Michael Thomas Dusch pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for the murder of Oglethorpe County’s David John Stewart last year.
Dusch, of West End, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to all nine counts, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, concealing the death of another, identity fraud and financial crimes.
Superior Court Judge Harvey S. Wasserman sentenced Dusch to life in prison with the possibility of parole on the malice murder charge at the Oglethorpe County Courthouse.
The felony murder and aggravated assault charges merged with that count, while sentences for the remaining charges will run concurrently with the life sentence.
Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White, who handled the case, said Dusch won’t be eligible for parole consideration until 2055. Eligibility doesn’t mean he will be released.
White said Dusch wasn’t eligible for the death penalty in Georgia.
“There would be factual issues, like if he took property from the victim after he’s deceased it’s not armed robbery because you don’t own anything when you’re dead,” White said. “He didn’t commit a burglary. He didn’t make a forcible entry into the residence. It wasn’t in the middle of another capital felony. It wasn’t a kidnapping.”
Stewart, 69, was found at his Double Bridges Road home on Feb. 25, 2025. The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist with what White described as a “complete whodunit” at the outset.
White said Dusch came to Georgia after law enforcement searched his North Carolina home as part of an investigation involving child sexual abuse material. Dusch hadn’t been arrested, but fled North Carolina in a stolen RV, White said.
Once in Georgia, Dusch used a dating app to connect with Stewart and was allowed into his home. White said Dusch later restrained Stewart and obtained access to some of his financial information before bludgeoning him to death and dragging his body into the woods behind the home.
Dusch remained at Stewart’s home for at least a couple of days and was captured on video using Stewart's financial transaction card at a Whataburger in Athens, White said.
Investigators used Flock cameras, license plate information, cellphone information and other evidence to identify Dusch and connect him to the stolen RV.
Dusch later traveled to Arkansas, where White said he bought a crossbow and killed another elderly man. He then traveled to Texas, where he was taken into custody in connection with the stolen RV.
GBI Special Agent Thomas Haas traveled to Texas with investigators from Arkansas to interview Dusch. White said Dusch initially invoked his right to remain silent and requested an attorney, but later voluntarily asked to speak with investigators again.
“He said he would talk about the crimes if he was given a banana and a Coke, and then he proceeded to confess to both murders,” White said.
White said Dusch’s decision to plead guilty to every charge in the indictment was unusual. Had Dusch gone to trial and been found guilty, the judge could have imposed the same sentence, but then Dusch could have appealed the decision.
The conviction could also have significant implications for the Arkansas case.
Arkansas prosecutors haven’t indicted Dusch, but White said they intend to extradite and prosecute him.
White credited Haas, the GBI and the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office for solving the case.
“I think that they did a great job,” White said.
Sarah Owens is a master’s student in journalism at the University of Georgia.