Digging Deeper into The Innocent Man: Don Wilson Hawkins and Dale Austin Shelton

Hawkins, 29, admitted to abducting Linda Thompson from Shepherd Mall and drowning her. Hawkins was sentenced to death. Nearly 18 years later, Hawkins was put to death. Prior to his death, he said that he was the person at fault and that no one else should be blamed. Hawkins wrote 4 books while he was in prison.

Of high importance is the information I found in a March 20, 1987 news article. Former Lincoln County Sheriff Ray McLain was associated with Don Wilson Hawkins. Hawkins was McLain’s prisoner from December 1983 until September 1984 as a first degree rape suspect. Shortly after Hawkins’ arrest, McLain placed him on trusty status, despite the fact that Hawkins was on parole in Texas for robbery with serious bodily injury convictions. McLain aided in getting Hawkins’ rape charged reduced to a misdemeanor assault charge. McLain also failed to ensure that Hawkins’ parole was revoked. Hawkins stated that he set fire to the Lincoln County news office in 1984 at the request of McLain. Hawkins had been released on September 17, 1984, and the fire occurred on September 26, 1984. During a 6 year period, Hawkins had only been out of jail/prison for 13 months. In December, 1983, he was arrested in Lincoln County on a first degree rape charge. Prior to that, he had numerous robbery, assault with weapons, burglary, larceny, and drug charges..

Shelton, age 32, was Hawkins’ accomplice in the abduction of Linda Thompson. He was sentenced to 5 life sentences. He had no prior information listed on his Oklahoma inmate record. Shelton was 6’2”, 185 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Since 1976 (to 1985), Shelton had been in and out of state prison three times..

Hawkins and Shelton were arrested in California after admitting to killing Linda Thompson. The two men gave police directions to Thompson’s body. The men were suspects in several rapes, kidnappings, and robberies in San Diego. Apparently a third man participated and raped Thompson, but he was a juvenile. His name was Chris Lovell.

Aside from the murder of Linda Thompson, I believe it is possible that the same individual(s) are responsible for the deaths of Carla Sandusky, Kathy Sue Engle, and Denise Hawkins.