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Who was your favorite character in DIXIE’S LAST STAND?

BODY IN BED Free Dixie fundWhen I wrote DIXIE’S LAST STAND: WAS IT MURDER OR SELF-DEFENSE? I made a concerted effort to limit the number of key characters in this feature-length book for #WildBluePress.

You can find out more about the book and how to purchase it at #Amazon #Kindle by clicking here https://wildbluepress.com/dixies-last-stand-john-ferak-true-crime/

Dixie audible cover

DIXIE’S LAST STAND will be available in audiobook in early February 2015

Sure, there were plenty of names and positions that were paramount to the case. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent David Jobes assisted the Shelby County Sheriff’s Offic.e Iowa Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Julia Goodin handled the autopsy.

Jobes, Dr. Goodin and a host of others were mentioned at various stages within my book, but not in overabundance, either.

All told, there were about a half dozen Iowans who played an enormous role in the outcome of DIXIE’S LAST STAND.

For those of you who have read DIXIE,  which character did you identify with the most? Why so?

Was it:

DIXIE'S LAST STAND

Dixie Shanahan talks to her attorney, Greg Steensland

Dixie Shanahan, the long-time domestic abuse victim who suffered multiple beatings at the hands of her wicked husband, Scott Shanahan? Ultimately, Dixie turns to violence herself and steadfastly maintains she killed him self-defense.

Greg Steensland, the Council Bluffs,  Iowa, state public defender, was assigned to represent defendant Dixie Shanahan after she was charged with first-degree murder.

Gene Cavenaugh, long-time Sheriff of Shelby County, Iowa, who takes it upon himself to investigate the uncanny disappearance of Scott Shanahan, the life-long Defiance resident, who was first reported missing during the summer of 2003.

Gene Cavenaugh and Matt Hervey

Gene Cavenaugh and Mark Hervey

Mark Hervey, long-time chief deputy sheriff of Shelby County. He was intricately involved in responding to previous episodes of domestic violence at the Shanahan home. He tried to help Dixie break free of the chains of domestic violence and punish the wife-beater husband.

Photo 8 Prosecutor Charles ThomanCharles Thoman, veteran prosecutor from Sioux City who worked for the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

Thoman accepted the assignment to handle the prosecution of State V. Dixie Shanahan, including the sensational jury trial in Harlan, Iowa at the Shelby County Courthouse.

Charles Smith III, the southwestern Iowa judge who presided over Dixie Shanahan’s jury trial and her eventual sentencing.

Please post your answers below or in various Facebook’s forums. I am curious to gauge the responses from devoted #truecrime readers like yourself.

Filed Under: Blog, DIXIE'S LAST STAND, True Crime Tagged With: Charles Thoman, Dixie Shanahan, Gene Cavenaugh, Iowa, John Ferak, Judge Charles Smith III, Mark Hervey, Mike Dauplaise, Murder, True Crime Discussions
January 27, 2015 By John Ferak 3 Comments

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Ferak’s WildBlue Press Books

audiobook cover featuring an attorney at her desk

John Ferak’s WRECKING CREW Anniversary Edition Audiobook, Narrated by Kevin Pierce is Available Now!

WRECKING CREW: Demolishing the Case Against Steven Avery, the 5th-anniversary edition by John Ferak, is now available as an audiobook narrated by the renowned Kevin Pierce! This audiobook takes a profound and multifaceted dive into the intricacies of … [More...]

Lawyer beind a desk and black and white image of her with convicted man

Author John Ferak Pens an Updated Epilogue for the WRECKING CREW 5th Anniversary, November 2023

"Ferak chronicles the long and sordid history of the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department and the reason Sweaty's license was suspended. Framing Avery was just par for the course." -Kathleen Zellner Updated 5th Anniversary Edition Including … [More...]

TERROR TOWN USA John Ferak Kindle Cover

TERROR TOWN, USA

During the early morning hours of July 17, 1983, fatigue became a factor for the young couple from central Illinois who spent their day under the hot sun at Marriott’s Great America amusement park north of Chicago. On their drive home, the tired … [More...]

FAILURE OF JUSTICE: A Brutal Murder, An Obsessed Cop, Six Wrongful Convictions; A True Crime Thriller By John Ferak

'MAKING A MURDERER' TIMES SIX! If the dubious efforts of law enforcement that led to the case behind MAKING A MURDERER made you cringe, your skin will crawl at the injustice portrayed in FAILURE OF JUSTICE: A Brutal Murder, An Obsessed Cop, Six … [More...]

Body of Proof Cover-Final

Discredited CSI Commander At The Heart of John Ferak’s True Crime BODY OF PROOF

Tainted Evidence In The Murder of Jessica O'Grady?   Jessica O’Grady was a tall, starry-eyed co-ed in search of finding her Mr. Right. Christopher Edwards was a 19-year-old deceitful and darkened soul. David Kofoed was a veteran crime lab … [More...]

Dixie's Last Stand Cover

Readers Asked To Decide “Was It Murder Or Self-Defense?” in DIXIE’S LAST STAND

A WildBlue Press True Crime By Award-Winning Journalist John Ferak Dixie Shanahan had a terribly troubled and abusive marriage in the sleepy little town of Defiance, Iowa. Then one summer day in 2002, Dixie's mean and wicked husband was gone. Some … [More...]

John Ferak’s Books

Nonfiction

True Crime Classics

Buy John Ferak's book Bloody LiesBLOODY LIES: A CSI Scandal in the Heartland (Black Squirrel Booksy Series)
Rural Nebraska is the backdrop for one of the nation's most egregious crime-scene investigation scandals in modern history.
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Recent Development: BLOODY LIES was selected as a Foreword Reviews' 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Winner!
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An hour's drive from Omaha, Murdock, pop. 269, seemed about the last place on Earth to be the setting for one of the Heartland's most ruthless and gory double murders in decades. The little farming town in western Cass County had gone more than a century without a single murder.

The frightening and chilling killings inside the upstairs of the farmhouse captured state news media attention. Residents in the country were filled with fear, panic and outrage. Who killed Wayne and Sharmon Stock? What was the motive?

In the News

WildBlue Press 2018 Year in Review

In 2018, WildBlue Press released 29 new titles! Among those titles, twenty-one were under the true crime genre, four were thrillers, two mysteries, … [More...]

True Murder Dan Zupansky Logo

FAILURE OF JUSTICE’s John Ferak on True Murder Radio Show With Host Dan Zupansky

John Ferak, author of WildBlue's hit true crime book FAILURE OF JUSTICE, was recently featured on the True Murder radio show with host Dan Zupansky to … [More...]

Watch John Ferak’s Interview With Al Warren on The House of Mystery

Watch John Ferak's interview with Al Warren on The House of Mystery Radio Show. John discusses his new true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, which … [More...]

John Ferak Discusses FAILURE OF JUSTICE With Host Alan R. Warren on The House of Mystery Radio Show. Listen Here!

John Ferak is an award-winning investigative journalist and true crime author. His latest true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, details the largest … [More...]

Darkness Radio logo

John Ferak Discusses FAILURE OF JUSTICE on Darkness Radio With Host Dave Schrader

John Ferak was on Darkness Radio with host Dave Schrader on Tuesday, May 24th, from 10-11pm Central Time. John will be discussed his new true crime … [More...]

John Ferak on The House of Mystery Radio Show

WildBlue Press author John Ferak was on The House of Mystery Radio Show, with host Alan R. Warren, to discuss his hit true crime book, BODY OF PROOF. … [More...]

Bookshelf

New Releases
Featured Books
Coming Soon
Award Winners

True Crime
Romance
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Mysteries
History
Horror
Thrillers
Business
Biography
• John Hinckley Jr.
• Presiding Over Shadows
• Dances With Donkeys
• Secrets Of A Hollywood Private Eye
• Escape From Mariupol
• The Last Jewish Gangster, The Middle Years
• The Last Jewish Gangster, The Early Years
• The Last Jewish Gangster, The Final Years
True Crime
• Model Detective
• The Tylenol Murders
• In Public Record
• Where Murder Lies
• Where Murder Lies
• Murder In The Graveyard
• Empire City Under Siege
• The Forgotten Girls
• The Las Vegas Massacre Connections
• Every Killer Leaves A Trace
• Cruel And Unusual Punishment
• The Serial Killer Travel Guide Across America
• Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil
• Speaking Truth To Evil
• Chasson's Run
• Depraved Obsession
• Storm Of Suspicion
• The Crack City Strangler
• The Dumond Affair
• A Murder On Campus
• Obsessed
• The Delphi Murders
• Chained Birds
• The Last Story
• The Baby Doll Serial Killer
• Lethal Doses
• The Lewiston Shootings
• Beyond The Headlines
• Baker, Liar, Con Man, Thief
• Of Mobsters And Movie Stars
• I Will Ruin You
• The Gabardine Gang
• Becoming Clark Rockefeller
• Wrecking Crew (New Edition)
• Monsters On The Loose
• Murderers' Row, Volume Four
• Grim Paradise
• Bad Henry
• Stealing Manhattan
• Precious Few Clues
• Death By Talons
• Lou And Jonbenet
• Hidden Demons
• Love Me To Death
• By The Side Of The Road
• Going Under
• I Don't Like Mondays
• The Tuskegee Strangler
• The Decision To Kill
• All Along The Watchtower
• Ted Bundy
• Carmine And The 13Th Avenue Boys
• The Curse Of The Turtle
• Jane Doe 9
• Watch Me Die
• Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage
• The Wheels Of Justice
• Terror Town, Usa
• Raging On
• The 'Peyton Place' Murder
• The World Encyclopedia Of Serial Killers Volume Four
• The World Encyclopedia Of Serial Killers
• First Degree Rage
• The Garden State Parkway Murders
• Mothers And Murderers
• Playing Dead
• Gabacho
• You Have A Very Soft Voice, Susan
• Wrecking Crew
• My Son, The Killer
• The Killing Game
• Shots In The Dark
• His Garden
• Burned
• The Case Of The Zodiac Killer
• The Beast I Loved
• Sidetracked
• Targeted
• Held Hostage
• Room 1203
• A Special Kind Of Evil
• Brooklyn's Most Wanted
• Betrayal In Blue
• Murderers Row
• Murder In The Family
• Smooth Talker
• A Taste For Murder
• Man Overboard
• Bogeyman
• The Life And Crimes Of Mike From Morrow
• The Moneymaker
• Coal Country Killing
Thriller
• Last Hunt
• The Dead Soul
• Gasping For Air
• Big Dogs
• The Shadowmaker
• A Nest Of Snakes
• Lockout
Mystery
• Deaf Row
• Murder At Mardi Gras
• Raptor's Ridge
• Headlock
• The Obituary
• The Deadline
Science Fiction
• Gremmie's Reef
• Rubicon
• Timberwolf
• Dark Visions
• Hunter
Fantasy
• Dawn Of Legacy
• Destruction Of Justice
History
• Above The Ground
• Fields Of Fortune
• Legion Rising
• The Korean Crisis
• Tempest Tost
• Saving Sandoval
• Killing Rasputin
• Lucky Lady
Romance
• To Bloom Again
• All My Favorite People
• Raven
• My Best And Last
• Crevice
• Created
• When Fall Fades
Business
• Business Brilliance
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
• Hunter's Moon

New Releases

THE TYLENOL MURDERS: A Father's Confession to His Son, True Crime by Joseph Cibelli

THE TYLENOL MURDERS: A Father’s Confession to His Son

When the Tylenol murders follow you home. The son who dared to expose the truth. Chicago, 1982. Seven people swallowed Tylenol capsules meant to heal, then they died within minutes. America changed overnight, then the killer vanished into darkness, … [More...]

In Public Record: A Journey To The Truth Of A Murder And Trial

Acquitted in court. Convicted in public opinion. September 1990. In Shaker Heights, Ohio, teenage honors student Lisa Lee Pruett vanishes into the night. A boy calls 911 when she does not arrive for a secret late-night meet-up. Police soon find her … [More...]

WHERE MURDER LIES: Death And Deception In West Hollywood by Burl Barer and Frank C. Girardot Jr.

WHERE MURDER LIES: Death And Deception In West Hollywood

Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight… The murder of a retired Los Angeles school teacher in 2004 never made the evening news, yet within hours arrests were made, charges filed, and a speedy conviction sent to prison Jimmy Kitlas, an … [More...]

Murder In The Graveyard: A Family Cult Tragedy by Frank Stanfield

Murder In The Graveyard: A Family Cult Tragedy

The 911 Call That Opened Hell's Door. One Confession. A Lifetime of Terror. The 911 call was harrowing. "I accidentally killed someone. Please!" the man said, his voice rising. "Who?" "My stepmom. My name is Ian Anselmo. Sue-Ellen Anselmo, she's in … [More...]

Coming Soon

Model Detective: A True Story of Heels, Handcuffs and Homicides by Michele Wood

Model Detective – Inside the Mind of a Female Homicide Boss

Leading Murder Investigations in a Man's World, She Broke the Glass Ceiling-With Handcuffs. MODEL DETECTIVE: A True Story of Heels, Handcuffs and Homicides takes readers where true crime has never gone before-inside the heart, mind, and soul of a … [More...]

Recent Posts

  • THE TYLENOL MURDERS: A Father’s Confession to His Son
  • Model Detective – Inside the Mind of a Female Homicide Boss
  • In Public Record: A Journey To The Truth Of A Murder And Trial
  • WHERE MURDER LIES: Death And Deception In West Hollywood
  • The Story Behind the Story: EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE and Finding Heroes
  • Murder In The Graveyard: A Family Cult Tragedy
  • John Hinckley Jr.: Who I Really Am – The Long-Awaited Memoir

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Who was your favorite character in DIXIE’S LAST STAND?

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