Nona Dirksmeyer- Death of a Beauty Queen
On a cold night, in December 2005, the little community of Russellville Arkansas lost one of it's brightest stars. Nona Dirksmeyer age 19 and a student at the local college, Arkansas Tech University, was found murdered in her off campus apartment. Her body was discovered by her boyfriend Kevin Jones. She had been badly beaten and her body was naked and covered with blood. As was Kevin Jones when the police arrived. Kevin Jones would later stand trial for her murder. He was found not guilty, for a lack of evidence.
Information about Nona Dirksmeyer
Here is a brief history of Nona Dirksmeyer
Nona Dirksmeyer, Miss Petit Jean Valley 2005, a native of Dover and the 19-year-old daughter of Carol and Duane Dipert of Russellville.Her critical issue platform was, "Break the Cycle - Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness." Her talent was a vocal performance of Con Te Partiro. NONA DIRKSMEYER, ARKANSAS BEAUTY CONTESTANT: "Con Te Partiro" is a song about love and loss. Translated to English, it means, with you, I part, or time to say goodbye. I hope you enjoy my version of this classic song.
A 2004 graduate of Dover High School, reigning Miss Petit Jean Valley, contestant in the 2005 Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant, and a well-regarded musical talent, Dirksmeyer's death has shaken her family, friends, the community and the Arkansas Tech University student body and faculty.
She enjoyed vocal music education and was planning on teaching it in the future. Carol said there is no doubt in her mind she would still be competing in pageants. Nona was also the reigning Miss Petit Jean Valley at the time of her death."I'm sure she would be more involved in Big Brothers and Big Sisters, too," Carol said as she showed her warm and proud smile. "I think it opened her eyes to these under-privileged kids. She really enjoyed hanging out with Stacey."
The day Nona died, she had a date with Stacey, Nona's "little sister" in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. The two planned to eat dinner and see a movie that night.
When talking to Carol, one can sense joy and a strong feeling of faith in her heart, but the heartache and tragedy seeps through as well.
"I'm not saying it's easy. It certainly hasn't been. [God] helped me through it day by day. You don't know how bad it is until it happens," Carol said. "You don't know how bad it feels. He's given me reassurance several times. I know where she is, and I know she's happier than she's ever been."
When Carol says she knows Nona is in heaven, she means it. Her confidence in God and heaven pours off of her. When in her presence, Carol's faith is impossible to ignore.
Watch the Dateline Nona Dirksmeyer Special
Dateline Death and the Beauty Queen part 1
Nona Dirksmeyer was a young beauty pageant queen with a difficult past. One day, she was unresponsive to her boyfriend's text messages, which was then followed by a grueling discovery.
Who is Kevin Jones
Lets take a look at Kevin Jones
Who is Kevin Jones?Kevin Jones attended Dover High School in Dover, Arkansas, graduating in 2004 at age 18. Kevin will turn 21 in 2007 on November 20. He has always had a great love of the outdoors and athletics in general, with a particular emphasis on baseball. Like Nona Dirksmeyer, Kevin had a record of achievement in high school. In fact, he had been elected president of the Arkansas State Beta Club, an honors society for high school students, by the time he graduated. Kevin's parents, Janice and Hiram Jones, own a gas station located between Dover and Russellville, Arkansas.
There's nothing on the surface that makes Kevin Jones seem too suspicious. The biggest strike against him is statistics, at the moment - too many times, murders like Nona Dirksmeyer's are not committed by a stranger, but by someone with whom the victim was once very close, a husband or boyfriend. If Jones was the poster on the Miss Arkansas pageant board, it was a strange thing to do - but only if.
*source* Huffs Crime Blog
Dateline NBC Nona Dirksmeyer special part 2
Dateline Death and the Beauty Queen pt 2.
The boyfriend - Kevin Jones becomes the main suspect!
What really happened is the police focused entirely on Kevin Jones right from the beginning. Ignoring other sources of evidence they felt they didn't need.
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the stepfather did it!
Are ya'll dumb?? I watched on dateline last nite more...3 points
I watched the program on Dateline...
And have read much about the case. Duane Dipert s more...1 point
Anyone watch the dateline show on NBC?
It aired on May 2nd, did you watch, I did!0 points
Duane Dipert is soooooooooooooo
acting guiltier than thou. It's not only the tele more...0 points
Duane Dipert is soooooooooooooo
acting guiltier than thou. It's not only the tele more...0 points
I missed the show
What is it about the show that has left everyone t more...0 points
Dateline NBC Nona Dirksmeyer special part 3
Dateline Death and the Beauty Queen pt 3.
Lines are drawn between Russellville and Dover
Links to information concerning Nona Dirksmeyer.
These links will help educate you on the murder case of Nona Dirksmeyer.
- Nona Dirksmeyer, 2005 Miss Arkansas pageant contestant found dead in her apartment - Crimelibrary.com Message Boards
- Nona Dirksmeyer, 2005 Miss Arkansas pageant contestant found dead in her apartment The Murder of Nona Dirksmeyer
- Dirksmeyer case inquiry ongoing
- Story date: May 2, 2008
Special prosecutor says investigators re-interviewing witnesses, ?looking at everybody? - State v. Jones: RPD Detective Mark Frost takes the stand
- State v. Jones: RPD Detective Mark Frost takes the stand.
During cross examination of Russellville Police Detective Mark Frost on Thursday, defense attorneys for Kevin Jones continued their attack on the RPD's investigation of Nona DIRKSMEYER's murder. - State v. Jones: Key exhibits
- The following items were entered into evidence during Thursday's testimony:
Prosecution
Six photos of a bathroom at the Jones residence taken by Al Frazier of Arkansas Restoration Services in response to a service call.
Three photos of the Jones dining room and kitchen, also taken by Frazier.
A map of Pope County showing two routes Jones - State v. Jones: Witness summaries
- During cross examination of Russellville Police Detective Mark Frost on Thursday, defense attorneys for Kevin Jones continued their attack on the RPD's investigation of Nona DIRKSMEYER's murder.
- State v. Jones - Jury takes measure of Jones
- Kevin Jones does not slump in his chair.
He does not allow himself the luxury of shifting back and forth or from side to side on the hard wooden seat, either. Nor does he cross his legs.
Most days, he drinks plain water, if any. Yesterday, it was raspberry flavored. - State v. Jones - Forensic evidence takes center stage
- Testimony in Kevin Jones' first-degree murder trial turned to forensic evidence Friday as personnel from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory took the stand.
Jones is on trial in connection with the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend, Nona DIRKSMEYER, 19, in December 2005. - Friends embrace memories of Nona Dirksmeyer
- Details of 19-year-old Nona Dirksmeyer's death will be revealed in a court of law in future months, but for now, one her friends offered a glimpse into what it was like be a friend of Nona's.
"I miss her very, very much," Shauna Kitchens, a longtime friend of Nona's, said as she held back tears. "I'm feeling about a 1,000 different emotions right now, because I want to be angry and I want to call her and tell her I love her ... and laugh with her." - Mother's memories shine light on Nona
- "She was an easy person to talk to and was always ready to listen if you had a problem. Another thing I admired about her was courage, conviction and perseverance. If she knew what she was doing was right, she would pursue it in spite of opposition," Dipert said.
- Death and the Beauty Queen - Nona Dirksmeyer Crime reports - MSNBC.com
- Police had a murder weapon with a bloody palm print -- and it belonged to the boyfriend of a slain beauty queen. But not everything was as it seemed.
- Jones Interrogation video
- Excerpts: Jones Interrogation
See excerpts of Kevin Jones' interrogation by investigators from the Russellville Police Department. - CBS News Video - Nona In The Spotlight
- Nona In The Spotlight
See footage of Nona Dirksmeyer, as she competed in the 2005 Ms. Arkansas pageant. - Dateline Special About Nona Dirksmeyer
- Watch the dateline special!
Dateline NBC Special about Nona Dirksmeyer part 4
The betrayed boyfriend and the bloody palm print
The betrayed boyfriend and the bloody palm print
Read News Stories about the Nona Dirksmeyer case
These links will take you to the archives of The Courier (Russellville Newspaper)
Following their release of information suggesting experts may have found a match for DNA found on a condom wrapper at the scene of a 19-year-old college student's violent death, attorneys for Kevin Jones - the man tried for, and acquitted of, Nona DIRKSMEYER's murder - are now leaving more questions than answers.
Gibbons: 'Misunderstanding' provides portion
of unreleased DIRKSMEYER case file to television show
The many twists and turns of the ongoing investigation into the murder of Dover High School graduate and Arkansas Tech University student Nona DIRKSMEYER - now entering its third year - perhaps lend themselves, in their complexity, to misunderstanding and confusion.
Apparently, elements of those states may have spilled over into other arenas surrounding the case.
Special prosecutor appointed to Dirksmeyer case More than two years after her murder - and nearly seven months after a Franklin County jury found her longtime boyfriend, Kevin Jones, not guilty of the crime - a special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate the death of Nona DIRKSMEYER, ....more
Life has continued for Carol Dipert, Nona DIRKSMEYER's mother, after Kevin Jones was acquitted for DIRKSMEYER's first-degree murder at the Franklin County Courthouse in July. DIRKSMEYER's body was discovered in her Russellville apartment Dec. 15, 2005. The cause of death was multiple blunt- and sharp-force trauma.
As Dipert now tries to re-enter her own life, she recalled DIRKSMEYER's relationship with Jones and the couple's breakups and makeups.
Dipert said Jones and DIRKSMEYER began hanging out together in junior high school,....
OZARK - At 2:21 p.m. Thursday in the Franklin County Courthouse, 581 days after former Arkansas Tech University student Nona DIRKSMEYER was brutally murdered in her South Inglewood Avenue apartment, the jury in the State v. Jones trial returned a verdict of "not guilty" to heavy silence in the courtroom.
Kevin Jones, DIRKSMEYER's high school sweetheart, was arrested in March 2006 in connection with DIRKSMEYER's murder.
Dateline Death and the Beauty Queen pt 5.
Bad evidence and shoddy investigation
Bad evidence and shoddy investigation.
Way to go Mark Frost! Where did you get your education? A cracker Jack box?
Dateline Death and the Beauty Queen pt 6.
The jury decides Kevin Jones fate.
The jury decides Kevin Jones fate.
Not Guilty was the verdict. Watch this video to see the jurors reasons why they decide Kevin Jones was not guilty.
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The book recounts two murders in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma. Both victims are young women. In both cases, the local and state police investigating the case are stumped. But with a toxic blend of extremely circumstantial "evidence", shocking crime scene photos, junk science, inexpert experts, jailhouse snitches and critical "dream confessions" induced by near-torture tactics, the police pin the murders on four young men of the area, two per murder.
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Should we be looking at Duane Dipert?
Seems like after the recent Dateline episode that everyone thinks it was the step father
He was the step father of Nona Dirksmeyer.
Duane Dipert has 2 daughters of his own.
Some strange quotes from Duane
"One day, I asked Frost why I hadn't been questioned as a suspect," he said. " I mean, I'm retired. I have free time during the day, and I had access to Nona's apartment."
"I told him I was Christmas shopping all that day, and that I had receipts with times on them," Dipert said. He asked Frost if the police wanted to see them, and Frost said yes.
"I was never really considered a serious suspect by the police, especially after I gave them the receipts,"
"Wouldn't it be funny if it was the boyfriend"
Did Duane Dipert kill his stepdaughter Nona Dirksmeyer?
He sure could be just as likely as Kevin Jones was. I sure hope the prosecutors take a closer look at him. Store receipts can come from anyone, so in my opinion, thats not a valuable alibi.
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It's a true testament to the ignorance of the general public how the step-father has been verbally crucified, and for what? There is absolutely NO physical evidence that he was involved with Nona's death! Asking for the cell phone afterwards is circumstantial "evidence" at best. Get a clue!
Posted July 08, 2008
The stepfather is so guilty. His mean attitude is horrible. He was too firm with her and is the reason she moved out to begin with. Had her on a 9pm curfew because he locked doors at 10pm and said nothing good happened after 10pm. He is an arrogant killing pig! They need to call in some real lawmen and get him to confess. They botched the crimescene so badly they won't have any evidence to prove it. He will have to finally confess. They need somebody really good to interogate him! What a loser he is! He makes me sick! The grinning mother makes me even sicker! Does she really need a man that badly to stay with her daughers killer? Whew! I feel better now!
Posted May 26, 2008
I just watched Dateline and even before I read the other posts about the stepfather being guilty, I felt the same way!!
Posted May 26, 2008
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RichLeigh
I knew nothing about this before reading, this lens was however incredibly informative and has taught me a lot about the case. Thank you for sharing this with us all! Posted May 20, 2008 |
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Dav1d0
Hi, thanks for joining Squidoovision ;) Good luck and keep lens rolling in the future ;) Posted May 05, 2008 |
THE STEP FATHER KILLER HER! Period, and that sicko mother, who always wears that stupid smile in TV shows is covering for him. Erased the cell phone, called the mother 8 times to make an excuse for the day..sad for the girl, but time to hang that mother and step father out to dry, HE KILLED HER and she is covering up for him..Oh yeah.. what a LOOSER police department that town has, I guess what they say about Cops with lo I.Q.s is real!
Posted May 03, 2008
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justbeing
it was the stepfather!!!! it's so obvious!! Posted May 03, 2008 |
Nice page!
Note: Duane and Carol Dipert live in Russellville, AR.
Posted February 29, 2008
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Susan52
You don't have to be from Russellville to know about Nona Dirksmeyer. Since Kevin was acquitted and the fingerprint on the condom wrapper has been identified, hopefully the truth will come out in the near future. Thank you for honoring her memory. Posted February 19, 2008 |
