‘Killer’ Son Gives Emotional TV Interview After Murdering Mom

A man who once appeared on television speaking emotionally about the mysterious death of his mother is now accused of a shocking double murder that had already taken place months before that interview.

Michael Jerome James, now 35, has been charged with two counts of murder in the 2006 killings of 26-year-old Chynna Dickus and her 10-year-old stepson, Blake Dickus, inside their Franklin, Indiana, home.

James was just 14 years old when Chynna and Blake were killed on July 24, 2006.

The case remained unsolved for two decades despite thousands of hours of police work, public appeals and a reward that eventually grew to $100,000.

Then, nearly 20 years later, a Johnson County grand jury spent approximately three weeks reviewing evidence and testimony before indicting James.

Police arrested him on October 2 in Shelbyville, Indiana.

Authorities have not publicly revealed the specific forensic evidence they say connects James to the killings because much of the case was presented through secret grand-jury proceedings.

Franklin Police Chief Kirby Cochran, however, credited advances in forensic science, new investigative leads and detectives who continued revisiting the evidence over the years.

Newly unsealed court information also indicates investigators believe the killings may have occurred during an attempted burglary.

The neighborhood where Chynna and Blake lived was still being developed at the time, and investigators have said several burglaries and thefts had occurred in the surrounding area.

Blake’s father, Sean Dickus, returned home on the evening of July 24, 2006, and discovered his wife and son dead.

Their deaths stunned the community and launched an investigation that would span two decades.

Investigators erected billboards displaying Chynna and Blake’s faces and initially offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. In September 2026, shortly before James was charged, that amount was increased to $100,000.

The arrest has also brought renewed attention to a television interview James gave roughly a year after the killings — an interview that had nothing to do with the Indiana case at the time.

James appeared on East Texas television station KLTV in 2007 while discussing the death of his mother, Janet Stroup.

James and his sister had been placed into foster care when they were children because of their mother’s struggles with drugs. They were eventually adopted by an aunt and moved to Indiana.

Stroup disappeared in Texas in 1998.

James recalled being at a foster home and expecting one of his regular visits with his mother when she suddenly failed to arrive.

A woman’s body had been discovered in a field near Longview about a month after Stroup disappeared, but it was not formally determined to be hers until years later.

James and his family returned to Texas in 2007 for a graveside service.

Speaking with KLTV, James described a complicated but loving relationship with his mother.

“She loved me and my sister a lot,” he said, adding that although she struggled with serious problems, he believed she wanted to change.

James also spoke about the emotional toll of spending years wondering what had happened to her.

He said finally knowing her fate meant he no longer had to wonder whether she might still be alive or whether she had deliberately left him.

Asked what he would tell his mother if he could speak to her again, James replied that he loved her and wanted her to know he was doing fine.

At the time the interview aired, there was no public suggestion that James was connected to the deaths of Chynna and Blake.

Authorities now allege, however, that the double homicide had occurred several months before that television appearance.

The dramatic development is the latest chapter in a case that investigators repeatedly vowed they would not abandon.

“For 20 years, Blake and Chynna’s families have carried the weight of an unimaginable loss, waiting for this day,” Cochran said following the arrest.

The chief said investigators never forgot the victims and continued searching for answers even as years passed without an arrest.

Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner has also described the case as deeply personal.

The murders occurred during his first tenure as county prosecutor in 2006, and Hamner has said his desire to see the case solved was one factor behind his eventual decision to return to the prosecutor’s office.

James is expected to appear in Johnson Circuit Court on Thursday, October 8.

The indictment marks a major breakthrough, but it does not establish guilt. James is accused of the killings and is entitled to the presumption of innocence as the criminal case moves through court.

For Chynna and Blake’s families, however, the arrest represents the first time in 20 years that prosecutors have formally accused someone of taking their lives.