Thousands of Bladed Weapons Removed From Booby-Trapped Florida Home
Most patient police ever made an arrest after alleged knife attacks and a standoff.
Hernando County, Florida Sheriff’s deputies were in Brooksville, FL Tuesday to serve felony warrants on Nickcole Ellen Fay Dykema, 47. As soon as officers locked eyes with Dykema, everything went so strangely wrong they might have wondered if they’d just stepped into an episode of HBO’s True Detective—season 1, not 2.
After Dykema was in custody, investigators would find she was living in a home decorated by the devil himself, or at least someone who was perhaps severely unbalanced. A release from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) stated that technicians removed a “total of 3,714 bladed weapons” from Dykema’s home, and some “personnel received minor injuries” that needed treatment in the process. No wonder: the HCSO also alleged Dykema set booby traps using many of the weapons. She also allegedly rigged nasty surprises in “blankets, floors inside, and even the yard outside the residence.”
Officers knew the situation was going south when a sergeant saw Dykema peek out a broken window, according to the HCSO release, and vanish. She ignored police commands to exit, shouting at them to leave, so deputies forced their way inside her home. That was when they encountered a whirl of blades. Dykema allegedly slashed at a sergeant with “a large sword or machete” before managing to hide again. In the process officers deployed bean bag rounds and nothing stopped the middle-aged cutlery enthusiast. The simple warrant service became a standoff, and didn’t end until hours later, when police tagged Dykema with a Taser, which the HCSO release dryly stated, “had the desired effect.”
The Tampa Bay Times reported the deeply gothic creepiness of Dykema’s residence didn’t stop with booby-traps and blades in every corner. The arrestee also had dioramas of knives “arranged with miniature skeletons and body parts on an altar,” and “pierced scary-looking Halloween masks.”
Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis reportedly told Bay 9 News that “Dykema’s home, which included an altar, chicken bones and rubber body parts” was “satanic.” The same report indicated that in August neighbor Paula DeFord recorded video footage of Dykema cutting “her screen window with a knife and just last week, also cut her cable lines.”
“I’m so thankful that my nightmare is hopefully over and that my parents are safe,” DeFord told Bay 9 News.
Dykema faces multiple counts, including charges of criminal mischief, resisting arrest, and assaulting a law enforcement official. There is no evidence that police have considered charging her for crimes against interior decoration.
Photos by Hernando County Sheriff’s Office