Jim Dunaway Explained

Jim Dunaway
Number:78
Position:Defensive tackle
Birth Date:3 September 1941
Birth Place:Columbia, Mississippi, U.S.
High School:Columbia (MS)
Height Ft:6
Height In:4
Weight Lbs:277
College:Ole Miss
Draftyear:1963
Draftround:1
Draftpick:3
Afldraftyear:1963
Afldraftround:2
Afldraftpick:9
Pastteams:
Highlights:
Pfr:DunaJi00

James Kenneth Dunaway (September 3, 1941 – May 12, 2018) was an American football player. A defensive tackle, he played college football at the University of Mississippi, and played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, as part of a defensive line that held opposing runners without a rushing touchdown for a pro football record seventeen consecutive games in the 1964 and 1965 AFL seasons.[1]

Murder charge and aftermath

On July 27, 1998, Dunaway's ex-wife, Nonniel Dunaway, was found dead in a half-empty swimming pool.[2] An autopsy revealed that she had a fractured skull and was unconscious when she was placed in the water by her assailant where she drowned. Prior to this event, she had won a divorce judgment which gave her more than 800acres of property that the couple owned, $1,800 a month in alimony and half of Dunaway's NFL pension. They had been divorced since 1995 and Dunaway was planning to appeal.

Dunaway was charged with her murder but a grand jury chose not to indict Dunaway of the charges.[3] In response, his children filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that Dunaway was responsible for their mother's death.[4] In 2002, Dunaway was found liable and ordered to pay $579,000 to his children.[5]

Coincidentally, Dunaway had been a teammate for three seasons of star running back O. J. Simpson, who was similarly found responsible for his ex-wife's death after being acquitted of her murder in a controversial trial in 1995.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Celebration of Life Service to be Held for Ole Miss Great Jim Dunaway.
  2. Web site: Ex-Dolphin Charged With Murder. www.cbsnews.com.
  3. News: PLUS: IN THE NEWS; Dunaway Charged In Ex-Wife's Death. The New York Times. Associated Press. 31 July 1998.
  4. Web site: Jim Dunaway, the True Notorious Big. BabyTate. Bleacher Report.
  5. News: Football, Crime, and Allegations Against Aaron Hernandez. Ben. Teitelbaum. The Daily Beast. 21 June 2013. www.thedailybeast.com.