INDIANAPOLIS — Less than two months after his release from a Virginia prison, where he served 30 years for a 1995 murder, a Bloomington, Indiana native has returned to prison.
In early January, the Virginia Parole Board approved Dustin “Dusty” Turner’s early release in a 3-2 vote. Authorities released Turner on parole on Thursday, March 5.
According to online jail records, Virginia State Police arrested Turner and booked him into Middle River Regional Jail in Verona, Virginia, on Tuesday, April 21, for a parole violation. Authorities did not immediately release additional details about the circumstances.
Turner’s March release
“Dusty’s long-overdue release marks a milestone in his fight for justice, after he spent three decades wrongfully incarcerated due to a false narrative, overlooked evidence, and decisions that favored finality over truth — making the moment one of deeply mixed emotions,” Turner’s friends and family said in a statement following his release in early March.
According to a news release, Turner’s release gave him the chance to reunite with his 78-year-old mother and his family, “who never stopped fighting for the truth,” and he was set to return home to Indiana.
“While his release brings long-awaited relief, parole is not freedom and it is not justice for the 30 years taken from him. His advocates continue to seek full exoneration and urge the public to support efforts to clear his name and expose similar miscarriages of justice,” Turner’s friends and family said in the news release.
Case background
As WTHR first reported in 2004, a jury convicted Turner of first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in September 1996 for the killing of 21-year-old Jennifer Evans the year before.
Police discovered Evans’ body nine days after she was reported missing in June 1995.
Investigators later arrested Turner and fellow Navy SEAL candidate Billy Joe Brown in connection with Evans’ death after both men came forward to police.
In 1996, separate juries convicted Turner and Brown. The court sentenced them to 82 and 72 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dusty Turner released from prison
Family and friends with Dusty Turner following his release from a Virginia prison March 5, 2026.
Separate juries convicted both Turner and Brown in 1996, and the court sentenced them to 82 and 72 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Turner has long acknowledged that he helped Brown dispose of Evans’ body and failed to contact police.
He and his family have argued that his actions amounted to accessory after the fact — not murder — which, under Virginia law at the time, carried a maximum sentence of one year.
Years after their trials, Brown’s confession reignited Turner’s effort to have his conviction overturned.
In 2008, a judge ruled that Brown gave false testimony during his own trial, and the court determined that Turner had no involvement in Evans’ murder or restraint.
In 2009, Turner received a Writ of Actual Innocence — the first in Virginia based on nonbiological evidence — but that ruling was later overturned. In 2017, he filed a pardon request with then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and Gov. Ralph Northam denied the request in 2021.
In 2020, Turner became eligible for parole under Virginia’s Fishback v. Commonwealth ruling, which applies to inmates convicted in the late 1990s when juries were not informed that parole had been abolished.
The Virginia Parole Board denied Turner’s parole requests in 2020 and 2024 before ultimately granting parole in 2026.
Turner addressed the board during his parole hearing, saying, “The tragedy of Jennifer’s murder has had an impact on me and a profound impact. It haunts me every day.”
The Virginia Department of Corrections determined the timing and conditions of Turner’s release. Parole does not equal clemency.
As of this article, his murder and abduction convictions remain in place.
“There was something different about Dusty”
Former WTHR reporter Roger Harvey interviewed Turner in prison in 2004 and said the case drew his attention from the beginning.
“There was something different about Dusty,” Harvey told 13News in an interview Jan. 7. “Something different about his mom, and something different about all the facts that were presented.
“At the end of the day, once the other person that was there that night confessed that it was, in fact, him that did a lot for me,” Harvey said. “I thought for (Brown) to do that finally, was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, it was too late at the time, and it’s taken this long for the parole board to realize they needed to rewrite this.”
Through multiple reports, Harvey spoke with Turner’s mother, Linda Summitt, and one of the jurors in Turner’s case. However, he said there were still voices he wished he could have included.
“I would have liked to have spoken to the victim’s family on camera,” Harvey said. “They did not want to speak on camera at the time, and I fully understand that. I mean, it’s a horrific thing that happened to their daughter, but that is the one interview that I think would have been helpful in telling the whole story.”
Harvey said he has continued to follow Turner’s appeals even after leaving WTHR and the television news industry.
“From time to time over the years, there have been times where I’ve seen someone in an airport that looked like Dusty, and I’m like, I wonder where…what’s happened with that?” Harvey said. “I truly feel for the family of the victim because I’m sure this is going to bring up horrible memories of what happened.
“The reality is, at the end of the day, the person that committed this act, this horrible crime, is still behind bars and is still being held accountable. The difference is, the person that did not commit the crime is finally going to receive his justice, if you will, and get out of prison after 30 years of his life going by,” Harvey said.
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