when you ve got something that was this bad somebody s got to pay. somebody has got to pay. hello, and welcome to dateline. nona dirksmeyer and kevin jones were a couple with a bright future. she was a self-confident 19 -year-old known for her beautiful voice. he was her devoted boyfriend with big ambitions. then, a brutal attack their shattered their dreams. it was a crime that would shake a small southern town to its core. and pit a family against the community they called home. here s keith morrison with what happened to the beauty queen? look at her. look at the young woman at the heart of our story. you can see how lovely she is. the young beauty queen. can you see her vulnerability? by now your first impression is probably locked in. it s very unlikely to change. and certainly, that s how it was in russellville, arkansas. the town where a first impression hardens like a patch of cement. about her and also about for better or worse, the young man acc
hello, and welcome to dateline. nona dirksmeyer and kevin jones were a couple with a bright future. she was a self-confident 19 -year-old known for her beautiful voice. he was her devoted boyfriend with big ambitions. then, a brutal attack their shattered their dreams. it was a crime that would shake a small southern town to its core. and pit a family against the community they called home. here s keith morrison with what happened to the beauty queen? look at her. look at the young woman at the heart of our story. you can see how lovely she is. the young beauty queen. can you see her vulnerability? by now your first impression is probably locked in. it s very unlikely to change. and certainly, that s how it was in russellville, arkansas. the town where a first impression hardens like a patch of cement. about her and also about for better or worse, the young man accused of killing her. the boyfriend who found the body. the boyfriend found a body. first impre
it s expected to we can even. more majority of deaths confirmed are reporting flooded. officials warning that the death toll could still rise. now, back to dateline. welcome back to the dateline. i m craig melvin. kevin jones was on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, nona dirksmeyer. prosecutors painted kevin as a jealous boyfriend whose bloody palm print found at the scene, was evidence he committed the crime. the defense countered that kevin left the print while trying to save nona s life. it was chimed him for the jury to decide the young man s fate. here again is keith morrison with what happened to the beauty queen? . kevin jones sat in the courtroom and watched the fight for his life swirl around him. and felt in that uncomfortable chair a withering stairs of the jury. they can all look at you and
body, and what they were doing to savor. it is a lie, they are lying, all three of them. all three of the boys? kevin is lying, and his mother? absolute liars, without question. in fact, the defense detainees tried to claim, you cannot keep up with the joneses and all of their lies. even kevin s grandmother, who said she was with kevin in another town, the morning of nona s death, could not be trusted. kevin s mother knows that kevin murdered nona? well, i don t know if they know, but they know they are covering for him. the lawyers say kevin jones cannot explain one thing away, the bloody palm print in nona s apartment. it was his and not garry dunn s. did it work? yes it did. after three days of deliberations, the jurors said they were hopelessly the judge declared a mistrial. but the prosecutor was not giving up. he refiled murder charges, and garry dunn s second trial began in 2011. now, gary dunn was being
dunn and his mother said they were shopping for that day gave him an alibi for the time when nona was killed. police and prosecutors didn t it mention that kevin s trial. but now, a new prosecutor was on the case and he found the dna results and faulty alibi compelling. and one year after kevin s acquittal, gary dunn was charged with murder. many people in russellville struggled to know what to think. their first impression was that kevin jones murdered nona dirksmeyer. would they believe that this latest arrestee was the real killer? and could the state of arkansas prove it? who knows. coming up gary dunn was the one on trial. so why did it seem as if kevin jones was as well? the first thing you get hit with is, this is your son that is on trial again. even though he s not on trial. he is. when dateline continues. like that cardboard tv. i told props to switch that out. okay, everyone, that s a wrap. [ bell rings ]