Winnipeg man serves 25 to life for California slaying

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Patrick Dillon of Winnipeg is serving 25 years to life in prison for killing a homeless man in California in 2008. His family believes he acted in self-defence. (HANDOUT)

A Winnipeg man who was hitchhiking across America has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for stabbing a homeless man to death in California.

Patrick Mark Dillon's family in Winnipeg is shocked, describing him as a loving family man who liked to rescue animals.

Dillon, 40, was convicted June 1 in a California court of first-degree murder for stabbing Carlos Caldera, 57, while they fished on the Colorado River, near Blythe, Calif., in 2008.

Dillon, who worked in retail before going on disability social assistance because of a problem with his heart that caused him to black out, had set out to hitchhike across the continent a few weeks earlier. "He just needed a break," his wife, Teresa Dillon, said. His family had just arranged to buy Dillon a plane ticket so he could be home for Christmas.

On a rainy, windy December night in 2008, Caldera and his elderly mother picked up Dillon while on their way back to a campground where they lived, court documents show. Dillon stayed the night at the campground with the Calderas.

The next day, after Caldera and Dillon went fishing on the river, Dillon left the campground on his own. Shortly afterward, Caldera was found bleeding, face-down on the riverbank. An autopsy showed he had been stabbed about 40 times, including lethal wounds to his carotid artery and liver, the prosecutor at the trial told the Free Press.

Dillon's lawyer argued the defendant stabbed Caldera in self-defence after Caldera attacked him with a hammer. Dillon prompted the attack by making fun of Caldera's religion, deputy public defender Neil Harrison said at trial.

The prosecutor rejected the self-defence theory, though he didn't offer a precise motive for the killing.

"We really couldn't pinpoint a motive per se. I think just his behaviour and the circumstances that occurred before the murder indicated that he's just pretty much of a -- I think -- a bit of a psychopath and that he just did it because he could get away with it," deputy district attorney Thomas Daly told the Free Press.

The victim had injuries on his hands that indicated he was defending himself from an attack, a coroner's pathologist said.

And although Dillon said he wrestled the hammer away from Caldera and used it to defend himself, an investigator found no indication of blunt force trauma on Caldera's body, aside from on his hands.

Divers searched the river for a hammer but never found one, Daly said.

Dillon damaged his credibility during a two-hour interview with an investigator in which he told multiple conflicting stories, Daly said.

Dillon, who was picked up in Arizona, initially claimed he had never been to California.

He told people at the campsite his name was Danny.

An acquaintance of Caldera's testified that on the day of the killing, Dillon said he had no identity and could therefore get away with anything without being traced. This witness was unco-operative, however, and perjured himself a few times while testifying, Daly said.

Dillon's family was never asked to testify.

They speak highly of the husband, father of seven and grandfather of three, and believe he acted in self-defence.

"I cannot imagine him doing anything of the sort. I've never, ever seen him hurt anybody. He won't hurt an animal," said Linda Dillon, his sister, who owns three stray cats he rescued. "The Patrick I know -- it just doesn't compute," she said.

The family has sent Dillon money and his brother and mother are planning to visit him. His wife said she is standing by him and is looking into making a request for him to serve his time in Canada.

It's not Dillon's first run-in with the law. He spent eight years in prison for a series of break-ins in the early '90s. At one point, he escaped prison, broke into a farmhouse, took two elderly people hostage and ordered them to drive to Winnipeg before he was arrested again.

His sister said he had a rough childhood. "We came from a screwed-up family. It's the usual b.s. He grew up with an alcoholic who was very violent," Linda said.

After he got out of prison, he never committed another crime until now, family members said.

"He's very kind-hearted," Teresa Dillon said, adding he played with his kids all the time. "He's not confrontational. He's not one to go out and pick fights. It's just a real big shock," she said.

william.burr@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 17, 2011 A3