On a cold December day in 2005, the small city of Russellville, Arkansas, was jolted awake by a crime that felt ripped from a nightmare. Nineteen-year-old college student and beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer was found dead in her apartment—beaten, stabbed, and left in a scene so violent that even seasoned investigators struggled to process it.
A Quiet Dreamer with Big Plans
Nona Carol Dirksmeyer was born just after Christmas in 1985, raised in Louisiana to Paul and Carol Yvette Larpenter Dirksmeyer. Those who knew her spoke of a shy, thoughtful girl who carried herself with quiet grace. She was the kind of person who remembered birthdays, who noticed when someone was having a bad day, and who had a soft spot for anyone vulnerable.
Music was her passion. She wanted to teach it one day, believing she could help others find the same joy she did in melody and harmony. After graduating from Dover High School in 2004, she enrolled at Arkansas Tech University, majoring in music education.
While her academic life kept her busy, Nona also stepped onto a different kind of stage—beauty pageants. She wore her Miss Petit Jean Valley crown proudly and had even competed in the Miss Arkansas pageant. But this wasn’t just about glamour. Pageants gave her a confidence she hadn’t always had.
Her mother, Carol, would later say, “I think she was just a really caring person that didn’t wanna see anything go hungry or be abused.” That cause was personal for Nona. She had been a victim of sexual abuse herself and spoke about it to her boyfriend, Kevin Jones, early in their relationship, according to CBS News.
The Day Everything Changed
By late 2005, Nona and Kevin were navigating the changes that came with college life. They had started their first year together, but Kevin was transferring to the University of Arkansas, a 90-minute drive away. Despite the distance, they planned to see each other often.
December 15 began like any other Thursday. Kevin was out of town. Nona was alone in her apartment. Sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., that quiet space became the scene of a violent struggle.
Police would later piece together what they believed happened. “The medical examiner reports indicate there are blows to the face… consistent with like a palm-heel slap,” said Russellville Police Chief Don Bacon. It looked as if an argument had spiraled into a deadly attack.
The killer used a floor lamp in the living room to strike Nona in the back of the head, a blow that Bacon described as “the fatal blow.” A knife was pulled, but oddly, it wasn’t used to stab in the typical way—something police noted was common in crimes fueled by rage rather than cold planning.
Kevin couldn’t reach Nona by phone that day. Concern turned to panic, and he and his mother, Janice, drove to her apartment.
What they found was devastating. Nona’s body lay in the living room, blood spattered on the walls and floor. Kevin rushed to her side, hugging her and crying, the NBC News reports. Janice would later recall how much the two had cared for each other. Nona, she said, had made Kevin “a kinder, sweeter person,” while Kevin had helped her daughter believe in herself more.
The First Accusation
Investigators quickly turned their focus to Kevin. They saw his palm print on the floor lamp, the suspected murder weapon. His clothes were stained with Nona’s blood—though Kevin insisted that was from holding her after finding her body. His phone had been switched off during the estimated time of death, raising more questions.
But Kevin’s alibi held up. His grandmother saw him that day, as did others at a gas station and a lunch stop. Surveillance cameras backed up their statements. By 2007, a jury acquitted him, and Kevin walked free.
The case might have ended there if not for another lead—one that pointed directly across the street.
Gary Dunn lived nearby. He had a history of violence toward women, and his behavior toward Nona in the weeks before her death was unsettling. Dunn’s own wife testified that he had been spying on Nona from his window, a detail that prosecutors believed hinted at dangerous intent.
“To her, he was a dangerous and aggressive man and that she was nothing more than his punching bag,” prosecutors said of Dunn’s relationship with his wife.
When police brought Dunn in, they believed they had found their man. But their case wouldn’t be easy to prove.
Trials Without Justice
Dunn went to trial—twice. Neither ended in a conviction. His defense claimed there was no solid evidence placing him in Nona’s apartment at the time of the killing. Dunn himself said in a recorded jail call, “… if they already had everything they said, three years ago I would have been convicted …”
His mother, Martha, had initially told police he was home sick during the murder. Later, her statements shifted, and she was declared a hostile witness in court.
Still, prosecutors had troubling details. DNA testing years after the murder revealed that a contraceptive wrapper found in Nona’s apartment contained a mix of Nona’s and Dunn’s DNA. It was a major lead—but it wasn’t enough for a jury to convict.
Part of the reason for the weak case lay in the earliest hours of the investigation. The crime scene wasn’t processed as thoroughly as it could have been. Some areas of the apartment—like places outside the bedroom—were never properly examined.
Investigators didn’t collect shoe prints. They didn’t swab certain surfaces, like the window blinds, that might have held crucial evidence. The DNA from the contraceptive wrapper wasn’t tested until years later, a delay that frustrated Nona’s family.
These oversights became holes in the prosecution’s case, and Dunn walked away without a conviction, per KATV.
The Loss That Lingers
For Nona’s mother, the pain was layered—with grief over losing her daughter and anger at the justice system. She has said she believes the right man was identified but mistakes along the way kept him from being held accountable.
Nona’s life had been one of promise. She wanted to teach music, to help children, to keep fighting for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. That dream was stolen in a matter of minutes one December morning.
Her story didn’t fade quietly. It has been revisited in documentaries, crime shows, and podcasts. Each time, audiences are reminded that behind the headlines was a young woman with a shy smile, a soft voice, and a future that should have stretched far beyond 19 years.
And in Russellville, the unanswered question still hangs in the air: Who really killed Nona Dirksmeyer?
