In the late summer of 2024, the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, became the final resting place for 41-year-old Matthew Joseph Johnson. His body, along with that of 40-year-old Christina Michelle Dixon, both of Connersville, was discovered in the St. Marys River on September 20, 2024. The grim discovery launched a homicide investigation that would quickly lead to an arrest.
The Allen County Coroner's Office determined that Matthew Johnson's life was violently taken, concluding that he died
from both gunshot and stab wounds. His death, and that of Christina Dixon, who was found to have been strangled and suffocated, were both officially ruled homicides. The two were reportedly last seen on September 19, the day before their bodies were found, and had been reported missing to the Richmond Police Department.
The investigation into the double homicide led authorities to 29-year-old Dominique M. Washington. He was taken into custody in Richmond, Indiana, on September 23, 2024. Washington faces a litany of serious charges, including two counts of murder, felony murder, and kidnapping. He is being held in the Allen County Jail without bond.
Initial court documents and news reports suggested that Johnson and Dixon may have been acting as confidential informants for the Richmond Police Department, possibly in connection with a significant drug seizure. However, the Richmond Police Department later publicly refuted this information, stating that neither Johnson nor Dixon was serving as an informant at the time of their deaths. The department acknowledged that miscommunication during the investigation may have led to the initial incorrect assumption. Despite this clarification, police have not ruled out the possibility that the two may have worked with law enforcement at some point in the past.
