- March 5, 2025
A man charged with killing his father in 2006 is seeking permission from the courts to buy a home in Flagler County.
Jack Dunn, 89, was found dead in January 2006 with a knife sticking out of his chest and a mantle clock on his stomach, police reports say. Dunn was the first physician and surgeon to practice in Palm Coast, according to an obituary.
The crime was eventually linked to Jack Dunn’s son, Richard Dunn, who was charged with second-degree murder. But the case never went to trial; Richard Dunn was declared mentally incompetent to proceed through courts and was admitted to a mental treatment facility instead.
The day Jack Dunn died, a neighbor discovered him lying in the hallway of his C-section home. Homicide detectives responded and found forks protruding from the victim’s neck and groin. A key was stuck in his left eye. His eyes, nostrils and mouth were lodged with a substance that police report identified as “possibly smokeless tobacco.”
Vitamins, raisins and pretzels were scattered on the body. A biscuit with a bite taken out of it was on the man’s chest. The clock sat below the biscuit, on Jack Dunn’s abdomen.
The home was in disarray, suggesting a struggle. The telephone was lying on the floor after being ripped from the wall.
Eventually, detectives were led to the victim’s son, Richard Dunn, who was 46 and lived with his father at the time. Jack Dunn’s caregiver said she left him at home the morning of the murder with his son, who was wearing white sweat pants and a white shirt.
Law enforcement later found bloodied, white sweat pants on Richard Dunn’s bed. A white T-shirt, also bloodied, was lying in the hallway just outside Richard Dunn’s bedroom.
Richard Dunn was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, although he denied knowing anything about his father’s death. However, after a psychological evaluation said there was a “substantial likelihood” that Dunn would hurt himself or another person if untreated, so he was placed in a mental health facility for treatment.
Dunn remained in treatment for years, undergoing therapy and medication. In 2012, the courts revisited his case, and on July 17, he was granted a conditional release that let him leave the care facility and reside instead in transitional housing in Daytona Beach.
A stipulation of this release was that Dunn may not re-enter Flagler County without a judge’s permission.
However, Dunn’s attorney, Michael H. Lambert, filed a motion on Feb. 8 to allow Dunn to move out of the transitional housing and into Flagler County.
“(Dunn) desires to purchase a residence, and in Flagler County, as that is where he feels most comfortable,” the motion says.
Dunn was supposed to have a hearing on Monday to discuss this motion, but it was canceled. That same day, the State Attorney’s Office filed an objection to Dunn’s request. Although Lambert cited Dunn’s good behavior as cause for letting him back into Flagler, the state referred to a May 2013 entry in Dunn’s case file, which indicates that he hired a prostitute but “had extreme regret” for doing so.
Letting Dunn return to Flagler “does not take into account the comfort level of those persons (affected by Dunn) … who were strongly opposed to (Dunn’s) being allowed to live in Flagler County,” the state’s objection reads, noting that “several” of those people still object to Dunn’s presence in Flagler County.
Dunn’s hearing has not yet been rescheduled.
