Stanley Dishon sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing niece in 1999

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- While Jessica Dishon's parents pleaded for answers in an emotional Bullitt Circuit Courtroom on Thursday, Stanley Dishon remained mostly quiet as he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his niece's 1999 slaying and the sexual abuse of multiple family members.

"It took about 17 years of my life away from me when he killed my daughter," Mike Dishon, Jessica's father, told Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III. "I want to know why he did it."

Edna Jett, Jessica's mother, also asked Stanley for answers, saying the family took him in during Jessica's teen years and he "betrayed" them.

"There is a hole in my heart that can never be filled," said Jett, who has been a constant prescience in the court over the last 15 years. "We've been robbed of a life that should have never been taken."

Stanley spoke only briefly during his sentencing, reacting once when one of his sexual abuse victims told him she wished he would have received the death penalty.

"You do?" Stanley Dishon responded, appearing to try and stand up before one of his attorneys turned to speak with him.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Ferguson told reporters Stanley was "defiant," showed no remorse and even smiled during the emotional testimony from victims and relatives.

"That reaction is insightful as to who he is and what he is," Ferguson said, adding that prison will be a "miserable" time for Dishon, as a convicted sex offender who also pleaded guilty to killing a teen.

Edna Jett told reporters the family had been waiting for a conviction for a long time but was "disappointed" not to get any answers as to why Stanley killed the 17-year-old.

"We have closure but we don't have any answers as to why," she said.

But Stanley Dishon's attorneys maintain he did not kill Jessica and only pleaded guilty because the separate charges of sexually abusing family members would have been hard to beat at trial, given Simms would have allowed Stanley's prior sexual assault convictions to be brought up in front of jurors.

"Had it just been the murder, we would have gone to trial no problem," said attorney Jennifer Wittmeyer, adding that Stanley Dishon faced a life sentence for the three sexual abuse cases. "Stanley absolutely maintains his innocence of killing Jessica and we believe whoever killed her is still out there"

In January, the murder charge in Jessica's slaying was amended to manslaughter and Dishon, 56, entered an Alford plea, meaning he maintained his innocence but acknowledged there was enough evidence for a jury to convict him. A kidnapping charge was dismissed.

The sentences for all the charges will run together, for a total of 20 years in prison, with Dishon becoming eligible for parole in about 16 years.

The sentencing puts to an end a high-profile murder case that had befuddled and at times embarrassed officials in Bullitt County. Investigators there overcame a myriad of past mistakes and the arrest and mistrial of a different person, Jessica's neighbor.

Wittmeyer said it is unlikely the case will ever be solved at this point given how badly the case was handled, including charging and trying a different man, David "Bucky" Brooks.

Stanley will continue to "fight to prove his innocence" while in prison, attorney Melanie Foote Hollingsworth said.

Ferguson praised the work done by many in the sheriff's department, including Det. Lynn Hunt, who spearheaded the investigation after getting a call from Louisville Metro Police Detective Gary Huffman on June 6, 2013.

Huffman had been interviewing an inmate in an unrelated case. At the conclusion of the interview, Huffman asked the inmate if he knew of any unsolved homicides.

That inmate would go on to give three interviews to investigators about Stanley Dishon confessing to killing his niece because he was jealous she had a boyfriend and that he feared she was going to reveal his sexual abuse. That interview led to another inmate who provided similar details.

Stanley Dishon killed his niece, Hunt told reporters, "simply because he didn't want the story to come out."

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