2020-08-30

August 30, 2022 Assault on Lee Dillman

Dillman and his friend, Charles Cannon (67), were staying at the Salvation Army building. The two men had been friends since 1995 when they worked as pipe fitters in Pampa, Texas. The pair had lived together for a time in Borger and were both homeless since being laid off from their jobs as a welder and pipe fitter.

On the night of August 30, 2020, the pair were in Cannon's disabled 1999 Ford Explorer parked outside the Salvation Army building. Cannon was lying on the backseat of the Expedition as Dillman sat in the front passenger seat watching a concert on his phone.

Fabian Robledo approached the car and stood by the passenger door as he began to argue with Dillman. He accused Dillman of stealing a hygiene bag (plastic bag with toothpaste and other toiletries given out by the Salvation Army).

Dillman denied taking the items and Cannon did not see any bag fitting the description in the car.

Robledo began punching Dillman, who turned his body towards the SUV console to kick at his attacker. Robledo grabbed Dillman's ankles and yanked him from the SUV.

Cannon heard Dillman's head make contact with the concrete, likening it to the sound of a watermelon breaking open. Robledo continued to beat and kick Dillman as the 60-year-old man laid on the ground.

"I'll teach you to disrespect me," Cannon heard Robledo say.

Cannon called 911 while still in the backseat of the SUV, unable to exit due to the child-proof locks.

After Robledo finished his assault on Dillman, he opened the SUV's back passenger door to let Cannon out. After he concluded that Cannon had no connection with the missing hygiene bag, he told Cannon, "I guess I'll let you make it."

In the meantime, as Cannon and Robledo spoke, Dillman had gotten up and tried to cross the street. Unable to make it further than a few steps, he collapsed in the middle of the street. Robledo urged Cannon to go check on him.

Peering over his friend, Cannon saw "frothy, orange blood" coming from Dillman's mouth and also saw a large pool of blood coming from where Dillman laid.

Unable to pick Dillman up, Cannon drug his friend several feet back to the curb. Robledo carried Dillman back to Cannon's SUV and placed his unconscious body on the passenger seat.

Police arrived to find Dillman sitting in an SUV with major injuries. Officer Shelby Giles responded to the scene with a description of the suspect as a black male with a white shirt and shorts. She saw someone fitting the description by the black Expedition looking like he was holding someone (Dillman) in the passenger side of the vehicle.

She noted the puddle of blood in the street just south of the scene.

Amarillo police officer, Jeremy Strickland, also responded to the call and asked Dillman who assaulted him.

Dillman, although barely audible, indicated that Robledo had assaulted him. Strickland saw the extent of Dillman's injuries, the blood on Robledo's clothes, hands, and shoes and arrested Robledo for misdemeanor assault.

While Robledo was in booking at Potter County Detention Center, an ambulance medic who transported Dillman to Northwest Texas Hospital called Strickland to tell him that Dillman's injuries were much worse than initially anticipated.^[1] Strickland had jailers upgrade the charge to aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

Strickland called the hospital and asked them to notify him if Dillman died.

September 6, 2020 Death of Dillman

Several craniotomies were performed on Dillman after his arrival to the hospital, but the brain damage was irreversible.

Dillman's brother, Perry, came from Florida to see Dillman. Seeing his brother on a ventilator with no improvement, Perry made the decision to remove him from life support on September 6, 2020. Dillman died that same day.

Robledo was charged with murder and his bond set at $200,000.

Autopsy and Evidence

An autopsy performed two days later showed that Dillman's cause of death was blunt impact trauma to the head. There were fractures to both sides of his nose, orbital bones, the zygomatic bone connecting the cheek ot the skull, three posterior ribs and a bone in the spine.

Ten cranio-encephalic injuries were observed in Dillman's brain. The injuries were consistent with him being pulled feet first from a vehicle and his head striking the ground.

Dillman's toxicology report showed that his blood alcohol content was twice over the legal limit at .197.

DNA evidence collected from Robledo's shoes showed that the blood was Dillman's.

Several days after the incident, a detective met with Cannon at the Salvation Army to get a detailed statement. A few days after that he went to the police station to give another statement.

April 20, 2023

A Potter County Grand Jury indicted Robledo for murder.

July 17-20, 2023 Trial

At trial, the State presented testimony from Cannon, who testified that Robledo pulled Dillman from the SUV, causing him to hit his head on the curb. He also testified to Robledo using his hands and feet to deliver a savage beating.

On cross-examination, the defense attempted to discredit Cannon by pointing out inconsistencies in the two statements he provided--a handwritten one from the night of the indicent, and a typed statement by the detective nine days later. The discrepancies laid in whether Cannon was asleep or awake at the time of the incident.

Cannon insisted that he was awake and heard everything from start to finish. He conceded that he did not see Robledo make contact with Dillman but remained steadfast that he heard the "thumping and beating."

It was also shown that Officer Strickland did not photograph the hands of Robledo while investigating the assault.

At trial, Robledo was convicted and sentenced to 48 years in prison.^[2]

Appeal

On appeal, Robledo argued that a guilty verdict was not warranted for several reasons:

• Police investigators failed to recover surveillance camera video recordings of the incident from nearby Jupe's Auto Shop. If they had done so, they would have seen that Dillman fell in the street, Robledo argued.
• Police investigators didn't see if anyone at the Salvation Army or nearby had witnessed the fight instead of relying on Cannon's account.
• Crime scene technician did not process the scene until September 6, 2020, several days after the incident.

The judgment was affirmed on June 28, 2024.