Oak Ridge woman pleads guilty to 2020 murder and will spend life in prison

Donna Smith, The Oak Ridger
Updated ·2 min read
10
Rebecca Dishman pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36, in Oak Ridge in August 2020. She entered the plea in Anderson County Criminal Court at the Courthouse in Clinton.
Rebecca Dishman pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36, in Oak Ridge in August 2020. She entered the plea in Anderson County Criminal Court at the Courthouse in Clinton.

A 25-year-old Oak Ridge woman has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the August 2020 death of Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36.

Rebecca E. Dishman was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison.

Dishman also entered a guilty plea to two counts of child rape in a separate case. Fifty years were added to her life sentence because of those two charges, according to a news release from Anderson County District Attorney General David Clark.

Clark said last year he planned to seek the death penalty for both Dishman and Sean S. Finnegan, her co-defendant, in the murder of Paxton, who reportedly had been living with the two in the home the duo shared at 318 E. Fairview Road in Oak Ridge.

As a condition of her plea, Dishman is required to cooperate with Clark's office in its death penalty case against Finnegan, 55. Judge Don R. Ash, hearing the case on special assignment, set an August trial date for him.

Both Finnegan and Dishman have been in the Anderson County jail in Clinton since they were arrested Aug. 6, 2020. Each was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Their bonds were set at $1 million each.

Oak Ridge Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated the case at the time. When officers executed a search warrant at the home, they found Paxton's body in a freezer.

In warrants, an Oak Ridge police sergeant said Finnegan and Dishman “lured the victim (Paxton) to the home with the promise of giving her a place to stay.”

In the warrants, Oak Ridge Police Department Sgt. A. Marvell Moore said Paxton was “held against her will,” struck with a baseball bat and raped.

Dishman and Finnegan also were indicted on multiple charges of rape and exploitation of a child in 2020 in a separate case.

“I am grateful to the officers and prosecutors who have worked so hard on this case. This is a huge step in achieving justice in this case and for these victims," Clark said in the release.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

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This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge woman pleads guilty to murder of Jennifer Gail Paxton