Gary Simmons murder - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

UMfan77 · 01-22-2004, 08:54 PM

A few nights ago, the segment about the unsolved murder of Gary Simmons was shown. The segment starts off about this bus driver that always got a creepy feeling about a cave that was nearby the busyard that he worked at. One day, he got the courage to go into the cave, and discovered a skeleton. The skeleton was determined to be Gary Simmons, a businessman who went missing in 1975. Right before he went missing, Gary Simmons was buying an expensive horse from a man named Jim Dixon, who is the main suspect for Gary Simmon's disappearance. But during the filming of the segment, a man came forward and said that Gary Simmon's disappearance wasn't related to a bad horse deal, but was more than likely related to him buying black-market gas, because Gary owned a chain of gas-stations,which were doing poorly during the Arab oil embargo in the early seventies. The police still think that Jim Dixon is the main suspect and want him for questioning.

Brent88 · 01-22-2004, 10:28 PM

This segment was on LAST NIGHT! That was the first time I had seen it! It was VERY spooky to say the least.

gaf · 01-23-2004, 11:48 AM

Yes, it was spooky and what made it more so for me was that it took place less than an hour from my house and I'm well acquainted with that area. I had no idea that went on there.

Starbright726 · 01-25-2004, 07:35 PM

The suspect's name is actually Tom Dixon, and he was officially charged with the auto theft of Gary Simmon's car. Unfortunately, so many years have gone by now that the staute of limitations has probably run out, and Dixon may in fact be dead. He hasn't been seen in thirty years, and there's no indication that he'll resurface now.

This is a case that has ALWAYS bothered me. It will probably never be solved because evidence and witnesses have been lost over time. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

CanadianUMFan · 07-12-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbright726

The suspect's name is actually Tom Dixon, and he was officially charged with the auto theft of Gary Simmon's car. Unfortunately, so many years have gone by now that the staute of limitations has probably run out, and Dixon may in fact be dead. He hasn't been seen in thirty years, and there's no indication that he'll resurface now.

This is a case that has ALWAYS bothered me. It will probably never be solved because evidence and witnesses have been lost over time. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

I just saw this segment today and was wondering if there was any update on this case. It is so strange that Dixon was able to disappear completely as well. One thing that perplexed me a little was when a cop that was interviewed said something like they never looked at the two disappearances suspiciously until a body was found. The cop just said that they looked at it as two men who were simply missing. Would they not have thought it suspicious way back in '74 that these two missing men just happened to be meeting over a $30k horse deal??? There was ample evidence of the two men getting together to make such a deal so one would think that alarm bells would have gone off for the police but didn't for some reason.

wiseguy182 · 07-13-2007, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianUMFan

I just saw this segment today and was wondering if there was any update on this case. It is so strange that Dixon was able to disappear completely as well. One thing that perplexed me a little was when a cop that was interviewed said something like they never looked at the two disappearances suspiciously until a body was found. The cop just said that they looked at it as two men who were simply missing. Would they not have thought it suspicious way back in '74 that these two missing men just happened to be meeting over a $30k horse deal??? There was ample evidence of the two men getting together to make such a deal so one would think that alarm bells would have gone off for the police but didn't for some reason.

no updates. Yeah, that is strange they didn't think to put 2 + 2 together. I noticed you also posted about the Swedish hitchhiker murders, I have this episode on tape as well.

sdb4884 · 06-10-2010, 08:38 AM

I see this listed under underrated case. It sure was, it was a creepy case full of intrigue. It seems that Dixon could be guilty but with that witness late in the broadcast telling UM that he saw Simmons call his bank and look at the horse he was buying it threw the case in a totally different direction.

dsmith · 08-02-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdb4884

I see this listed under underrated case. It sure was, it was a creepy case full of intrigue. It seems that Dixon could be guilty but with that witness late in the broadcast telling UM that he saw Simmons call his bank and look at the horse he was buying it threw the case in a totally different direction.

did you get update on this case

XCalibur · 08-03-2010, 08:32 PM

always thought this was one of those strange cases where there was more to it than the broadcast said.

For one thing, this Tom Dixon guy almost nothing seemed to be known about him. I mean where did he come from, did this guy have friends? Family who knew him and did he just dissapear?

Tom Dixon sounds like an alias anyway, I am betting he was some kind of con man and that wasn't even his real name, who may have lived in this area for a short time but no one really knew anything about him. I mean he just vanished off the face of the Earth after this.

Also, I'm surprised the guy at the junkyard he tried to get to smash the car didn't get suspicous. I mean who asks somebody to smash a perfectly good automobile unless they have something to hide? That ought to set off warning bells in anyone's head. If you don't need a vehicle anymore you sell it.

SitcomsAreTheWay · 08-04-2010, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XCalibur

always thought this was one of those strange cases where there was more to it than the broadcast said.

For one thing, this Tom Dixon guy almost nothing seemed to be known about him. I mean where did he come from, did this guy have friends? Family who knew him and did he just dissapear?

Tom Dixon sounds like an alias anyway, I am betting he was some kind of con man and that wasn't even his real name, who may have lived in this area for a short time but no one really knew anything about him. I mean he just vanished off the face of the Earth after this.

Also, I'm surprised the guy at the junkyard he tried to get to smash the car didn't get suspicous. I mean who asks somebody to smash a perfectly good automobile unless they have something to hide? That ought to set off warning bells in anyone's head. If you don't need a vehicle anymore you sell it.

I wonder if Gary had even bothered to research Tom Dixon's background. But then again, if he had been using an alias, maybe it would've been complicated to do so. Who knows though.

XCalibur · 08-04-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsAreTheWay

I wonder if Gary had even bothered to research Tom Dixon's background. But then again, if he had been using an alias, maybe it would've been complicated to do so. Who knows though.

yeah thats what I'm saying, the UM broadcast as best as I can remember mentioned nothing about this guy's background. Its like he was in this area, made this deal with Simmons, he turns up dead and Dixon dissapears off the face of the Earth. Nothing before it, nothing afterward.

Thats why I believe Tom Dixon may have been an alias, and this guy was a conman whose true identity is unknown. Unless there was more than the broadcast revealed. Its relatively easy for a person who doesn't actually exist to dissapear, someone who wants to pull something underhanded may go to a different area, use a made up name, pull of the job, go back to his actual identity, and presto, there is no more Tom Dixon. You don't even neccessarily have to make fake identifications, just move in and introduce yourself to a few people under a name then you are that person. It was probably a little easier in the early 70's than it would be today because there is so much more focus on identification nowadays.

The unusual thing though is that con men don't typically murder, there motivation is generally to bleed as much money as possible without attracting to much interest from the police. Getting your hands dirtied with murder attracts more attention from law enforcement and is generally detrimental to your scams. Makes me think this may have been a job gone wrong. Gary Simmons may have caught wind of Dixon's plans or found out more than he was supposed to know and Dixon had to kill him.

To bad we may never know the truth about this.

sdb4884 · 08-05-2010, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsmith

did you get update on this case

No update as far as I know.

sdb4884 · 08-12-2010, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XCalibur

yeah thats what I'm saying, the UM broadcast as best as I can remember mentioned nothing about this guy's background. Its like he was in this area, made this deal with Simmons, he turns up dead and Dixon dissapears off the face of the Earth. Nothing before it, nothing afterward.

Thats why I believe Tom Dixon may have been an alias, and this guy was a conman whose true identity is unknown. Unless there was more than the broadcast revealed. Its relatively easy for a person who doesn't actually exist to dissapear, someone who wants to pull something underhanded may go to a different area, use a made up name, pull of the job, go back to his actual identity, and presto, there is no more Tom Dixon. You don't even neccessarily have to make fake identifications, just move in and introduce yourself to a few people under a name then you are that person. It was probably a little easier in the early 70's than it would be today because there is so much more focus on identification nowadays.

The unusual thing though is that con men don't typically murder, there motivation is generally to bleed as much money as possible without attracting to much interest from the police. Getting your hands dirtied with murder attracts more attention from law enforcement and is generally detrimental to your scams. Makes me think this may have been a job gone wrong. Gary Simmons may have caught wind of Dixon's plans or found out more than he was supposed to know and Dixon had to kill him.

To bad we may never know the truth about this.

I'm pretty sure judging by the photos UM got of Tom Dixon that he had a prior record of some kind due to one of the photos being a side on mug shot. I think Tom Dixon is probably his real name, I wonder what priors did he have?

RobinW · 08-18-2010, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XCalibur

Also, I'm surprised the guy at the junkyard he tried to get to smash the car didn't get suspicous. I mean who asks somebody to smash a perfectly good automobile unless they have something to hide? That ought to set off warning bells in anyone's head. If you don't need a vehicle anymore you sell it.

That scene is one of the more amusing WTF moments on UM, especially when Dixon asks for advice on what he should do, and the junkyard guy flat out tells him to put a brick on the accelerator and drive the car into the lake! I guess one of the prerequisites for working in a junkyard is a Ph.D in advising people how to cover up their crimes...

XiaoGouPi · 11-01-2010, 04:08 AM

Yeah!! What was the junkyard guy thinking? Tell somebody to put a brick in the car and drive it in the lake?

Who in the right mind would suggest someone to do something like that?

It sounded as if he was making a sick joke or he knew exactly why Tom Dixon wanted not to just get rid of the car, but make it disappear for good, and so he gave him an ingenius suggestion.

And the way the guy gave the suggestion was like, 'hes done it before'.

Anybody slightly rational should have detected something 'amiss' here when a person wants to get rid of a in-no-way out of shape car so desperately and even so thoroughly to the point where its non-existant anymore.

01-22-2004, 08:54 PM	#1
UMfan77 Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 28, 2003 Posts: 1,064	Gary Simmons murder A few nights ago, the segment about the unsolved murder of Gary Simmons was shown. The segment starts off about this bus driver that always got a creepy feeling about a cave that was nearby the busyard that he worked at. One day, he got the courage to go into the cave, and discovered a skeleton. The skeleton was determined to be Gary Simmons, a businessman who went missing in 1975. Right before he went missing, Gary Simmons was buying an expensive horse from a man named Jim Dixon, who is the main suspect for Gary Simmon's disappearance. But during the filming of the segment, a man came forward and said that Gary Simmon's disappearance wasn't related to a bad horse deal, but was more than likely related to him buying black-market gas, because Gary owned a chain of gas-stations,which were doing poorly during the Arab oil embargo in the early seventies. The police still think that Jim Dixon is the main suspect and want him for questioning.

01-22-2004, 10:28 PM	#2
Brent88 Member Forum Star Join Date: Aug 01, 2003 Location: Alabama Posts: 16,174	This segment was on LAST NIGHT! That was the first time I had seen it! It was VERY spooky to say the least.
	__________________ Brent

01-23-2004, 11:48 AM	#3
gaf Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 02, 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 94	Yes, it was spooky and what made it more so for me was that it took place less than an hour from my house and I'm well acquainted with that area. I had no idea that went on there.

01-25-2004, 07:35 PM	#4
Starbright726 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 30, 2003 Posts: 50	The suspect's name is actually Tom Dixon, and he was officially charged with the auto theft of Gary Simmon's car. Unfortunately, so many years have gone by now that the staute of limitations has probably run out, and Dixon may in fact be dead. He hasn't been seen in thirty years, and there's no indication that he'll resurface now. This is a case that has ALWAYS bothered me. It will probably never be solved because evidence and witnesses have been lost over time. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

06-10-2010, 08:38 AM	#7
sdb4884 UM Meme Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 01, 2008 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,234	I see this listed under underrated case. It sure was, it was a creepy case full of intrigue. It seems that Dixon could be guilty but with that witness late in the broadcast telling UM that he saw Simmons call his bank and look at the horse he was buying it threw the case in a totally different direction.

08-03-2010, 08:32 PM	#9
XCalibur Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 16, 2010 Location: Belfast, Va Posts: 980	always thought this was one of those strange cases where there was more to it than the broadcast said. For one thing, this Tom Dixon guy almost nothing seemed to be known about him. I mean where did he come from, did this guy have friends? Family who knew him and did he just dissapear? Tom Dixon sounds like an alias anyway, I am betting he was some kind of con man and that wasn't even his real name, who may have lived in this area for a short time but no one really knew anything about him. I mean he just vanished off the face of the Earth after this. Also, I'm surprised the guy at the junkyard he tried to get to smash the car didn't get suspicous. I mean who asks somebody to smash a perfectly good automobile unless they have something to hide? That ought to set off warning bells in anyone's head. If you don't need a vehicle anymore you sell it.

11-01-2010, 04:08 AM	#15
XiaoGouPi Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 01, 2009 Posts: 43	Yeah!! What was the junkyard guy thinking? Tell somebody to put a brick in the car and drive it in the lake? Who in the right mind would suggest someone to do something like that? It sounded as if he was making a sick joke or he knew exactly why Tom Dixon wanted not to just get rid of the car, but make it disappear for good, and so he gave him an ingenius suggestion. And the way the guy gave the suggestion was like, 'hes done it before'. Anybody slightly rational should have detected something 'amiss' here when a person wants to get rid of a in-no-way out of shape car so desperately and even so thoroughly to the point where its non-existant anymore.