Ex-boyfriend accused of killing D.C. woman and leaving body in dumpster
In April, after Richard Dyson beat and suffocated his ex-girlfriend in their bedroom, D.C. police allege, he went to a nearby Home Depot and purchased a large black Rubbermaid tub.
Homicide detectives say Dyson — who was arrested and charged with murder Wednesday — placed the body of Donnella Bryan, 62, in the tub. Then, according to police, he and a neighbor dragged the tub out of a Northeast Washington apartment building, hailed a ride share and hauled the container to a dumpster in the parking lot of Hechinger Mall in the 1500 block of Benning Road NE.
The tub was found April 19, four days later. There was a gray sock in Bryan's mouth, police said. On Thursday, Dyson, 57, charged with second-degree murder, made his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court and was ordered held without bond.
His attorney, Corinne Schultz, argued that there was no evidence that Dyson killed Bryan. She said there may be evidence that he moved the body, but no evidence he killed her. But a judge said there was enough evidence to hold him in D. C. jail until next hearing, set for Wednesday.
A prosecutor said that although the two lived together, their previous romantic relationship had ended.
Bryan, a mother of three and grandmother of two, relocated to Washington from Connecticut in 2015 to be near her daughter, family members said.
According to a 53-page arrest warrant affidavit, detectives viewed security video showing Dyson and Bryan entering their apartment on April 15, but Bryan is never seen exiting. Dyson, however, was captured on security cameras leaving the apartment building and going to the nearby Home Depot where, according to receipts, he paid about $38 for the container.
Authorities found Bryan's blood in the entryway of Dyson's apartment and in his bedroom next to his bed, according to court documents. Police also said they found Bryan's blood on a pair of Dyson's tan pants, which matched the pants he was wearing when he visited Home Depot, as seen on security camera footage.
Dyson was the only person arrested in Bryan's killing. The neighbor whom detectives say helped Dyson carry the tub later turned up dead inside his own apartment. Detectives said they found a bag of white powder next to the bed where the body lay.
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