The task force began tailing Dillon from the air and on the ground in mid-October 1992.  During their surveillance, officers followed Dillon on weekend jaunts of 75 to 125 miles over country roads in Belmont, Harrison, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Coshocton and Carroll counties.  Dillon often stopped for beer and would sometimes begin drinking as early as 7:15 a.m.

On November 8, 1992, investigators got to witness an example of Dillon’s vandalism firsthand.  He went on a shooting spree, targeting electric meters, oil well pumps and stop signs. Dillon also stopped next to a car with a for-sale sign on it, picked up a large rock and threw it through the windshield.

A cow with an arrow still in its side

Task force members lost Dillon on his way home from Belmont County on November 11, 1992, but later that day, investigators discovered that numerous cows had been killed with a crossbow in Tuscarawas County.  Authorities had been informed that Dillon sometimes used a crossbow.  Richard Fry helped obtain several of Dillon's arrows, and they were the same model and style as those recovered from the dead cows.

Where Dillon was arrested

Authorities followed Dillon to a gun show in New Philadelphia on Nov. 21, 1992, where he bought a .22-caliber rifle.  The purchase of the gun was enough to arrest Dillon for violating his bond on the silencer charge, but there was still nothing to link him to the killings of the outdoorsmen.  Investigators faced a tough decision. By waiting to arrest him, they risked losing him and giving him the chance to kill again.  Ohio's deer season would open November 30, 1992, drawing more than 300,000 hunters into the woods.  Authorities decided not to take the gamble. They arrested Dillon outside a Tuscarawas County convenient store on November 27, 1992, hoping that a search of his home would reveal other damning evidence.

Unfortunately, searches of Dillon's house, Toyota pickup truck, camper, office and safe deposit box turned up nothing.  Five days later, at his bond hearing, prosecutors revealed that Dillon was the prime suspect in five killings.

Dillon at the time of his arrest (POLICE)

The barrage of publicity that followed Dillon’s arrest finally gave the task force the break they needed.  On December 4, 1992, a Stark County man came forward and told investigators that he had bought a 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser rifle from Dillon at a Massillon gun show on April 6.  The man turned the rifle and a receipt over to investigators.  Ballistic tests matched the bullets recovered from Gary Bradley and Claude Hawkins with the rifle.

On January 22, 1993, a Noble County grand jury indicted Dillon on two counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, and his bond was set at $1 million.  Noble County Prosecutor Lucian Young wanted to seek indictments in all five slayings, but because of publicity about Dillon, he went ahead with two, planning to file other charges at a later date.

Officials at the Stark County jail placed Dillon on “homicide watch” after two strips of blanket were found in his cell. One of the strips had reportedly been fashioned into a noose.  Dillon claimed the strips were used to cover his eyes while he slept.  Shortly after that incident, Dillon told a mental health counselor that “he would strangle inmates if he had the chance, and he wouldn’t shed a tear.”