The Punishment of Dixie Shanahan: Is There Justice for Battered Women Who Kill?

Abstract

Dixie Schrieber and Scott Shanahan began dating in 1983. On May 10, 2004, Dixie Schrieber Shanahan was sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment for the murder of Scott Shanahan. In between, there was a marriage, children—and years of horrendous abuse. During the nineteen years that Dixie and Scott Shanahan were together, Scott blackened Dixie’s eyes, bruised her, threatened her, dragged her by her hair, pointed guns at her, tied her up and left her for days in the basement, called her vile names, degraded her in front of friends, and generally made her life a living hell. On August 30, 2002, believing that her life and the life of her unborn child were in danger after days of beatings, threats, and the promise, “This day is not over yet. I will kill you,” Dixie Shanahan shot her husband while he lay in bed. After less than one day of deliberation, a jury found Dixie Shanahan guilty of second-degree murder. Judge Charles L. Smith III sentenced Dixie Shanahan to fifty years in prison. The community of Defiance, Iowa, divided sharply around the prosecution of Dixie Shanahan. During the trial, both prosecution and defense witnesses agreed that Scott Shanahan was an extremely violent man who brutally abused his wife for years. But members of the community debated whether Dixie Shanahan was justified in killing her abuser. Some characterized Dixie Shanahan’s actions as a final, desperate attempt to save herself and her baby; others conceded the severity of the abuse she endured over the years but maintained that she had no right to take Scott Shanahan’s life.