A North Carolina father was charged with the murders of his four children after authorities said he called 911 to make a chilling confession to police.
Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, was arrested at his home in Zebulon — roughly 20 miles northeast of Raleigh — on Tuesday.
‘It’s a lot to explain, but in a nutshell, it’s all my fault. This is my fault. This is bad.’
Dickens was charged with four counts of murder. Dickens faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty if he is convicted of murder.
Dickens is being held without bond in the Johnston County Jail.
Just after 10 p.m. Monday, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call from Dickens that “he had killed his children.”
Dickens was heard saying in the 911 phone call, “I killed my stepson. It’s a lot to explain, but in a nutshell, it’s all my fault. This is my fault. This is bad.”
Dickens said he didn’t “cut” or “shoot” anyone but admitted to “beating on them sometimes” and that he “over-disciplined” his stepson. He added that the situation “spiraled,” and “it got worse and worse and worse.” Dickens also said he was a “coward” and admitted to using marijuana and consuming alcohol.
Dickens said he was attempting to “do the right thing” and revealed that he was “trying to turn himself” in to law enforcement. The suspect said he was “willing to do whatever” officers request of him when confronted by police. Deputies were soon dispatched to Dickens’ property.
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “Mr. Dickens stated to deputies that his 3-year-old son was inside the house alive and four of his other children were deceased inside the trunk of a vehicle in the garage of the residence. Mr. Dickens’ 3-year-old son was located and found unharmed in the residence.”
Police also said a “preliminary investigation discovered what were believed to be multiple bodies in the trunk of a vehicle in the garage.”
Investigators determined that the human remains in the vehicle “had been there for a long period of time.”
Deputies accused Dickens of killing his three biological children, aged 6, 9, and 10, as well as his 18-year-old stepchild.
The sheriff’s office did not specify how the children died or identify a possible motive.
In a Wednesday press conference, Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell accused Dickens of beginning to murder his children months ago.
Bizzell said 6-year-old Leah Dickens likely was killed in May, 9-year-old Zoe Dickens was estimated to have been killed in August, 10-year-old Wellington Dickens was killed in either late August or early September, and 18-year-old stepchild Sean Brassfield probably was killed in September.
Don Pate, captain of the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations Division, said at the news conference that officers noticed an odor of “decay” as soon as they entered the residence.
Pate said there was “evidence of criminal activity,” including alleged attempts to clean up crime scenes within the house.
Sheriff Bizzell noted that social services took the one surviving child for a medical evaluation and is now “safe.”
During the news conference, Bizzell revealed that Dickens’ wife, 37-year-old Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died at her home on April 21, 2024. Jones was three months pregnant at the time of her death and had suffered from “excessive bleeding the night prior, but refused to go for medical treatment,” Bizzell stated.
Sheriff Bizzell said investigators previously determined that Jones died from complications from a miscarriage, and doctors ruled that her death was “natural.”
Bizzell said there are currently no plans to exhume the remains of Jones following the murder accusations against her husband.
A neighbor told WRAL-TV that she “never saw a child outside playing” at Dickens’ home.
Neighbor Fran Majkowski continued, “I never saw him mowing a lawn. … The only time I ever saw them was the day they moved in, and like I said … it was very … you just get the feeling someone is to themselves.”
Debra Riley, who lives next door to Dickens, said he “became more of a recluse” after his wife died.
Charles Moore, Dickens’ great uncle, told WRAL that the father was an Iraq War veteran.
Moore noted, “He was in the service, and he had a problem ever since he came back, I think.”
Moore claimed he last saw Dickens about a year ago, and he “seemed fine.”
Neither the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office nor the Johnston County Public Defender’s Office, which was appointed to represent Dickens in court, immediately responded to Blaze News’ request for comment.
Dickens is scheduled to attend a probable cause hearing on Nov. 13, according to court records.
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North carolina, North carolina crime, Murder, Confession, Murder confession, Crime
