17-Year-Old Girl Killed While Her Baby Slept Next to Her | The Case of Candace Hiltz

In August 2006, 17-year-old Candace Hiltz was found dead in her home, wrapped in a comforter under her bed. She had been shot in the chest, face (with a .410 shotgun), and five times in the back of the head (with a .22 caliber pistol), indicating an act of 'overkill.' Her 11-month-old daughter, Paige, was found crying in her crib, unharmed.

Jesse Weaver, Candace's boyfriend, found the broken front door, a blood trail, and Paige alone before Dolores found Candace's body. The autopsy report detailed the specific gunshot wounds and weapons used.

Law enforcement's initial processing of the crime scene was severely negligent. After three days, Candace's mother, Dolores, returned to find the doors wide open and critical evidence, including the bloody blanket, towels, and shotgun shells, left uncollected. Dolores and her son, Jonathan, a forensics student, meticulously collected, photographed, and bagged this evidence themselves before submitting it to the police.

Dolores described finding a shell casing by the fireplace, a bleed-out at the hallway's start, a blood smear on the bedroom door, and the missing quilt. She later found the bloody blanket, towels, and shotgun shells. Rick Ratzle later found additional shotgun shells in Dodd's storage unit.

Investigators quickly focused on Candace's older brother, Jimmy, as the prime suspect. Jimmy suffered from severe, untreated mental illness, was paranoid, and lived in a tent nearby. He was already a suspect in local burglaries where a .410 shotgun and a .22 caliber pistol (matching murder weapons) were stolen. Work gloves and a knife from these burglaries were found in his tent, and a destroyed shotgun was found nearby.

Dolores's initial four-hour interview focused almost entirely on Jimmy. Jessica, Jimmy's ex-wife, described him as violent and a heavy drug user. Jesse, Candace's boyfriend, reported Jimmy attempted to stab him the day before the murder. Stolen items from local burglaries matched weapons and tools found near Jimmy's campsite.

Dolores Hiltz strongly believed Deputy Robert Dodd, a lead investigator, was involved in Candace's murder and framed Jimmy. Her theory stemmed from an incident five days before the murder where Candace confronted Dodd, threatening to expose his alleged dealings with local drug dealers. Dolores believed Dodd killed Candace to silence her and then planted evidence to implicate Jimmy.

Dolores recounted Candace's confrontation with Deputy Dodd, where Candace allegedly threatened to expose Dodd's suspicious collection of envelopes from dealers. The family dog, Jax, was shot with a .22 caliber gun and found near Jimmy's tent, which Dolores believed was part of Dodd's setup to eliminate a potential alert system and further frame Jimmy.

In 2016, Rick Ratzle purchased a storage unit belonging to Deputy Robert Dodd at auction. Inside, he found police memorabilia alongside critical, blood-stained evidence from Candace's case, including socks labeled 'evidence,' a rope, an axe, and Dodd's police name tag. This discovery directly implicated Dodd in mishandling or concealing evidence.

Rick Ratzle's testimony and audio recordings of his interaction with Sheriff Jim Biker and Commander Jeff Worly. Rick described finding 15 emergency lights, police uniforms, court documents, Dodd's name tag, a rope with blood, an axe, and a manila envelope with 'evidence' written on it containing bloody socks.

After the storage unit discovery, an employee from Phantom Landfill contacted Rick, revealing piles of police evidence, including a VHS tape of an assault interrogation, criminal case paperwork, and a box labeled FCSO (Fremont County Sheriff's Office), traced back to Deputy Dodd's residence. Dodd was charged and convicted of two counts of second-degree official misconduct and abuse of public records, receiving a 15-day jail sentence that he avoided serving.

The landfill employee's discovery and contact with Rick. Media reports confirming Dodd's charges and conviction in 2018, and his subsequent appeal to avoid jail time.