Woman Pleads Guilty in Torture Death

A woman has entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder in the torture death of a 29-year-old mother who was developmentally impaired. Police said Dorothy Dixon was beaten with a plunger handle, burned with a hot glue gun and shot with a BB pistol.

Michelle Riley (pictured) faces up to 45 years in prison when she is sentenced.

When Dixon's body was found Jan. 31, 2008, in the basement of a Alton, Illinois house, burns covered her face, chest, arms and feet. Many of her wounds were infected and she was wearing only a sweater.

A coroner's jury ruled that Dixon died of an accumulation of her injuries over a period of time. The jury also ruled that her unborn child died because the mother died.

Four Others Face Changes

Four other people, including three teenagers, have been charged with first-degree murder in the case, but investigators say most of the blame falls on Riley, who befriended Dixon but then kept her in the basement of the home where she had only a thin rug and a mattress on a concrete floor.

Dixon ate food that she was able to steal from the upstairs refrigerator while being shot at with BB guns and doused with scalding liquid that burned away her skin.

Police said Riley's motive was the money Dixon received each month in her disability checks.

Riley's 14-year-old son has been sentenced in the case as a juvenile. No sentencing date has been set for Riley.

See Also:
Woman Pleads Guilty in Ill. Torture Slaying

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^{Photo: Mug Shot}