MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 21-year-old man is accused of strangling a 64-year-old to death in western Minnesota in 2013, according to recently filed charges.
The victim, Thomas Dickson, was found dead just before Christmas at his apartment in Montevideo. His death was immediately ruled “suspicious.”
The criminal complaint states that Harley William Hatch met up with the victim twice in December 2013 after the two met through a Craigslist advertisement placed by Dickson.
The first time they met, they engaged in sexual activity, Hatch told authorities. The second time, Hatch said Dickson asked him to use a number of bondage items on him.
(credit: CBS)
Hatch confessed that he choked Dickson using a leash, at the victim’s request. He told police when Dickson stopped communicating with him, he got scared and left the scene with the leash, which he later dropped down a sewer drain.
Dickson’s body was found by a friend.
According to a report in the West Central Tribune, Hatch’s criminal history in Montevideo lists 57 different incidents since 2012, including assaults, burglaries and an alleged stabbing.
The report states Hatch is currently at the Yellow Medicine County Jail for an unrelated charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
