TV show profiling Dawson homicide

PIERSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - The crime tape was back up near the Pierson Road overpass over U.S. 131, north of Sand Lake, Thursday morning.

Four years after Julia Dawson's body was found at the location, detectives were back.

So was a production crew.

Story House Productions is producing a re-enactment of Dawson's murder for an undisclosed cable television show.

Thursday morning, detectives from the Kent County Sheriff's Department and Sparta Police Chief Andrew Milanowski were on the scene, recreating their roles.

Dawson went missing from her Sparta home on December 11, 2004. At the time, her husband, Tim, told police his wife had gone shopping and failed to return home.

Police and volunteers searched for weeks before her body was found Jan. 3, 2005 near the overpass.

Four years after the murder, a jury convicted Tim Dawson in the murder of his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

It was a tough case to crack. So tough, the Kent County prosecutor refused to try the case. The Michigan Attorney General's office eventually brought Tim Dawson to trial.

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Story House Productions