David Thomas Dawson (October 20, 1957 – August 11, 2006) was an American convicted murderer who was executed at

Montana State Prison The Montana State Prison is a men's correctional facility of the Montana Department of Corrections in unincorporated Powell County, Montana, about west of Deer Lodge. The current facility was constructed between 1974 and 1979 in response to the ...

Deer Lodge, Montana Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 census. Description The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Montana State Prison, a major local employer. ...

. Dawson was executed for the April 1986 murders of the Rodstein family in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

. He remains the last person executed in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Early life

Dawson was born on October 20, 1957, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. He was the second of three children and had two sisters. His father reportedly owned several businesses that failed, and the family moved around states when he was younger; moving to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

. As a child, Dawson was described as sickly and clumsy, and had a hard time making friends. He got married when he was a young adult and reportedly may have fathered a daughter. The couple divorced, however. In the early 1980s, Dawson moved to Montana to work in construction, and found work in Colstrip. He rented an apartment in

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

where he stayed at on weekends. Dawson was reportedly deeply involved in drugs, including marijuana and methamphetamine. Prior to the Rodstein family murders he worked as a construction worker, and was described as a drug addict.

Murders

On April 18, 1986, Dawson broke into a motel room that was occupied by the Rodstein family in

. He forced the Rodstein family to go to his room at the same motel, which was located directly next door to their own room. He bound the family of four with tape, gagged them, and took their money. Over the next two days, Dawson strangled three of the four family members: 39-year-old David Rodstein, his wife 39-year-old Monica, and their 11-year-old son Andrew. Their 15-year-old daughter Amy was found alive in Dawson's motel room two days after the murders.

Sentencing and execution

The trial for Dawson came to a close in February 1987. The jury deliberated for about 14 hours and returned with guilty verdicts for three counts of deliberate homicide, four guilty verdicts for kidnapping each member of the Rodstein family, and a guilty verdict for robbery. On April 15, 1987, Dawson was sentenced to death by District Judge Diane Barz. Dawson waived the ability to appeal his conviction and sentence. Dawson's

last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States In the United States, most states gi ...

consisted of two double

cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese. Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty. The cheese is usually added to the cooking hamburger patty shortly before serving, which allows the cheese to melt. Chees ...

s, two large servings of french fries, half a gallon of

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

fudge Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline can ...

ripple

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

, and two bottles of

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...

. When asked if he had any last words, Dawson said "No." He was executed by lethal injection on August 11, 2006, under the authority of the state of

. It was the first execution in Montana in more than eight years. Dawson remains the third of only three people to be executed in Montana since the resumption of the death penalty. The others were Duncan Peder McKenzie Jr. in 1995 and Terry Allen Langford in 1998. As of 2023, Dawson remains the last person to be executed by the state of Montana, which has gone over fifteen years without an execution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, David Thomas 1957 births 2006 deaths 21st-century executions by Montana 21st-century executions of American people American murderers of children American people executed for murder Executed people from California People convicted of murder by Montana People executed by Montana by lethal injection People from San Diego Volunteer execution

Early life

Murders

Sentencing and execution

See also

References