The Battlefield

Hi Park enthusiasts, I'm your host, Dylia D'Ambra. In the case I'm going to tell you about today, takes place in Chikamaga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Georgia. This is a region I've talked about before on this show, in a previous episode of Park Predators titled The Conspiracy. A lot of the feedback I received after that episode was released came from people who lived near this park, grew up in the area or who have visited it before. So many of you who DMmed me or commented on posts on social media said that you were totally surprised to learn that violent deaths unrelated to the park's bloody war history have happened there. The murder of Anthony Tony Miller from The Conspiracy Episode was a very obscure case that took a lot of digging to be able to cover. And today's story is similarly under-reported. I heard about it a long time ago while visiting Eastern Tennessee, but it's taken me a few years to hunt down all the court documents and news coverage associated with it. The case started out as a mysterious missing persons investigation in New York, but things quickly changed when law enforcement all the way down in Georgia discovered a body. From there authorities began connecting dots between a couple that were decades younger than the dead man and a series of suspicious activities along a road trip into the deep south. This is Park Predators. Around noon on December 12, 2015, some hikers in Chickamaga and Chattanooga National Military Park near Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia were on a trail enjoying their walk when they stumbled upon the body of a deceased man laying on the ground next to the path. Right away, the visitors dialed 911 and got in touch with local authorities to report the gruesome discovery. Even though the victim had been found inside the National Park and the NPS was initially contacted, it was officers from the city of Fort Oglethorpe who responded to the scene to handle the investigation. When those units arrived, they saw exactly what the hikers had reported, an older male laying on the trail with apparent head trauma. An investigator described the man's injuries as a cut on the forehead and one near his lip. Placed on top of the body was a walking cane, and not like a walking stick you'd have in the woods, but an actual cane that someone would use if they had mobility issues. Not long after the discovery, the FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and C'Tusa County Corner's office were looped in and responded. Within a few hours of the body being found, the victim was transported to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy. On his person, they discovered a foot phone that's number had recently been transferred to a newer smartphone device. Unfortunately, though, the smartphone was not at the scene. At the conclusion of the autopsy, pathologists determined the man had died from blunt force trauma to his head, and his manner of death was homicide. The M.E. estimated that his approximate date of death was December 8, meaning he'd been out in the National Park for at least a few days before being found. Meanwhile, back at the crime scene, forensic texts collected the cane as evidence, as well as a rock nearby that had what appeared to be blood on it. They also took photos of several shoe impressions on the ground that had been made by two different size shoes. One was larger than the other, and investigators suspected that they might have come from a man and a woman. Interestingly, though, neither impression was similar in shape or tread to the shoes that had been found on the victim. But it was a walking trail after all. I mean, a lot of folks had probably walked through there, including the hikers who discovered the victim. It's hard to tell from the source material when or how authorities identified the man from the park, but at some point they determined he was 59-year-old Dwayne Hollenback, who was from Dryden, New York. Turns out, someone who lived next to Dwayne had been worrying about him for quite some time. You see, two days earlier, on December 10th, his next-door neighbor in Dryden had noticed things at his place had been really quiet for about five days or so. Ever since December 5th, she'd showed up at his place expecting to see him, but he wasn't there, which wasn't normal. So finally, this neighbor decided to contact local authorities and file a missing persons report for Dwayne. She told police that he was a military veteran who had a history of health problems and mobility issues. He needed a lot of assistance in his daily activities and usually used a walker, cane, or wheelchair to get around. She explained that she'd go over to his house just about every day to check on him, do his laundry, bathe them, take him to him from doctor's appointments or to the grocery store, and even give him his medication. In fact, the neighbor said that Dwayne had recently undergone ankle or foot surgery, which had required him to stay at the hospital for two months. She explained that he'd just returned from the hospital shortly before he vanished. She also mentioned that she wasn't the only person who'd be at his place from time to time. The neighbor explained that the last time she'd seen Dwayne, he was leaving his house in the company of a man and woman who she recognized as Robert Brooks and Jennifer DeMod. Jennifer's mother, who had since died, had once dated Dwayne. And according to the neighbor, Jennifer and Robert weren't strangers to Dwayne's place. However, prior to the last sighting of him, it had been a while since the couple had stopped by. The neighbor told authorities that the only reason she'd even really noticed Jennifer and Robert with Dwayne was because it had been several months since she'd seen Jennifer. And not only that, when she saw the trio together, Jennifer and Robert appeared to be escorting Dwayne into a vehicle. They weren't doing so forcefully or anything, but the neighbor did get the sense that Dwayne was going somewhere with the couple. Here, why, and for how long, she had no idea. But of course, when nearly a week passed and Dwayne had not returned to his house, that's when her curiosity turned to concern. So with this information in hand, New York State Police decided to get an exigent order to access Dwayne's cell phone records. At that point, he'd been missing for five days or so and time was of the essence to figure out where he could be and if he was alright. The police pushed forward with their cell records request to determine the last known location of his device, as well as who he'd been communicating with. After connecting with his cell phone provider, they were able to see he'd been texting with Jennifer before he was last seen and around the time his body was found. Which I imagine probably wasn't too much of a surprise since his neighbor had already informed investigators that Jennifer was someone known to be in Dwayne's life. The messages New York police found between him and her prior to him leaving his house on December 5th consisted of Jennifer asking Dwayne if he wanted to drive down south with her. She indicated that if he did come along, she'd make sure, quote, "you can drink and get some sluts," end quote. And just in a side, that sort of language is not something I condone, but it is a direct quote from the information and text exchanges that authorities found, which is why I'm bringing it up, because I want to make sure you all get the full context of things. Now, there weren't many texts from Dwayne's device to Jennifer's phone about this offer, but they had called one another, and shortly after that call, Jennifer sent Dwayne a text that read, "Come out with your bags." So investigators' next move was to get in touch with Jennifer. When they called the 25-year-old, she explained that, yes, Dwayne had left Dryden with her in Robert to go on a road trip to Tennessee in Georgia in early December, but she said Dwayne was no longer with them. According to court records, her story was that she and Robert had dropped Dwayne off at a restaurant in Ringled Georgia to meet a sex worker. After that, they hadn't seen him again. Just a few days into the investigation, though, authorities decided they had enough probable cause to arrest Jennifer and Robert on a charge of exploitation of an elderly or disabled person. And on December 18, New York police made their move. Authorities had set up surveillance on a few homes the couple were suspected to be associated with, and on the 18th, Robert's vehicle was spotted in the driveway of one of those residences. At some point, the couple got into that vehicle and left. A short time later, investigators pulled them over in a traffic stop and took them into custody. Like I said, though, the only official charge against them at that time was that exploitation of an elder or disabled person. That specific charge was unique in that investigators had established enough probable cause to prove the defendants had used Dwayne's financial resources without his consent or knowledge for their own use or profit. From what authorities had found, it was clear that Dwayne's bank card had been swiped multiple times during the trio's road trip, and some of those transactions were for cash withdrawals at ATMs. In fact, one investigator estimated Dwayne's bank card had been used between 20 and 30 times during the road trip, and it had also been used after he was found dead. The transaction started in Tennessee, and several of them were initially unsuccessful. The wrong pin had been used a couple times, but other transactions had gone through just fine. surveillance. This video's retrieved from a few ATMs the footage showed only Robert hiding his face, making or attempting to make the withdrawals. In several clips though, authorities could make out in the background a woman in the passenger seat of a car who looked very similar to Jennifer. Even more suspicious investigators who were reviewing cell phone records for Jennifer Robert and Duane's devices found text messages between Robert and Duane's phones where it appeared Jennifer had texted Robert what Duane's pen was. And nowhere, by the way, in any of the ATM videos authorities had obtained, was Duane visible. And to make the police even more suspicious of the couple, when they'd spoken with Duane's neighbor in New York, she told them that under no circumstances was Duane the type of person who'd let someone else use his bank card. She said he always preferred to do that kind of business himself. Others continued to analyze Duane's flip phones since that was the only device of his that authorities had been able to find. And because the number for that device was also the same number that he'd recently linked to his upgraded smartphone, which investigators had not located. They were still able to see a lot of his call and text message activity prior to his disappearance and murder. Authorities also executed a search warrant for Robert's niece on Altima, and inside they found evidence that it had been cleaned recently. Scattered around on the seats were clothing and shoes that belonged to the couple, as well as a wheelchair that had belonged to Duane. Unfortunately, Duane's wallet was nowhere to be found, and per court records that and his bank card were never recovered in this case. Authorities were, however, able to pinpoint the last time his bank accounts had been accessed. And those records indicated someone had overdrawn his account on either December 8th or 9th, though just a few days after his neighbors saw him leave with Jennifer and Robert, but shortly before he was found dead. Ultimately, both Jennifer and Robert were granted bond for the exploitation charge that had been filed against them. And according to court records, she returned to New York, and he went to stay near Knoxville, Tennessee where he had some relatives. What I really wanted to know, though, was what they'd been up to in the days after Duane's murder. If the slang occurred on the 8th, like the ME estimated, but Robert and Jennifer weren't arrested until the 18th, that's 10 days they were unaccounted for. According to court documents and testimony from a GBI agent who worked the case, investigators determine the couple had spent some of that time traveling to a car dealership in North Carolina, where Robert showed up for a job interview. Apparently, staff at that dealership had no idea he was coming, though, and after having him sit around for a while, they eventually ended up asking him to leave. Turns out, on top of popping in out of the blue, the employees said Robert had acted, quote unquote, "very weird" the whole time, like he was under the influence of meth. Records and surveillance video from a hotel the couple stayed at on December 9th showed they paid in cash for their stay, but really after that, they were in the wind. According to the GBI, after the car dealership visit, both Jennifer and Robert later turned their phones off, but that didn't mean police couldn't see their activity prior to them. It seems that either from witnesses or reviewing additional calls and texts from the Tree of Devices, that on the morning of December 8th, the day the ME believed the murder had occurred. Jennifer and Robert had met up with a man who was coordinating a drug deal for them in Tennessee, and that guy had witnessed Jennifer physically hit Dwayne in the head more than one time. This witness later told authorities that in his opinion, it seemed Robert and Jennifer were spending Dwayne's money and taking his pain medication. One reason this guy suspected that was the case was because over the course of several hours he spent with Dwayne in the couple, Jennifer and Robert had paid him roughly $1,400 in cash to purchase meth. And I guess it was noteworthy to this guy that the pair had been able to come up with that amount of money so easily despite being on the road. Despite what investigators had found, neither Jennifer or Robert were actively or steadily employed in December 2015, and they had not been using their own personal bank cards or finances to fund their travels or drug purchases. So the natural assumption was Dwayne's money was paying for everything. To further corroborate this information, authorities went to multiple motels in Georgia and Tennessee to find video surveillance of the trio together, and determine if Dwayne had paid for any of the rooms. At several places, there was footage available that proved Robert, Jennifer, and Dwayne had all checked in together at various establishments. Subsequent cell phone records also showed that throughout the road trip, the trio had communicated with at least four different sex workers, one of whom they'd dropped Dwayne off with for a few hours in Cleveland, Tennessee. Unfortunately, despite authorities' efforts to interview that sex worker, they were never able to track her down for an interview. The big question that authorities had to try and answer was why. Why had Dwayne, a man with health issues and limited mobility, agreed to go on a long-distance road trip with Jennifer and Robert? Well, the answer depends on whose story you're willing to believe. A GBI agent involved in this case later testified in court that it was clear Jennifer had told Dwayne she needed to travel south to drop Robert off, but she'd expressed that she didn't want to drive by herself. Text messages between the two of them prior to the road trip proved that that's how she pitched the road trip idea to Dwayne. As part of my research for this episode, though, I reached out to Dwayne's son, James, and his granddaughter, Autumn. I wanted to learn more about him and get their perspective on this case, especially regarding this detail about why Dwayne went on the road trip in the first place. Autumn told me that at the time of the murder, as far as she and her dad knew, Dwayne had made it seem like the drive with Jennifer and Robert was his way of coming to visit them because he hadn't seen them in a while. Autumn said she and her family were under the impression that Dwayne believed he was being driven to see family, and that's why he went with the couple. Autumn stated that after the crime, when her dad went to New York to clean out Dwayne's place, he found photos of Autumn and him scattered on Dwayne's kitchen table, which suggested her grandfather had been thinking about them right before he left and was looking forward to visiting with them. So it would seem that Dwayne wasn't supposed to be Jennifer's traveling companion, but rather it was more likely he assumed he was just getting a ride down to see his son and granddaughter. According to his obituary, Dwayne had a number of relatives, including brothers and sisters, and he'd worked for Cornell University in various manufacturers until a disability took him out of the workforce. Beneath his online obituary, his son James left a comment that stated, quote, "Had I said it before, instead of now, my heart might not feel so heavy, I love you dad, always will," end quote. Other commenters who claimed to be relatives of Dwayne's wrote tributes to him, and one post came from a woman who said she was his niece. That poster stated that Dwayne and his siblings had made the best of their lives, despite the fact that growing up, circumstances had been fairly difficult. In January 2016, so just a few weeks into the investigation, the case took a more serious turn when authorities formally charged both Jennifer and Robert with murder. They were both still out on bond for the previous exploitation charge, so law enforcement had to find out where they were and basically re-arrest them for the new murder charge. According to a news release from the GBI, on January 12, Jennifer was apprehended at her home in New York, but it took investigators more than a week to track Robert down. He had gone to be with family in Eastern Tennessee while out on bond for the exploitation charge. He was actually from the Knoxville area, and that's also where his ex-wife and kids lived at the time. According to court documents, the US marshals had made contact with him over the phone a few times and set up appointments for him to turn himself in, but Robert never showed up. So authorities were once again forced to surveil locations associated with him, and then finally on the 21st of January is when they found him and made the arrest. Nearly a month later, in mid-February 2016, Jennifer's lawyers filed a motion for a preliminary hearing, but that proceeding didn't actually happen until a few weeks later on March 2. The only witness who testified at that hearing was a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent named Steve Rogers. Rogers had only worked for the GBI for about five months before Duane's case hit his desk, prior to coming on board with the agency, he'd been employed as a deputy with the Walker County Sheriff's Office for about 20 years. Rogers testified about how the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department had contacted him for assistance after finding Duane's body, because they wanted help with the investigation and for GBI resources to come in. When asked what he believed the motive for the crime was, Rogers testified, "Mr. Mott and Mr. Brooks just got tired of having to deal with Mr. Hollenbeck's disabilities," end quote. Under oath, he went into detail about how the investigation had revealed Jennifer and Robert had used Duane's money and bank card to buy meth. He said they'd also been seen by a witness striking Duane. Now, Duane's toxicology results did show he'd consumed quite a bit of meth prior to murder. But it's seen the majority of the drugs that were purchased during the trio's travels were met for Robert and Jennifer to take back to New York and resettle. On cross-examination, the defense pointed out rather candidly that there was no way agent Rogers or any other investigator could prove that Duane had been forced to go on this road trip, or that he'd been forced to use drugs or take money out of his bank. The lawyer pointed out that since there was no direct evidence Duane had been coerced or forced by Robert and Jennifer, there was really no legal grounds for the exploitation charge. But the defense's point fell flat because in the state of Georgia, the statute for exploitation of an elder or a disabled person is rather broad. The prosecution argued that by Jennifer and Robert admitting to leaving Duane in a state he wasn't from, by himself, their actions met the criteria for exploiting or the deprivation of an elderly or disabled person. In the end, the judge ruled that it would be up to the grand jury to decide whether to indict the couple on the murder charge as well as whether to move forward with the exploitation charge. At the time, Jennifer had two young kids in New York from a prior relationship, but she previously lived in Georgia while attending a hair salon school to become a cosmetologist. Her defense team argued that she should be given bond in the murder case because she had relatives in Georgia who were planning to let her live with them while she awaited trial. Robert's lawyer argued something similar regarding the bond issue. He claimed that since Robert had family members close by in Eastern Tennessee who were willing to ensure he abided by the conditions of a bond, he should be released on bond while awaiting trial as well. But the prosecutor vehemently opposed the judge setting bond for both defendants because he claimed that neither Jennifer or Robert had substantial ties to the community where they allegedly committed the murder, and their lawyers were having to stretch the truth a bit to establish that the family they did have in the region was at all close with them. The state argued that Robert was also a considerable flight risk because he dodged the US Marshall several times after they'd informed him he was wanted for murder. Regarding this specific issue, the lead prosecutor said in part, quote, "When contacted multiple times by the United States Marshall Service, he evaded them. He gave them dummy locations, that's clear indication of flight," end quote. Before ending the preliminary hearing, the judge denied the couple bond, citing that neither of them had ties to Katusa County, Georgia, and Robert in particular posed a flight risk. In early April 2016, Granger's issued indictments against the couple for one count of aggravated assault, one count of exploitation and intimidation of a disabled adult or elder person. One count of malice murder, and two counts of felony murder, each. The indictments explained that the defendant's alleged actions of aggravated assault and exploitation were the felonies that qualified them for the felony murder charges. Which, if you're unfamiliar, the felony murder rule is a legal mechanism in many US states that permits prosecutors to charge a person with murder, if all in the act of committing a felony, a victim dies as a result. A few months later, Jennifer's defense team filed a motion to suppress, because turns out, after her arrest, she'd made several statements to investigators that did not do her or Robert any favors. According to court testimony from the GBI agent on this case, after Jennifer was arrested in January for the murder, she willingly spoke with investigators in New York State. According to the GBI agent, during that recorded interview, she waffled back and forth about what had actually happened to Dwayne. For example, she initially said she didn't know anything about Dwayne's death, but then her story evolved, and by the end of the interview, she'd completely reversed her version of events. In her final statement, she'd said that she, Robert and Dwayne had driven in Robert's car to a park area and Robert got out. She saw him walk down a trail by himself, and then a short time later, he returned and helped Dwayne out of the vehicle. After that, she watched the two men stroll down the wooded path out of sight. And eventually, only Robert came back. When he returned, he informed Jennifer that he'd walked Dwayne about three-quarters of a mile down the path, and then struck him in the head and face with a rock. Just with the GBI subsequently reviewed the statements that Jennifer made to New York investigators, and realized that a lot of what she'd said aligned with the evidence at the crime scene. For example, the fact that Dwayne had been found with blunt force trauma injuries to his face and that a rock with what appeared to be blood on it had been discovered near his body were apparently not details that had been released publicly. So the fact that Jennifer had brought those details up in her interview indicated that what she was saying was credible. She'd also described the area of the National Park where she remembered the group had pulled over. And when a GBI agent compared her descriptions with details of the spot where Dwayne had been found, it lined up. Jennifer had also told New York detectives that shortly after the murder, she and Robert had driven to a payless shoe store and purchased new sneakers for him. And when you know it, when the GBI looked into that claim, they discovered there was a pay less shoe store in Fort Oglethorpe very close to where Dwayne was found. And not only that, surveillance video from that store showed Jennifer going inside and purchasing men's shoes on the day of the murder. Now, that was everything Jennifer had reportedly provided. Robert, on the other hand, had not been nearly as chatty. After he was arrested, his only statement to authorities was that he and Jennifer had dropped Wayne off with a sex worker. After that, the 38-year-old boyard up. In the motion to suppress filing, though, Jennifer's defense argued that none of what she told authorities initially should be admissible in court because she was not properly read her Miranda rights. The defense also claimed that the search that had been conducted on Robert's vehicle in late December 2015. And the search warrants for his and Jennifer's phones were unconstitutional because law enforcement's warrants were insufficient. A few months after the motion to suppress was filed, Robert's team tried to argue that Katusa County shouldn't be the jurisdiction to handle the case, since the crime had occurred within the bounds of federal land. But the court shut that argument down pretty quickly, and ruled that the case would remain in the state's jurisdiction because the law allowed for that. For the rest of 2016, the case dragged on. But eventually, in early April 2017, the couple decided to take plea deals. Robert pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and Jennifer pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. In exchange, Robert would receive 20 years in prison versus the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if he'd taken his chances at trial. The maximum prison sentence Jennifer faced was 10 years behind bars and 10 years probation. Interestingly though, just a few months after pleading guilty, Jennifer's defense filed a motion to withdraw her plea. But then, a few months after that, she changed her mind and asked the court to dismiss her request to withdraw. In the end, Jennifer served several years in prison for her role in the crime, and was released early in February 2022. According to records from the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Corrolls, her period of supervision post-release has since ended. Robert Brooks remains incarcerated at a Georgia State Prison. What I found rather interesting in this case is that prior to Dwayne's murder, court documents explained that neither defendant had committed violent crimes. It seems the only prior interaction they had with police regarding criminal activity was in New York State, but in that incident, they were the reported victims. According to a piece by Tara Grimes for Spectrum News 1, in September 2015, so about three months before Dwayne's murder, Jennifer and Robert had been moving into a new rental in Geneva, New York, and they claimed someone shot a BB gun at them in the middle of the night. Robert ended up chasing the suspected shooter, but he never caught them. Apparently, that incident scared both of them so much they never ended up moving into their unit. But other than that, their interactions with law enforcement were mild, like traffic-related stuff. At Robert's plea hearing, a prosecutor for the state explained that one possible reason Robert chose to beat Dwayne to death was because he became enraged after seeing Dwayne holding a photo of one of his young daughters. According to Robert's defense, prior to going to the park, he and Jennifer had heard Dwayne allegedly make comments about molesting children. Now, I know that feels like a bit of a bombshell to just throw out there at this point in the story, but other than in a small section of the transcript of Robert's plea hearing, I couldn't find any other documentation that goes into further details about this allegation. It's clear from the prosecutor's comments at the plea hearing that he believed this accusation about Dwayne would have been a claim that the defense would have made if the case had gone to trial. But since things didn't go that route, I can't tell you any more than what I just explained. Because this allegation, without documentation, came so late in the process, part of me wonders if Robert put this out there to possibly garner sympathy or leniency from the court when and it came out. time for him to be sentenced. No one but Robert knows. What I can't tell you is that no matter how you look at this case, three people went into Chickamaga and Chattanooga National Military Park in December 2015, but one didn't make it out alive. Why Duane Hollenbeck was murdered is a question that remains unanswered, but the fact is, he was a victim of a homicide. Based on everything I gathered from reading the court records and coverage about this case, each of the three people involved, most notably Jennifer and Robert, made choices, many of which were poor choices. And if there's a lesson to take away from this story, maybe it's this. Choose everything you do, who you associate with, and where you go, wisely. Park Predators is an audio check production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram @ParkPredators. I think Chuck would approve.