Dave’s World: Not-So-Smart Crook Was Deadly

The first time I remember seeing Kendrick Scott was on July 5, 2017, when a barrage of law enforcement officers were hot on his trail on a Wednesday afternoon. Two weeks earlier he robbed the Exxon Store on Frostland Drive. He told the clerk he had a gun and made a hasty exit with cash and merchandise. Unfortunately for him, he left his wallet on the counter and Water Valley police had no trouble identifying their suspect.

Catching him would prove not as easy as he eluded authorities multiple times on foot for almost two weeks. They responded to a shoplifting call at Dollar General. It was Scott, and he narrowly evaded police. His luck ended on that July afternoon as officers and deputies cordoned off the area between Wood Street, Calhoun Street and Blackmur Drive. Officer Spring Crenshaw spotted him on Blackmur and he was quickly cuffed. The elusive Exxon store robber was behind bars.

Scott was convicted of strong arm robbery and sentenced to five years. Sadly he was released mid-way through that sentence after the Mississippi Department of Corrections granted Scott Earned Release Supervision. After his release he would soon emerge as a suspect in another store robbery and later as a suspect in a double murder.

It started when Scott robbed the same Exxon store on Frostland Drive in June, 2020. Again authorities had little problem identifying him as the suspect. He and a buddy entered the store. His buddy went to the bathroom, and Scott jumped over the store counter and pushed the clerk aside. Scott grabbed some money out of the register and took off in his buddy’s car while he was still in the bathroom.

We dubbed him the not-so-smart criminal in the Herald stories, but that was before I learned that his crime spree had taken a deadly turn. Sixteen days before the second store robbery, May 17, 2020, Jennifer Nault, Richard “Richie” Dicken, Jr. and their dog, Cole, were gunned down inside their mobile home. They had been in a relationship for six years.

Their home was torched in an attempt to hide the evidence. Firefighters were alerted that the couple could be inside the burning trailer before they arrived just after dawn that morning. A neighbor explained that both of their vehicles were parked at the residence.

There have been a lot of twists and turns in this sad story since then. Almost eight months would pass before Scott was charged in the murders.

Investigators were able to take time developing the case, even after suspecting Scott as he was already incarcerated for the second store robbery and not a threat to the public.

The first big development came when Scott was charged with the murders in February, 2021. Then he was convicted in April, 2021, for the second store robbery. Judge Jimmy McClure sentenced him as a habitual offender, giving him life without the possibility of parole. The conviction and sentence were a huge relief for family members of Nault and Dicken.

Dicken’s step-father and mother, Don and Carol Broderick, have made a couple of trips from their hometown of Danville, Ill. to Water Valley for Scott’s court hearings. They were here in April, 2021, for the trial on the second store robbery. A plea deal for the murders was also on the table during that April court term, but Scott turned it down.

Although last year’s conviction was for the store robbery and not the murders, Don told me that it helped bring closure as the life sentence meant no other family would have to endure what they have with Scott.
Three months after the murders, Carol lost her daughter, Michelle “Shelly” Holt, Richie’s sister, to cancer.

Don said it has been a tough ordeal. But the family is very thankful for the work by Assistant District Attorney Steve Jubera and his staff, and the law enforcement officers involved including the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department and Water Valley Police Department. They are appreciative of the constant updates that have been provided.

Don and Carol were planning to make another trip to Water Valley last week before learning that there would be no trial after the plea agreement was reached. But Don said they will return to Mississippi in the coming weeks when Scott is sentenced for the murders.

He also noted that the murders would not have happened if Scott had not been released early from prison from the first conviction for the store robbery. Richie and Jennifer would still be with us. He added that Richie’s daughter, Madelynne Grace Dicken, is now nine years-old.