Extracted from The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)
Slaying Suspect Charged
CARTHAGE -- A 40-year-old Walnut Grove man was being held in the Leake County Jail Friday night as the “prime suspect” in the slaying of a 47-year-old bachelor-neighbor, County Attorney Vernon R. Cotten reported.
The arrest, with a formal charge pending followed an 18-hour investigation launched after Bobby (Pete) Dodson, died from at least one blast of “OO” buckshot, and possibly two, Cotten said.
Dodson was shot down within minutes after he walked into his home, after having attended church in Walnut Grove. The arrest climaxed an intensive investigation launched by Sheriff Harry A. Calhoun, who first was told Dodson “may have committed suicide.”
Cotten said he joined the investigation Friday morning. The sheriff himself had been unavailable for comment throughout the day, pushing the investigation, when Cotten confirmed the arrest.
STORY DISCLOSED
The story, as pieced together by the attorney and sheriff:
Dodson attended services at the New Zion Church in the little Walnut Grove community, about 10 miles south of here, and had returned to his bachelor home at between 9 and 10 p.m. Thursday.
Neighbors heard shots within minutes, perhaps even seconds, after he entered the house. Going to investigate, they found him dead in a pool of blood, then contacted the sheriff.
A coroner's jury, convened shortly after the sheriff arrived, quickly determined the death was not a suicide, and the investigation was launched.
Actually, said Cotten, “It was as clean a case of premeditated murder as I have ever seen, personally. He was shot through at least one window, and possibly through two.”
Evidence that the slayer lay in wait for Dodson included a screen torn from a living-room window, and a grill pried from another window in the kitchen, where a window fan had been placed.
“One leaf had been bent back on the fan,” Cotten said. “in order that a shot might be taken through it. We are not sure, of course, but it appears that Mr. Dodson was shot at least through the living room window, and possibly a second time through the kitchen window, after he had fallen.
“There was evidence of pellets having struck the floor, and shots had penetrated one arm, as well as his body.
“There is no question of it having been plain old murder. That is unequivocable. It's as plain as I've ever seen.”
NO MOTIVE CITED
As for motive, the attorney said, “I'd rather not get into that. However, we have discovered circumstances that tie the suspect to what was done.”
Dodson was described by both the attorney and acquaintances as a “quiet man -- a simple, hard-working, easy going fellow who would hurt nobody.”
“I liked him -- he was just a pleasant fellow who worked at at service station,” said a Carthage businessman.
Cotten said he himself had known Dodson, and had apparently keep himself in the vicinity of Walnut Grove area when the tragedy occurred. “I was returning from a meeting at Forest, during a heavy downpour, at just about the time it happened. I wish I had known about it then -- maybe I could have done something.”
Walnut Grove is on Miss. 35, between Carthage and Forest, just north of the Leake-Scott County line.
Saturday, July 25, 1970