Richard Frederick Dixon

Richard Frederick Dixon (born August 5, 1940^[1]) is an American criminal principally known for hijacking Eastern Airlines Flight 953 from Detroit to Cuba in October 1971 and for the second-degree murder of South Haven police officer, Michael McAllister, in January 1976. He was convicted on these charges after his capture in 1976. He was sentenced in Michigan state court to life in prison on the murder charge and in federal court to an additional 40 years on federal charges of air piracy and kidnapping.

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, and raised in St. Clair, Michigan, he served two years in the United States Navy. He was convicted of a 1963 robbery in New York, but only after a four-year detention in a mental hospital when he was found incompetent to stand trial. He was also convicted of the 1968 burglary of a credit union in St. Clair.