April 2003 – James E. Dixon III contacts UNCW to ask if his son can still apply for admission. It will later be found that several parts of the application, including Curtis Dixon’s prior criminal record, were falsified.

Fall 2003 – Jessica Faulkner and Curtis Dixon meet. They lived on the same floor of Cornerstone Hall.

January 2004 – Dixon changes his class schedule to attend four of his five classes with Faulkner. He also signs up for a university-sponsored trip to Belize with Faulkner.

Spring 2004 – Faulkner talks about Dixon with her parents. She refers to him as “creepy” and “a stalker.” She tells them that she would rather handle the situation by herself.

May 4 – Faulkner, Dixon and mutual friends have a small going-away party in Dixon’s room. Everyone but Dixon leaves the room by 11:00PM.

Dixon contacts Faulkner via instant message and invites her back to his room, supposedly to give her a present.

Dixon strikes Faulkner on the back of the head with a blackjack. Faulkner is strangled, raped, and bound to Dixon’s bed. Dixon sleeps in his ex-roommate’s bed.

May 5, 10:00AM – Dixon awakes to find Faulkner dead.

Dixon joins friends for breakfast. He tells them that Faulkner could not join them, as she was “still packing.”

Early afternoon – Dixon calls a friend and calls Faulkner’s father, confessing to the crime.

Dixon is arrested at Cornerstone Hall. He meets authorities in front of the dormitory, saying, “I’m the one you are looking for.”

Faulkner’s body is found in Dixon’s Cornerstone Hall room.

May 10 – Dixon is indicted. He is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and rape.

June 22 – A judge tells Dixon that, if convicted, he will face the death penalty.

December 7 – Dixon escapes from deputies at Polk Youth Institute and throws himself down three flights of stairs in an apparent suicide attempt. He is sent to Duke Medical Center in critical condition.

December 9 – Dixon is disconnected from life support, ending his life.