Dawson McGehee gets life for killing mom on Halloween 2011 | From the archives
Editor's note: A version of this article about Dawson Andrew McGehee, featured recently on the Oxygen True Crime Network’s “Snapped,” first appeared in The Stockton Record on Jan. 28, 2013.
STOCKTON – Murderer Dawson Andrew McGehee, about to be sentenced to a lifetime in prison, sat in stark contrast to the swirling emotion around him.
He was detached while grieving family members poured out their hearts in a series of prepared statements. Those inside a San Joaquin County courtroom Monday morning fought to hold back tears prior to sentencing. Not McGehee.
On Halloween 2011, he killed his mother, Katy McGehee, inside their Manteca home by repeatedly stabbing her. Dawson McGehee, found guilty of second-degree murder in December, was sentenced to 16 years to life.
Related: Detectives detail bloody discovery
“All she ever did was give,” said Thom McGehee, speaking about his wife of 33 years. “And he would only and always take. Take and manipulate. Take and deceive. Take and subvert.
“Take and lie, take and fake, take and take. He was a predator; his mother was his prey.”
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge William Johnson, looking straight at the defendant, said McGehee would have to live with what he did.
“Killing your mother is a pretty awful thing,” Johnson said. “You can’t be human and not be affected by this. I know I was.”
The issue of sanity was argued during his trial. Johnson said Monday that McGehee, who lived at home with his parents, certainly had some “mental health issues.” The jury found McGehee sane.
Public Defender Katy Garrigan, daughter of retired Judge Michael N. Garrigan, used insanity as part of her defense. She also said communication with her client was difficult at times. “He was in and out during trial,” Garrigan said. “Sometimes he’d be doodling or playing tick-tack-toe; other times he’d been focused.”
She called the sentencing hearing “the most bizarre I’ve ever been involved in” because of the articulate, creative family members who spoke about the horrific crime and its aftermath. Garrigan also said, with a murder case, it was unlikely McGehee would ever be released from state prison. She had not discussed an appeal with him.
There were no witnesses to the murder 15 months ago, but testimony from the coroner and others revealed:
Katy McGehee, 55, struggled when she was attacked just inside the doorway to her bedroom. Many of her knife wounds were defensive in nature. She had keys, as if trying to leave, clutched in her hand.
Dawson, her youngest son and a University of the Pacific graduate, was apprehended by Manteca police at 1:25 a.m. the next day. He was wearing a black leather jacket with blood stains matching his mother’s DNA.
“Katy was getting involved in other things besides her son,” such as Stockton Covenant Church and the San Joaquin County Women’s Center victim/witness program. She was starting to stand up for herself,” prosecutor Sherri Adams said. “He was very selfish and wanted attention all the time. He required a lot of his mother.”
Adams argued during the trial that Dawson McGehee’s perception of his mother’s support was not what he wanted it to be.
Previous coverage: Family grieves for slain mom, struggles to understand the son who killed her
Stockton resident Justin McGehee, Dawson’s brother and Katy’s son, spoke at length during the sentencing.
“So far, there has been no remorse at all, only arrogance,” he said. “There has been no honesty, only lies. ... I hold him to be more similar in character to the devil himself than any other human being I have known. And yet I refuse to hate him.
“I refuse to allow someone as morally perverse as he is to force me to live a life of bitterness and ruin the joy I have in loving others.”
Justin McGehee wrote three songs – “Liar, Liar,” “Come As You Aren’t” and “Coma Of The Heart” – about his brother. He read the lyrics in court. Dawson McGehee, wearing jailhouse orange clothes and headed first to Deuel Vocational Institution for classification, did not visibly react.
Said Thom McGehee between sobs, “For Dawson, she was tireless. He required extra – extra attention, patience, understanding, care. And she gave it. Then, as his demands grew, her capacity grew. ... Whatever it took to ease his pain, ease his restlessness, ease his discomfort, she would always do.
“When I heard the words that Dawson had finally taken her precious life, God spoke to my heart and said, ‘No one took her life, son, she gave it. She laid it down.’ ”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Dawson McGehee: Oxygen’s ‘Snapped’ features San Joaquin County killer
