Family Of Murdered Teen Finds Justice Nearly 30 Years Later

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)- Guilty. That's the verdict handed down by jurors in the case of the brutal death of a Fort Collins teenager nearly 30 years ago. David Hehn was found guilty Monday afternoon in the murder of Gay Lynn Dixon.

Hehn was convicted on all counts, first degree murder, second degree kidnapping and crime of violence.

It was an emotional trial. There were hugs and tears from Dixon's family after the verdict was read.

"She would be with us the rest of my life. At least there is finally, after 29 and a half years now, we've got the verdict. Thank God for that," said Gay Lynn's father, Gary Dixon.

Hehn's attorney feels the jury was acting on emotion rather than the facts of the case.

In 1982, Dixon was found beaten and shot to death on Rist Canyon Road.

"He didn't want Gay Lynn to go to the police and say he attempted to have sex with her, that it was a date rape gone bad," said Assistant District Attorney Cliff Riedel, during the trial.

During the trial, prosecutors reminded jurors of the gruesome way in which Dixon died. She was shot in the face and twice in the back of the head.

"He shot her in the face. And then to make sure she didn't talk, he shot her twice in the back of the head," said Riedel.

Hehn was a neighbor of the 17-year-old victim who had been at the same party the night she was killed.

The defense did not call any witnesses and insists it was Hehn's brother who murdered Dixon. Hehn's brother died several years ago.

"What they have is suppositions, speculations and possibilities," said Defense Attorney Joseph Fonfara. "He has not been proven guilty. There must be proof, and I mean proof."

Hehn's DNA was found on Dixon's sock and jeans.

Hehn will face a mandatory life sentence in prison, but he could get parole after 20 years because of the laws in 1982, when Dixon was murdered.