Dixie's Last Stand

Was It Murder or Self-Defense?

By: John Ferak

Narrated by: Dave Wright

Dixie Shanahan had a terribly troubled and abusive marriage in the sleepy little town of Defiance, Iowa. Then one summer day in 2002, Dixie's mean and wicked husband was gone. Some of the local residents presumed that Scott packed his bags and left town. But others were skeptical. After all, Scott's brown Ford pick-up truck was still parked in his driveway. The disappearance mystified Defiance for more than a year. Then in late October, 2003, the truth emerged - or did it?

"This fascinating story will leave you asking yourself one question, was the punishment that Dixie received in her case justified? Highly recommended for all true crime readers." (RJ Parker, best-selling true crime author)

©2015 WildBlue Press (P)2015 WildBlue Press

Worth a listen

In "Dixie's Last Stand", true crime author John Ferak examines the story of Dixie Shanahan, a victim of prolonged domestic abuse, who dramatically ended the relationship by fatally shooting her husband, and leaving his decomposing body in a locked bedroom for more than a year. Dixie used the self-defense argument, however, she lied to investigators, claiming that her husband had simply left town. If Dixie did kill her husband in self defense, why didn't she inform the authorities? Despite being offered a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter, Dixie refused, and was convicted of second-degree murder and received a fifty year sentence. Ferak makes many compelling points, and this audiobook kept my interest throughout.

Could have been SO much better!

First, while the narrator had a pleasant voice, his "redneck" accents were terrible and ruined the dialog he was saying.

Second, the electronic sounding alert songs at chapter, subject, or dramatic pauses was NOT a good choice. Just plain annoying.

Third, this is actually an interesting story, or would have been. It felt like no research at all had been put into discovering the main characters backstory. Or if it was, it was pretty much left out. This is a very short book, it would have been fine to add more/some backstory in without making it too long.

Fourth, in general I don't know if I learned anymore than what could easily have been detained in court transcripts or newspaper articles. This story lacked the depth it could have had. Felt like a summary, not an informative in depth look into the crime.

I don't mean add more gory details, more information. And telling us the police and medical examiner were grossed out was just immature sounding. The way it was done made them sound like kids, not professionals doing a horrible job.

Painful to get through

Thankfully there is a speed function. The narrator was so slow I had to speed him up to 1.5x. At this speed, the accents and chimes were also bearable. The story didn't include any new information. Save your credit and spend it elsewhere. Listen to one of the many podcasts about this case. They will have more character and are generally free.


This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

Dixie

OK but she was offered a deal for a reduced sentence so I don't feel sorry for her

Dixie didn't cut it for me

While the story is a one of a kind crime (don't want to spoil it so that's all I'll say about the crime) the writer lacks the polish and poise of the more skilled story weavers in the field of crime stories such as Ann Rule. Maybe a few more books down the road this author will be someone I'd give 5 stars to, but much work is needed until I could give my highest rating. Read it because of the uniqueness of the crime if nothing else.