Murder of Jesse Dirkhising - Death and Investigation

Death and Investigation

On September 26, 1999, Dirkhising's murder was brought to the attention of police at Rogers, Arkansas when they responded to a 911 call. They went to the home of David Carpenter, where Joshua Brown was also present. Police found that Dirkhising had been tied to a mattress and that his ankles, knees, and wrists had been bound with duct tape and belts. Dirkhising had been gagged with his own underwear, a bandana and duct tape. According to police, he had also been drugged. Police determined that Dirkhising had been repeatedly raped over a period of several hours. It was later revealed that over a two-day period Dirkhising had been repeatedly raped and sodomized with various objects. After the men took a break to eat, Brown noticed Dirkhising was not breathing and alerted Carpenter, who attempted to resuscitate the boy, then called 911. Dirkhising later died in the hospital, his death hastened apparently as the result of positional asphyxia.

Police found in Carpenter's home material of a pedophile nature, including instructions on how to sedate a child, and a diagram of how to tie up and position the boy, as well as other notes of fantasies of molesting children. It was speculated that one of the men planned the assault and the other carried it out. The Arkansas State Police recorded in their affidavit a statement by Brown that he had been molesting Dirkhising for at least two months prior to Dirkhising's death. Brown called the molestation 'horseplay' and claimed that Dirkhising was a willing participant. According to age of consent laws in Arkansas, Dirkhising was incapable of giving informed consent for sexual activity. Brown also later claimed he himself was "under the influence of methamphetamine" when talking with his arresting officers.