A Kidnapper Sued His Own Hostages for Breach of Contract

On September 12, 2009, Jesse Dimmick was on the run. Two days earlier, he had fatally stabbed a man named Michael Curtis in Aurora, Colorado. Now he was fleeing west across the Kansas plains with law enforcement closing in.

He chose the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley in Topeka. He broke in, confronted them at knifepoint, and demanded they help him hide from police.

The Sleepover Nobody Asked For

What happened next is almost too absurd to believe. The Rowleys, fearing for their lives, did what they could to keep their uninvited guest calm. They fed him snacks. They watched movies together. And then, after what must have been the most surreal evening of their lives, Jesse Dimmick fell asleep.

The Rowleys didn't waste the opportunity. They slipped out and called the police. Officers arrived, and Dimmick was shot during the arrest. He survived and was subsequently convicted of two counts of kidnapping, receiving a sentence of nearly 11 years.

The Lawsuit

From prison, Dimmick filed a handwritten lawsuit against the Rowleys for $235,000: $160,000 for his hospital bills from being shot during the arrest, and $75,000 for pain and suffering. His legal theory? Breach of oral contract.

In his filing, Dimmick argued that the Rowleys had agreed to hide him in exchange for an unspecified amount of money. His exact words: "I, the plaintiff, offered the Rowleys an unspecified amount of money which they agreed upon, therefore forging a legally binding oral contract."

The Rowleys' attorney responded that any "agreement" was made under duress, given that Dimmick was holding a knife. District Judge Franklin R. Theis dismissed the case on January 9, 2012.

Dimmick was later convicted of the Colorado homicide as well, receiving 37 years. The Rowleys filed their own lawsuit against him, which was far more successful.