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early Monday morning with a single shotgun blast on a highhill overlooking the term landsHineat* Aitch, in Huntingdon Coiinty.Roy E.. Dodson, 36, aimed a borrowed 12-guage automaticthotgun at his chest as two lewistown, state troopers advanced, and fired.A neighbor, Mrs. Earl Help, had spotted Dodson in a field behind the home of his wife’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Hoover, not far from his own home. A . phone call to the Hoover home Upped off two troopers staked out there, and they spotted Dodson running up over the high hill behind the Hoover home.Dodson ran to the crest oi* the hill, which overlooks all of the surrounding area, then disappeared.Troopers Ensmiller and Pe-trovcdc went up the hill, armed with shotguns and pistols.They found Dodson crouched In tall weeds, near an old qua-r-i*y. The troopers came in' from the left and the right, to about 25 feet. Others were rushing to the seene, but they faced alone a man considered extremely dangerous. One man who knew nim well sand earlier he’d never be taken alive—that he woul4 either shoot himself or shoot it out.Police said there was no dshouting, ana no shooting, by the police.Dodson had presumably returned to his home after the murder near midnight Saturday in Hopewell. His oar was found in a grove of trees not far from his home Sunday morning. There was no sign of the fugitive Sunday.. The scene was .two miles south of Marklesburg.Back in Bedford, investigators said the case was presumably closed, “uni633- something new is brought up.’1Troope'r Raymond . Hlllen-brand, in. charge of the probe said several rumors were being discounted as the loose endsThe scene Is the Martin Hoover Farm, Aitch RD, two miles south of Marlesburg, Above, Is a general view from a former limestone quarry overlooking the Hoover farm. Near buildings are part of the farm while the house trailer (over barn roof) it the Earl Help residence. The Helps were the first to see fugitive Roy E. Dodson as he was making his way up the hill through tall grass toward the quarry. Below, a collie marks the spot where Dodson apparently shot himself. Hoover inspects the. site. The shooting occurred as two state policeman were closing in on Dodson . shortly after- he, was sighted. The ridge in the back ground Is. where Dodson, may have- npeht'-^iuida^..; ?• ;:; •_^.:•.\; ■■■ -,i-‘- '--i- 1i .. ...... ■ lt;» . .;*• :.* v-vwere wrapped up. .Some of the details remained, uncertain, but others could be confirmed.Police said the dead man, Ralpir Domenick, 49, had beeninvolved in a “disagreement • with. Dodson • at Leger’s (for: merly Cimbalista’s) bap. near Defiance earlier Saturday eve-ning. , , . 'There was bad blood between the two, and had been, fo-r some time. There seemed little doubt there was a woman at the center of the dispute, but no One wanted to pin It down.Police said there were no witnesess to the earlier fight. ?f fight it was. “It wasn’t .really a fight,” one investigator concluded. “It may Have been more of a pushing match. They , went putside.” He said no one elsewent outside, ,The idea that someone told Domemdk he “was wanted later at his.own tavern remains only a rumor. Police feel. Dom-enick and Harding lt;who . remains in Memorial ^spjtal. ofBedford County,; improvingwith chest and arm wounds)went out to see it Dodson i car was in the parking lot.(One rumor even, held-thatMrs. Domenick told her husbandto go outside, but “an myestiga-tor said, “I don’t believe that?’) Police say DomenickAnd Harding, and then Harding a son-in-law, went outside in that order, found Dodson’s Valiant, and returned toward the building in that order. Domenick .was gunned down near the hack steps, and Harding was hit about 15 feet away. The son-in-law, Wallace Taylor of Saxton, was narrowly missed as he scrambled around the corner ofthe building.Inside at the time were just a handful of people—Harding s wife and two daughters, and Leger, the other tiavern-owner.Although there seemed little doubt the case was ended with the death of Dodson, .police sa.id it could not be established that the same weapon had killed both men, since it was a shotgun.Dodson had borrowed the gun from a Donald Harding, of the Broad Top, believed to be the brother of Earl Harding whowas shot.Dodson had been questioned about a number of incidents in the past, but had been convicted only once in Bedford Coutvty court. In May. 1967, he was ordered to make $205 restitution for the theft of a tree, and put on a year’s probation.In February, 1968; he was exonerated on two burglary charges in a court hearing, when his attorney won a de*for armed robbery in 1968. His attorney was appealing ~ the case.' . . v ;W •'vThe first conviction wat upset on a state Supreme Court ruling that a composite picture of. the suspect in the robbery should not have been sent with the jury during its deliberations. The second conviction was appealed in a hearing before vis-lining judge Edward Littlje, of Montrose, last Monday. (It had been rumored that Dodson* was slated for, a court appearance Monday morning, erroneuoslyi)Dodson and Albert Kuklo were charged in the armed robbery of a small gas station and grocery in Fredericksburg, about three miles east of -Martins burg. Eldta Mae Sollenbejrg-. 7, 1968,SetForHOPEWELL — No one cameto Domenick’a Restaurant lateSaturday to , tell taverh-keeperRalph Domenick, 49, “he wanted.”waspear until spotted near home Monday morning.hiser was the victim, Oct The robbers got $78.Bloodmobile ToVisit BedfordThe Bedford Jaycees ' are sponsoring a visit of the Blood-mobile on Friday, July 31 at the Lutheran Church in Bedford from noon until 6 p.m.As July is usually a poor month for blood donations, the Jaycees- urge community co-operation to achieve a goal of 150ints. The turnout at the verett Bloodmobile in early July was below expectations, and the Jaycees request sup-I1Instead, the Gazette has learned, a friend came to .inform Domenick that ‘Butch’ Dodson’s car was parked in the alley~ie-hind a shed. The friend was Harold (Paul) Legeer, who had been with Domenick and Dodson when an earlier fight began, at Legeer’s in Defiance.■ Domenick, tha father of two adopted children, went outside to look for the car. Accosted as he returned, he was gunned down at the back steps.: As,one version had it, Legeerentered the Domenick establishment around 11:30 or so Saturday, -and Domenick asked “Where’s my wife?” Mrs. Domenick had been at Legeer’s but had remained behind after thefight. .Legeer wondered where his wife was, too, and volunteered the information that Dodson’s black Valiant was parked out back.According to one authoritative report, the killer felled Domenick with one blast of his shotgun,hit Earl Harding with another,Taand missed Wallace Taylor with the third.Then, he walked over to where Domenick lay, and said, “Might as well give you another ope,” and pumped another shotgun blast into the inert Por.m, Dodson, still brandishing theDomenick then went outside, trailed by Harding, Wallace Taylor, his brother-in-law, and finally by Legeer, Legeer may have remained at the back door.Domenick, according to a re-' liable source, was looking for his wife, and sought out Dodson's car.Inside, at the time, were Mrs, Harding and Mrs. Taylor. Taylor went to Fulton County during the search for Dodson, and remained under police guard until Dodson’s death.Harding remained In “crlti-
Newspaper Details
Bedford Inquirer
Bedford, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, Aug 06, 1970
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Ann K.
NA, NA 21 Oct 2020
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