By the summer of 2025, Dustin “Dusty” Turner will have been imprisoned for 30 years. He was 20 years old when he was incarcerated in 1995 for the crimes committed by another man resulting in the tragic death of Jennifer Evans. 

Although, as explained below, he was guilty of being an accessory after the fact for those crimes, the longest sentence he could have received under Virginia law at that time for being such an accessory was a class 1 misdemeanor offense that carried a maximum penalty of one year and/or a $2,500 fine.

What happened?

Dusty was a graduate of BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training and was assigned to SEAL Team 4 in Norfolk, VA where he was to complete his final phase of training before earning his SEAL Trident. On the evening of June 19, 1995, Dusty and his 23-year-old SEAL team Swim Buddy[1] Billy Brown, went to The Bayou, a Virginia Beach bar and club, for what Dusty expected would be a night of fun and relaxation. Towards closing time, Dusty was sitting in his car with Jennifer Evans, a young woman he had met that night and with whom he had spent much of the evening engaged in conversation. The two were now waiting for the return of Jennifer’s friends to pick her up after Jennifer had decided to stay back with Dusty. Dusty found Brown an alternative ride home with Billy’s ex-girlfriend because he wanted to spend more time with Jennifer.  Unfortunately, Brown got into an argument with his former girlfriend and Brown then decided to look for Dusty to get back to base. Soon, he found Dusty’s car and got in the back seat. Now drunk and belligerent, Brown was verbally abusive toward Jennifer who was in the front seat and he became even more agitated as she spurned his advances. A combination of alcohol, steroids and anger turned out to be lethal. In a sudden fit of rage, Brown reached around the headrest of the passenger seat, his forearm crossing Jennifer’s neck. At 6’4” tall, 235lbs and with incredible strength and leverage he pulled back towards himself and instantaneously ended Jennifer’s life. No amount of effort or struggle to remove his arm by either Jennifer or Dusty was able to save her. Dusty was in suspended disbelief and shock at what he had just witnessed. Motivated by a sense of misplaced loyalty to Brown, Dusty acceded to Brown’s demand that he drive away and help hide Jennifer’s body.  The two men would keep the facts secret for the next eight days.

Tormented by the sorrow of what he had witnessed and knowing Jennifer’s family’s likely grief and devastation, Dusty eventually confessed to what happened. He opened up to his Warrant Officer and the investigating authorities involved in the case and then led them to Jennifer’s body. By contrast and to deflect from his own actions, Billy Brown when questioned, offered several conflicting stories to the authorities that implicated Dusty as Jennifer’s killer. He felt betrayed by Dusty for breaking an unwritten SEAL code that “required” Dusty to protect him.

Brown’s Confession

In separate trials in 1996, Dusty and Billy Brown were convicted of Jennifer’s murder and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.  The case took a dramatic turn in 1999 when Brown confessed that he alone had killed Jennifer and stated that Dusty had no role in her death. Neither Dusty, the jury that convicted him nor the public learned of this confession until 2002. Shortly thereafter, Dusty filed a petition for a Writ of Innocence. At an evidentiary hearing on the petition in 2008, Brown provided in chilling detail a confession of the facts with testimony that laid bare his own guilt for Jennifer’s murder. Dusty also testified at the hearing. Both men gave the same account of what happened that Dusty gave his Warrant Officer eight days after Jennifer’s death.

Writ of Actual Innocence Findings

At the conclusion of the hearing, held in the same court that convicted Dusty, The Honorable Frederick B. Lowe made the following critical ruling: 

This court determines that Mr. Brown’s recanted testimony is credible in his assertion that he testified falsely at his own trial. This court determines that Mr. Brown testified falsely at his own trial as to a material fact in the case. This court further finds that Mr. Brown’s recantation of his earlier testimony was unknown and was unavailable to the petitioner in this proceeding, Mr. Turner, at the time of his conviction and at the time his conviction became final. And this court finally finds that Mr. Brown is credible in his assertion that he acted independently in murdering the victim and that Mr. Turner had no role in the murder or in the restraining of the victim. 

Based on the findings of Judge Lowe, a 2 to 1 panel of Judges at the Virginia Court of Appeals granted Dusty a Writ of Innocence holding that he was, in fact, “actually innocent” and should be set free. This was particularly noteworthy since his case was the first in Virginia’s history to be overturned based on non-biological evidence.  

Attorney General’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia

This finding would not stand. In 2010, upon appeal by the Virginia Attorney General, the full Court of Appeals, sitting en banc and in an 8-1 decision, held that a jury “could” have concluded that Dusty had abducted Jennifer “by deception,” which was a felony and would therefore have made Dusty liable for Brown’s murder of Jennifer under the felony murder rule. This theory was a fiction in the sense that it was never presented to the original jury in Dusty’s case. It also contradicted Judge Lowe’s factual finding that Dusty “had no role in the murder or in the restraining of the victim.” Sadly, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed this Court of Appeals opinion in 2011, thus ending Dusty’s effort to win exoneration through a Writ of Innocence under the statute at that time.

Conclusion

Despite his profound disappointment at being unable to establish his innocence for Jennifer’s murder, Dusty feels a deep and abiding sorrow for Jennifer and her family for his role in hiding her body and initially lying about what had happened. He knows that nothing he can ever say or do will change the reality of her death and that he must live with that reality for the rest of his life. But he also believes that he must continue to advocate and fight for his freedom given the facts of the case and the time that he has served.

[1] Swim Buddies are a part of Naval Special Warfare training. They are assigned to pair up with other trainees and are required to be at each other’s side throughout training for safety, camaraderie and encouragement.

Letters and opinions from experts

Read the actual letters from Alan Reed, Jury Foreman in Dusty’s case; the Navy Investigator assigned to examine the case John Floyd Lt. CDR, USN (Retired) to Governor Terry McAuliffe ; and the written statement of the Psychologist who interviewed Dusty for the state

While the work around his case continues, Dusty maintains a positive attitude and tries to be productive every day. He was honored to give the commencement speech to the graduating class of GED recipients while he was at Greensville Correctional Center in October of 2019. His speech focused on what it means to be personally accountable and the freedom to choose one’s own attitude regardless of circumstances. His commitment to self-discipline and being the very best version of himself is a daily effort. During his time in incarceration, he has many accomplishments. Click on the button below to navigate to all of his activities and successes while in prison most recently as the President of the Veteran’s group in the Pocahontas correctional facility where he is today.