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GRAHAM (MCT) — As Alamance County authorities built a case against the two men charged in the death of Sara Dixon, they wanted to make sure every last scrap of evidence was collected from the McCray Road home where she was shot and killed in her bed.

Some of those scraps include Christmas tinsel.

In the days leading up to the arrests, investigators obtained a search warrant in order to remove a set of French doors and doorframe that are located in the living room of the house and lead to an outside deck.

Authorities wanted to do so before the house, which is on the market, was sold.

"It has been determined that the entire set of French doors and the doorframe are relevant to this investigation and should be collected," according to a search warrant obtained by the sheriff's office on June 24.

Investigators think that whoever killed Dixon, who was found dead by neighbors Nov. 30, 2007, forced their way into the house through those French doors. They were ajar when Dixon was found.

During interviews after the slaying, investigators learned that Dixon's house was vacuumed two days before Dixon was found. The bedroom was immaculate except for a piece of silver Christmas tinsel.

Search warrants say Dixon knew the person who killed her and suggest that she surprised her assailant.

On Dec. 3, 2007, when authorities executed a search warrant, investigators seized tinsel from a Christmas tree in his living room along with a bullet from a nightstand drawer in a bedroom, a handwritten note in a top drawer in a dresser, a receipt for a payment for an attorney, a photograph and assorted mail from a trash can behind the house.

In April, after the homicide case was handed over to two different investigators, authorities returned to Dixon's home at 2033 McCray Road in northern Alamance County. Among the items seized was a strand of tinsel, found in the doorframe that authorities recently removed as evidence.

The doorframe wasn't the only place where tinsel was removed. The sheriff's office also collected a strand from the carpet near the window in Dixon's bedroom where she was found dead.

Two men were charged Tuesday with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the shooting death of the 68-year-old Dixon, a retired bank employee.

One was her stepson, Robert Dennis Dixon, 45, of 2049 McCray Road. The second was Thomas Clay Friday, of 610 Slade St. in Gibsonville. Both are being held without bond in the Alamance County jail.