WARNING: This story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
A father who allegedly killed four of his children is believed to have brought men he met on Grindr to his home while hiding their dead bodies in his car.
According to search warrants obtained by WTOC, Wellington Delano Dickens III could have enjoyed the company of dates while his children were decomposing in his trunk.
- Wellington Delano Dickens III allegedly took the lives of four children and hid their bodies in his car trunk at his North Carolina home.
- Dickens reportedly continued hosting men he met on Grindr at his home while the children’s bodies decomposed in the trunk.
- He confessed to the murders, admitted to over-punishing the children, and purchased body bags from Amazon to conceal the bodies.
Dickens, 38, was arrested in October last year after calling 911 and informing the operator that he had killed his children, as per the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
Wellington Delano Dickens III is accused of taking the lives of his children
Image credits: Johnston County Sheriff’s Office
When deputies arrived at the North Carolina home, four children were found dead inside the trunk of a vehicle in the garage of the residence.
Investigators concluded that the children had been concealed inside the trunk for a “long period of time.”
They were later identified as three of Dickens’ biological children, aged six, nine, and 10, and his 18-year-old stepchild.
Dickens’ three-year-old son was located and found unharmed in the residence.
According to WTOC, Dickens confessed to the killings but insisted he did not torture the children and that he had “over-punished” them.
Search warrants released this month have now provided new details regarding the case, including that Dickens admitted to buying body bags from Amazon.
Image credits: Johnston County Sheriff’s Office
He told investigators that he used these to hide the children in his car, and that he relied on delivery services for food and other items, as per WTOC.
During a search of the home, two phones belonging to Dickens were also discovered.
One of those phones revealed text messages that Dickens is alleged to have sent to men on Grindr, a location-based dating app for LGBTQ+ people.
A search warrant application reviewed by WTOC said that several people Dickens connected with on the app are understood to have met him at the home during the timeline of the murders.
Dickens allegedly told police that the first child to die was a five-year-old girl, who passed away about two months earlier.
He reportedly said he had disciplined her, and later found her lifeless.
Dickens reportedly told investigators that after the girl’s nine-year-old sister commented on her death, he taped her mouth shut and later found her dead.
State prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Dickens
Image credits: Johnston County Sheriff’s Office
The final two victims were boys, a 10-year-old and an 18-year-old stepson. Dickens allegedly told police he believed their deaths were caused by malnutrition.
He has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with all of the deaths.
WTOC reported that a fifth child died at the home, with Dickens informing police that a one-month-old baby became sick in his care shortly after they moved into the home and died.
Investigators did not discover the body at the home, but Dickens allegedly told police that he buried the baby boy in an unmarked grave on the property.
State prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Dickens, and no trial has currently been set.
A prison execution in North Carolina was last carried out almost 20 years ago.
A new law passed in 2025, Iryna’s Law, requires death-row inmates to be executed within two years, though more than 120 prisoners remain on death row, WTOC reported.
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