Written by Wendy (Chase) McNally (Johnny's sister) Winter 1999
I was born and raised in Medway, Maine. I lived out-of-state since I graduated from high school in 1982. The last place I lived before relocating back to Maine was New York.
On Sunday, July 26th, 1998, my father, Terry A. Dickey and my only brother, John A. Dickey, arrived at my home to help me and my son, Nicholas Ryan, pack to move back to Maine. My father and brother left with my belongings on Tuesday, July 28th. My brother would be having his 36th birthday on July 30th. My mother, Sharon, was there helping me and would be staying on a few days.
On Monday, August 3rd, my brother stopped by to visit my Dad early in the morning after working all night at Bangor-Hydro Electric Company in Milford, Maine, to which he commuted from Medway. Little did my father know that would be the last time he would see his son alive. My mother and I arrived in Medway late that night. We made several unsuccessful attempts to reach my brother on Tuesday, August 4th, as we were planning his birthday celebration and family get-together on Wednesday, August 5th. This was not unusual for us to reach Johnny, because he owned and rented two skidders and checked on them frequently which usually took all day.
On Wednesday morning, my mother had another unsuccessful attempt to reach my brother at home. At this time my father decided to drive to Johnny's home 5 miles away to check on him. When Dad arrived, my brother's truck was in the yard, unlocked, which was very unusual and the front door to Johnny's home was locked. My father knocked on the back door and the windows, but Johnny never answered. Dad drove back home and got the keys to Johnny's home and went back to Johnny's and let himself in. Dad went to Johnny's bedroom where he thought his son was asleep. He entered the dark room and placed his hand on my brother's hand and called his name. My brother's hand was stiff and cold and it was then my father saw a .44 Magnum handgun on my brother's chest.
Naturally, my father went hysterical. He tried to locate the telephone, but it wasn't where it was suppose to be. Eventually he found his way to the neighbor's house where they called 911. The neighbor's later notified my mother, my sister and me. This is when our nightmare began.