The Investigation of William Dahl
This story started as a station tip in early February 2021 days after authorities arrested William Dahl from Rush Hill, Missouri. The caller claimed Dahl had been assaulting children and getting away with it for years prior to the arrest. In the ensuing months, I dug through court documents, submitted records requests, found and talked with victims and followed Dahl's court case for nearly 10 months before bringing a three-part mini series to air in November 2021. In March 2022, Hearst announced the first part of the series won first place in the Television News Competition. You can find all my reports below in reverse-chronological order, starting with the three part series. The feature from my reporter reel was part one. Parts two and three are in the same web story.
March 17, 2021
My first package aired as a Target 8 Investigation into William Dahl. After I felt comfortable enough with my reporting and research, the last step was finding a Law Expert to walk me through it. This piece centers around MU Emrita Law Professor Mary Beck, who walks the audience through the loopholes in the system. The reporting for this story took a couple of months, but I did the shooting, editing and writing in a single dayturn shift.
February 12, 2021
The first update after my initial story on Dahl's arrest. It quickly explains the five additional felony charges the Audrain County Prosecutor added to Dahl's case in relation to a 12-year-old victim.
February 9, 2021
My first story on Dahl. The tip came in on Super Bowl Sunday. I got to the station at 6 a.m. the next morning and drove 45 minutes to the Audrain County Courthouse in the snow to attend Dahl's initial hearing. I was not able to join because of COVID-19 protocols, but I found out enough from the circuit clerk and online court records to convince me to stick with this story. This report is included in the February 12 update on KOMU.com.
