Dotson's wife testifies before grand jury in Dennehy case

By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press Writer

WACO, Texas (AP) The estranged wife of the former Baylor University basketball player charged with killing a team member has testified before a grand jury.

Carlton Dotson's wife, Melissa Kethley, was in the McLennan County grand jury room for an hour Wednesday in the case of Patrick Dennehy, who had been missing about six weeks when his body was found last month. She declined to comment to The Associated Press before and after testifying.

Kethley said in a story in Thursday's editions of The Dallas Morning News that Dotson had been calling her often from jail and has written her. She said he hasn't mentioned anything else about hearing voices or having visions, claims he made earlier this year before they separated in April after eight months of marriage.

``He talks about how he's coming back to Texas soon, how he'll be able to see me then, and how this will be over soon,'' she said. ``When he wrote me, he said that Jesus is going to give everybody a second chance through him through Carlton. He said he's most powerful person in the world.''

Kethley has said that he has told her nothing about Dennehy's death.

Dotson, 21, remains jailed in his home state of Maryland, and an extradition hearing is set for Tuesday.

McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest said Wednesday that he has not sent paperwork to the governor's office, a requirement before Dotson can be extradited. He declined to say if he is waiting on a murder indictment before seeking to have Dotson brought to Texas.

``We are on our own schedule ... and everything will happen in due time,'' Segrest said.

Segrest plans to seek an indictment against Dotson on Sept. 10, the Waco Tribune-Herald has reported, citing unnamed sources.

The decomposed body of the 6-foot-10 Dennehy was found July 25 in a field near a rock quarry four miles south of Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university with 14,000 students.

Dennehy, 21, was shot twice above the right ear, the first toward the back of the head and the other toward the front, according to the autopsy released Wednesday by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas.

The first bullet exited Dennehy's forehead above his left eye; the second bullet exited behind his left ear.

Dr. Jerry Spencer, Lubbock County's chief medical examiner who is not involved in the Dennehy case, said the first shot likely killed the player.

Spencer said determining how close the pistol was to Dennehy's head when it was fired may be difficult because decomposition likely would mean there was no longer any gun powder residue.

According to the autopsy report, the drug screen which tests for opiates, amphetamines and barbiturates was negative. Dennehy had no alcohol in his system, but samples were too decomposed to test for marijuana, according to the autopsy.

Dotson was arrested July 21 after telling FBI agents that he shot Dennehy after the player tried to shoot him, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Dennehy, an Oakland native who attended high school in Santa Clara, was last seen on campus June 12, and his family reported him missing June 19. His vehicle was found June 25 without license plates in a Virginia Beach, Va., parking lot, about 160 miles from Dotson's hometown of Hurlock, Md.

After Dennehy disappeared, some of his family and friends said a coach gave him money for a car and apartment rent and that his tuition was taken care of, although he was not on a scholarship.

Basketball coach Dave Bliss resigned Friday after school investigators discovered his involvement in two players' receiving improper financial aid and that staff members did not properly report players' failed drug tests, Baylor president Robert Sloan said.

Athletic director Tom Stanton also resigned Friday, although Sloan said Stanton had no direct knowledge of any NCAA violations. A newly appointed search committee has started trying to fill those two positions by fall.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)