Dees
A Brown County jury took less than 35 minutes to convict Frederick Robert Dees II of shooting an acquaintance at his own home after four days of trial.
Dees, 43, of Columbus, was charged with burglary resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 1 felony; aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; battery with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; and battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony.
Although the jury convicted on all four counts, Brown County Prosecutor Ted Adams said that the lower counts will be either vacated or merged into the larger counts to avoid double jeopardy, the release said.
“Double jeopardy” essentially means that Dees would be prosecuted twice for the same crime, which is prohibited in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“They are what we call lesser-included offenses, and they form the foundation for higher-level charges. Prosecutors charge them in case the jury acquits on the higher level charges; they form the foundation for many of the charges,” Adams stated in a press release.
Dees will face up to 56 years for his convictions on Count I and II, the Level 1 and 3 felonies.
The charges stem from a shooting on March 21, 2022 at a residence in the 7100 block of State Road 135 North. A neighbor of the victim captured a scene of the event on a surveillance camera.
In the footage, a vehicle could be seen as it pulled up to the residence and a male individual exited the passenger seat, approached the front door and then moved to the north side of the residence.
At that point, the victim recounted being shot several times with what appeared to be both shotgun flares and birdshot, the release said.
Both the victim and the driver of the vehicle in the footage identified the shooter as Dees.
The victim reportedly suffered significant injuries, nearly losing his lower right arm.
The victim also suffered a significant wound to his side and told jurors he has lost the use of this arm and is still hindered today and has dozens of fragments and pellets left in his body.
Police officers, led by Brown County Det. Paul Henderson and assisted by Det. Brian Shrader, followed the evidence.
They were quickly able to identify the existence of the neighbor’s surveillance system. The detectives were able to glean a make and model of the car and, through confidential sources, developed the identity of the driver of the vehicle.
Detectives made contact with the driver, and listened to a phone conversation between the driver and Dees.
Dees reportedly told the driver that police were looking for the wrong car and to keep quiet. Adams and Chief Deputy Rob Seet highlighted these statements as demonstrating Dees knew information that only the shooter, the driver, and law enforcement would know.
The jury also heard from members of the United States Marshal’s Task Force and how they were able to track down Dees, who fled the scene.
The jury saw video of Dees attempting to escape out of the back of a residence when the Marshals arrived. The jury also heard of the prosecution’s attempts to forensically link Dees to the crime through DNA, fingerprints, firearms experts, and digital forensics, all with varying degrees of success.
The Brown County jury was selected after an entire day of jury selection. The selected jury then heard two full days of testimony. Adams and Seet tried the matter for the State of Indiana.
The jury heard from or saw exhibits from at least four different experts in addition to hearing directly from the victim and the driver of the vehicle. The jury was able to see the bodycams of the first responding officers, including the injuries suffered by the victim.
“No person should be shot in their own home; I am glad detectives tracked down Dees and that we have removed him as a threat to our community,” Seet said.
“The audacity of it all; such acts cannot be tolerated. This case was important to the State of Indiana and to the safety of our citizens here in Brown County,” Adams added.
Sentencing is set for Thursday April 27 at 9 a.m. in the Brown County Courthouse.
