bed. He had been left there dead by his wife Dixie for a total of 14 months!

Though the house belonged to Dixie and Scott, Dixie remains in Mitchellville, Iowa. She has lived at the Iowa women’s prison since 2004, though I believe her days there might be coming to an end, perhaps later this fall.

As I drove by the Shanahan house, I aimed my camera at their driveway and then the yard. To my astonishment, Scott Shanahan’s brown truck remained parked in the front of the driveway. It’s been in that spot since at least August 30, 2002, the time of his murder.

With Dixie off to prison, her second husband, Jeff Duty, continues to live in the old murder house, according to retired Sheriff Gene Cavenaugh. Sure enough, there was a man who looked to be in his early fifties cutting the grass on a riding lawnmower at the time I drove past the Shanahan residence. Was this Jeff Duty, the same man who dated Dixie while her first husband’s body was rotting behind the locked door of her master bedroom?

If Dixie gets released from prison later this year or next year, look for her to return to Defiance, Iowa, and resettle back into the same home she killed her abusive husband Scott, predicts sheriff Cavenaugh.

It’s my belief Dixie will probably sell off Scott’s truck for extra cash or use that vehicle for her own transportation — when Dixie is finally free, that is.