A West Texas plastic surgeon hired a hit man to kill another doctor because he couldn't bear that his girlfriend left him and was dating him, a prosecutor told jurors Monday during opening statements in the surgeon's trial.
Dr. Thomas Michael Dixon is on trial for the second time facing allegations that he hired his business partner to kill Dr. Joseph Sonnier III in July 2012, in exchange for three bars of silver valued at $9,000. Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict during his capital murder trial last year, prompting Lubbock County prosecutors to retry him.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that prosecutor Sunshine Stanek told jurors that the 51-year-old Dixon was consumed by his failed relationship and hired his business partner, David Neal Shepard, to kill Sonnier. Investigators said Shepard broke into Sonnier's home in Lubbock, then stabbed the doctor and shot him several times with a gun Dixon gave him.
Authorities said evidence includes scores of text messages between Shepard and Dixon in the weeks leading up to the slaying.
But Dixon's attorneys portrayed Shepard as an opportunist solely responsible for Sonnier's death.
Defense attorney Dan Hurley told the jury Monday that Shepard was a con man whose life was unraveling and wanted to prove himself to Dixon by carrying out the killing. Shepard agreed to a plea deal in 2013 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
During his first trial, Dixon testified that he never paid Shepard to kill anyone. He said the two had only talked of ruining Sonnier's relationship with the woman.
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After the mistrial was declared last year, the jury foreman said five jurors were convinced Dixon was guilty of capital murder, while two didn't believe that the circumstantial evidence proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The foreman said the two would not vote to convict Dixon of capital murder, murder or manslaughter, while the five others wanted to at least convict him of murder or manslaughter.
Lawyers told jurors Monday that the new trial was expected to last several weeks.
