A North Carolina man has been arrested after he allegedly confessed to killing his children, leading authorities to the discovery of four decomposed bodies inside the trunk of his car, officials said.
According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, the victims — three of Wellington Delano Dickens III’s biological children, ages 6, 9, and 10, and his 18-year-old stepchild — had been inside the trunk “for a long period of time.” Dickens’s 3-year-old son was found alive and unharmed inside the family’s home in Zebulon.
The horrifying case came to light on Monday, October 27, when Dickens reportedly called 911 and told the dispatcher that he had killed his children. Deputies soon arrived at the residence and discovered “multiple bodies in the trunk of a vehicle in the garage,” the sheriff’s office stated. Authorities have not yet released the cause of death.
Court documents indicate the murders occurred on May 1. Dickens’s wife, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died months earlier, in April 2024. Her obituary noted that she “passed away suddenly at her home on Sunday, April 21, 2024.” The couple married in August 2015, and she was survived by Dickens and her five children.
Because of the advanced state of decomposition, investigators said positive identification of the victims will be confirmed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Dickens now faces four counts of murder and is being held without bond at the Johnston County Jail. He made his first court appearance on Tuesday and is scheduled to return on November 13. He is currently represented by a public defender, whose name was not listed in the court filings.
