Delia D'Ambra

What I found rather interesting in this case is that prior to Duane's murder, court documents explain that neither defendant had committed violent crimes.

It seems the only prior interaction they had with police regarding criminal activity was in New York State.

But in that incident, they were the reported victims.

According to a piece by Tara Grimes for Spectrum News 1, in September 2015, so about three months before Dwayne's murder, Jennifer and Robert had been moving into a new rental in Geneva, New York, and they claimed someone shot a BB gun at them in the middle of the night.

Robert ended up chasing the suspected shooter, but he never caught them.

Apparently, that incident scared both of them so much they never ended up moving into their unit.

But other than that, their interactions with law enforcement were mild, like traffic-related stuff.

At Robert's plea hearing, a prosecutor for the state explained that one possible reason Robert chose to beat Duane to death was because he became enraged after seeing Duane holding a photo of one of his young daughters.

According to Robert's defense, prior to going to the park, he and Jennifer had heard Duane allegedly make comments about molesting children.

Now, I know that feels like a bit of a bombshell to just throw out there at this point in the story, but other than in a small section of the transcript of Robert's plea hearing, I couldn't find any other documentation that goes into further details about this allegation.

It's clear from the prosecutor's comments at the plea hearing that he believed this accusation about Dwayne would have been a claim that the defense would have made if the case had gone to trial.

But since things didn't go that route, I can't tell you any more than what I just explained.

Because this allegation without documentation came so late in the process, part of me wonders if Robert put this out there to possibly garner sympathy or leniency from the court when it came time for him to be sentenced.

No one but Robert knows.

What I can tell you is that no matter how you look at this case, three people went into Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in December 2015, but one didn't make it out alive.

Why Dwayne Hollenbeck was murdered is a question that remains unanswered.

But the fact is, he was a victim of a homicide.

Based on everything I gathered from reading the court records and coverage about this case, each of the three people involved, most notably Jennifer and Robert, made choices, many of which were poor choices.

And if there's a lesson to take away from this story, maybe it's this.

Choose everything you do, who you associate with, and where you go wisely.