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Hoover home.Dodson ran to the crest o'i 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 quarry. The troopers came in' from, the left and the right, to about 25 feet. Others were rushing to the scene, but they faced alone a man considered extremely dangerous, One man who knew mm well said earlier he’d never be taken alive—-that he woul4 either shoot himself or shoot ii out.Police said there was no shouting, 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 M-qrklesburg.Back in Bedford, investigators said the ease was presumably closed, “unless * something new is brought up.!lTrooper Raymond Hlllen-brand, in. charge of the probe said several rumors were being discounted as the loose ends were wrapped up, .Some of the details remained. uncertain, but others could be confirmed,Police said the dead man, Ralplr Domenick, 49, had beeninvolved in a “disagreeinept • with . Dodson ' at Leger’s (for:merly Cimbalista’s) bat'. near Defiance earlier Saturday eve-ning.There was bad blood between the two, and had been, for 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 light, if fight it was. “It wasn’t .really a fight,” one investigator concluded. “It may have been more of a pushing match. They , went outside.” He said no one els*went outside. «The idea that someone told Domemcjk he “was wanted later at his own tavern remainsonly a rumor. Police feel Pom-enick and Harding lt;who re-mains in Memorial hospital, of Bedford County, improving with chest and arm wounds» went out to see it Dodson s car was In the parking lot.(One rumor even, held- that Mrs. Domenick told her husband to go outside, but an mvestiga-tor said, “I don’t believe that?’) Police say Domenick. fend Harding, and then Harding 8 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 saad 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 Ha i dling whowas shot.Dodson had been questioned about a number of incidents in the past, but had been convictedonly once in Bedford County court. In May, 1967, be was ordered to make $205 restitution for the theft of a tree, and put an a year’s probation.In February, I960; he was exonerated on two burglarycharges in a court hearing, when his attorney won a demurrer.Dodson was free on $5,000 bail following tha aecoiul wmvic*1^The scene Is the Martin Hoover Farm, Attch 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 bam roof) is 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 Dodi^n. shortly, hfter ht/ was sighted. The ridge in the back ground Is where Dodson, may Have, ?Vy.;;f;•. -,.i;.:. ■ •_C--.;.. -•*.-v a• •• i1-4' 1 ^ ...... lt;» . .;.’ v-v -for armed robbery m 1968, His attorney was appealing ~ the case.';v.-. • ;vThe first convictioii wat upset on a ababe 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 4w«s appealed in a hearing before vis-lining judge Edward Little, of Montrose, last Monday. (It had been rumored that Dodson* was slated for, a court - appearance Monday morning, erroneuQslyi)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 Sollenbeyg-er was the victim, Oct. 7, 1968, The robbers got $78.Bloodmobile ToVisit Bedford*The 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 communit y co-operation to achieve a goal of 150inta. The turnout at the verett Bloodmobile in early July was below expectations, and the Jaycees request support to make this visit a suc-nooaSetForI1HOPEWELL ■— No one cameto Domenick’s Restaurant late Saturday to . tell taverft-keeper Ralph Domenick, 49, “he was wanted.”? ' •Instead, the Gazette has learned, a friend came to .inform Domenick that ‘Butch’ Dodson's car was parked in the alley'ibe-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, the father of two adopted children, went outside to look for the car. Accosted as lie returned, he was gunned down at the back steps.According to one authoritative report, the killer felled Domenick with one blast of his shotgun, hit Earl Harding with another, and missed Wallace Taylor with the third.Then, he walked over to where Domenick lay, and said, “Might. as well give you another one,” and pumped another shotgun blast into the inert form.Dodson, still brandishing the shotgun, returned to Lugear's und soon vanished, not to reappear until spotted near home Monday morning.his: As,one version had it, Legeerentered the Domenick establishment around 11:39 or so Saturday, -and Domenick asked “Where’s my wife?” Mrs. Domenick had been at Legeer’s but had remained behind after the fight. .Legeer wondered where his wife was, too, and volunteered the information that Dodson's black Valiant was parked outback.Domenick 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 lo 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-ndklioti but improving In County Hoapbal Tuesday night,cat” coiv
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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