Diana Haun abduction and murder of Sherri Dally

The details of each case are numerous, and many Forensic Files episodes tell a slightly different version of the actual story. For example, in Covet Thy Neighbor (s13e35), it was indicated that Olamide Adeyooye's purse and wallet were still inside her abandoned apartment. However, my research revealed that Olamide's purse had actually been stolen, likely by Maurice Wallace. But in this episode, it isn't just a detail or two that don't align – some fundamental details are altogether wrong.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Sherri Dally's name is spelled as "Sharri" throughout this episode. And her age is given as 30 years old, but research showed Sherri was age 35 when she was abducted in the Target parking lot. Forensic Files makes a point of changing some of the players' names – consider "Johnny" as the alias given for Damian Huffman in the episode In the Bag (s12e27). The boy was merely four years old when his great-grandparents Jack and Linda Myers were murdered by their son Gregg. But this wasn't the case with in misspelling Sherri Dally's name.

Our episode also laid out a timeline for Sherri the on morning she was accosted. She'd dropped her two children off at school, and she wanted to do some shopping before going to work. It was also revealed that Sherri left the Target at 9:22am, and that she was due to return home by noon. This left me thinking, "What sort of job did Sherri have where she'd only work about two hours?" Then reading other sources, I found that Sherri Dally was a "daycare provider". Perhaps she worked parttime, just during the hours she was needed, and perhaps this was an ideal role for a mother with two young children.

Cleanliness is next to godliness

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Once again, I'm shocked that effort was put into cleaning the rental car (a teal Nissan Altima) before Diana Haun returned it to Budget. To spend any amount of time cleaning only to have a huge, dark bloodstain in the floorboard of the backseat seems like a utter waste of time. I'm certainly not a trained expert, but only a glance into the rear window of the car would've shown any observer that something gruesome must have occurred. It certainly didn't take luminol to indicate the presence of blood at that crime scene. What was Diana Haun's inner monologue? "Maybe they won't notice"? Budget employee: "Jeez, another rental return with an enormous blood stain in the back – oh well, grab the Resolve."

I can imagine Budget has received cars with a few stains in their course of business. I'm sure some of these unfortunate stains have actually been blood, and there are reasonable scenarios where this might be the case. Perhaps an injured person needed to transportation to the hospital, or perhaps the blood was from an animal of some sort. But with half the floorboard soaked in blood, simply tossing the agent the keys with a thank-you wave wasn't going to cut it for Diana Haun. Her name was on the rental slip, so if Budget followed up about the chilling bloodstain in the backseat, Haun would've gotten the call. And this was if Budget didn't notify the police first.

The best defense is…

So what would've been her explanation? If Budget reached out to Diana Haun before the police did, would she still have claimed she wasn't the one who'd rented the car? Given the rental agency required a driver's license, to argue Haun was not the car's renter meant one of two explanations:

• Someone stole Diana Haun's driver's license, rented the car, and then returned the stolen property to Haun.
• Someone forged Diana Haun's identification to rent the vehicle.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Both seem preposterous. It was interesting that no one at Budget was able to identify Diana Haun as the car's renter; it was implied that she may've been wearing a disguise at the time. But then to verify the license's picture, she'd have looked somewhat different, creating at least suspicion and more likely recollection. Finally, the handwriting expert indicated that Haun's forged signature was markedly different from her genuine signature – this was linchpin of her defense. But to me (a layperson), they didn't look so much different. I suppose Haun was trying to sign her name as someone trying to forge signing her name. Doesn't seem easy – try signing your own name, but pretend you're someone else trying to forge your own signature.

Not the sharpest criminal minds

For all the thought Diana Haun (and likely Michael Dally as well) gave to the "rental car cover-up", they should've considered their other missed opportunities. For example, why rent the car in which you're going to commit the murder from the very town you live in? Investigators checked all the car rental places in the area – it's possible they would've broadened their radius if they truly thought Dally or Haun rented a car. But it seems a little more subterfuge may've impeded the investigation.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

At least the wig used by Diana Haun was purchased outside of Ventura. This seems to align with a criminal's instinct until you realize it was bought at a wig shop in Oxnard – the very city in which both Diana Haun and Michael Dally worked. Add to this that it was bought merely days before Sherri Dally was abducted, and that it was paid for with a personal check. And what else was bought days before the murder, also with personal checks? A virtual murder kit including an axe, lighter fluid, matches, and sunglasses.

If you're going to rent your "crime car" from your hometown, at least choose a color less conspicuous than teal. And if you're going to pay for your implements of disguise and murder with personal checks, choose a pen with a less conspicuous ink color than green. It was this pen and its distinctive green ink that proved to be Diana Haun's biggest blunder. This very pen was in Haun's purse when she was arrested, and the ink's formulation was matched using a video spectral comparator.

Michael Dally wasn't a much brighter bulb in this heinous plot. He certainly didn't know how to "lay low" or "play it cool". First, his affair with Diana Haun was nowhere near as clandestine as most trysts – it was known by coworkers, friends, Dally's family, and eventually Sherri. The couple (Michael and Diana) had taken a private vacation to Mexico just a few months before Sherri's murder. Merely days after reporting Sherri missing, Michael took his jet skis for repairs, and brought Diana along. And our episode shared the reenactment of investigators visiting Diana Haun for questioning. She opened the door wearing skimpy bedtime attire – and who did the investigators see inside her house wearing only boxer shorts? Michael Dally, of course.

Not your average murderer

Diana Haun was somewhat irrational to do what she did. It's one thing to be willing to kill a person – it doesn't even have to be a rock-solid reason. Consider the case of Patricia Rorrer's murder of Joann Katrinak. Patricia either wanted to win back Andrew Katrinak and Joann was in the way, or she felt insulted when Joann yelled at and hung up on her. Neither are justifiable reasons for murder, but Patricia was a woman on a mission. She kidnapped Joann and her young son Alex, drove them out to the middle of nowhere, and attempted to shoot Joann. The gun jammed, and Rorrer ended up bludgeoning her victim to death.

As awful as this is, it doesn't mirror the virtual rage exhibited by Diana Haun in the murder of Sherri Dally. Recall her murder kit included an axe, but it was confirmed that a serrated knife was used in the attack. Specifically, Sherri had been stabbed with such ferocity that the tip of one of the knife's serrations was found embedded in bone. And this bone was in Sherri's jaw area, indicating that Haun's vicious stabbing targeted her victim's face. Additionally, multiple blade marks could be seen on other bones of Sherri's.

We know the trunk of the rental car was cleaned, at least better than the back seat's floorboard. It was thought the bloody pantsuit, wig, and murder weapon(s) had been transported in the trunk. But what ultimately happened to these? Disposing of these incriminating items was about the only thing Diana Haun was able to successfully achieve.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Were Diana Haun's modelling days behind her by the time of Sherri Dally's murder? It was said Haun was working as a deli clerk in the Vons Supermarket that Michael Dally managed in Oxnard. Around the 16-minute mark of the episode, a collage of various pictures of Diana are shown – in each she had a different look, and she's occasionally wearing a wig. The episode's narrative called her a "master of disguises", but I wasn't in complete agreement. The interviewed investigator stated that Haun's mother claimed to not recognize her daughter in these photos. I did.

Similar to Jack Boyle's murder of his wife Noreen in the episode Foundation of Lies (s05e12), Michael Dally, through his manipulation of Diana Haun, robbed his own children of not only their mother, but of their father as well. It's the ultimate of selfish acts, reprehensible. But the short jailhouse interview near the end of the episode summed up what a deplorable human being Michael Dally was. He was asked to describe Sherri and Diana's relationship. He replied, "Not good. They both hated each other. They both wanted me." He took absolutely no responsibility for his or Diana's actions. A real man would make and own a decision regarding whom to be with. It seems he wanted Diana, so he should have sacked up, gotten a divorce, and learned how to co-parent.

One parting thought – Forensic Odontologist C. Michael Bowers, DDS JD: Did he choose that shirt intentionally for the interview? Did he not realize he would be appearing on a television program?

Where are Michael Dally and Diana Haun now in 2024?

Michael Dally and Diana Haun were both convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and sentenced to life in prison. Michael Dally has filed various appeals, but each has been denied. He is incarcerated at the Los Angeles County location of the California State Prison. Diana Haun serves at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.