From his cell at a detention center in Brighton, Colorado, convicted felon Jesse Dimmick has filed a counter suit in Shawnee County District Court alleging that the couple he held hostage breached an oral contract to hide him for money.

Dimmick, on the run from police officers for his purported connection with a Colorado slaying in 2009, abandoned his disabled vehicle and fled to a nearby home where he confronted the residents with a knife.  Over the c ourse of the encounter, the couple gained Dimmick's trust by eating and watching a movie with him.  Eventually, Dimmick fell asleep and the couple left the house and authorities moved in and took Dimmick into custody.

The couple sued Dimmick for damages in excess of $75,000, contending he was guilty of trespass, intrusion and negligent infliction of emotional distress.  Now, Dimmick is counter suing the couple for $235,000, contending they breached an oral contract to hide him in exchange for money.

In his lawsuit, Dimmick says he informed the couple he was being pursued by law enforcement officers and asked them to hide him in exchange for money. The couple agreed, he says, and thus formed a “legally binding oral contract.”

The couple's attorney, Robert E. Keeshan, has filed a motion for dismissal, stating that there was no binding contract because: no specific dollar amount was agreed upon; hiding a fugitive is illegal and can't be the basis for a legal contract, and if the couple did consent it was clearly under duress.

Dimmick is representing himself in the matter.

—Source: The Topeka Capital Journal (Kansas)