Linda and Jeff Dolloff on ABC 20/20

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Part One of ABC’s 20/20 on the Linda & Jeff Dolloff Story

I just watched Friday night’s 20/20 story about Linda and Jeff Dolloff. Linda tells the story of how she was shot in her hallway and never saw the person who did this her. She didn’t even hear the person who did it. Oddly, her husband was attacked with a baseball bat and he suffered severe injuries. Linda believes it was an intruder. Jeff doesn’t remember anything.

The crime happened April 11, 2009, and Linda Dolloff was convicted this May on charges she tried to kill her husband, aggravated assault and filing a false report. Her attorney, last week, has now filed for a new trial. It’s a fascinating case.

In my opinion, Linda Dolloff’s behavioral and circumstantial evidence were overwhelming.

Here are my thoughts as I watched the show:

  1. Linda Dolloff says, “I heard from nondescript noises, nothing that seemed alarming to me. I walked down the hall, heard a loud bang, um…experienced some pain, fell, I saw movement and that’s all. When I opened my eyes, there was a gun in front of me on the floor. I reached for the gun made contact with it, it fired, it scared me, I dropped it. Certainly my husband would be here (shoulder shrug), I called out to him. “

    How often do you walk down a dark hallway at night with your eyes closed? Anyone?

  2. Linda’s statement has elements out of order. She says, “I saw moment and that’s all. When I opened my eyes….” How can you see movement with your eyes closed? When people remember things like this, they typically remember things how they occurred.
  3. When Linda recalls the shooting ordeal, she has no emotions. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was talking about walking to the mailbox or something inane. It’s very notable.
  4. What intruder/killer shoots a victim and drops the gun in front of his victim–especially if he doesn’t know if he killed them?
  5. I find Linda’s lack of details very notable here. We don’t get any memory recall about what she was thinking or feeling, she only gives us action-oriented details. She never talks about fear or anything, not even after she was shot. That’s very notable to me.
  6. After Linda says she called out to her husband, Jim Avila says, “What were you calling him, Linda?” She replies, “I absolutely don’t remember. I had to get to the phone. I had to get help.” She doesn’t remember any details that here? You would think after she realized she was shot, she would have had a lot of emotions and feelings running through her and she would share some of that, but she doesn’t remember much, and shows no emotions. It flags me.
  7. Isn’t it fascinating if she was shot, she doesn’t wonder where this shooter went, if he/she is waiting there still to ambush her again? It’s strangely missing! She has no normal fears whatsoever. These are huge, blaring red flags!

    Jim Avila says, “An unseen attacker in the night. Her husband bleeding in his bed unable to speak.”

  8. If it was dark, or she had her eyes closed, how come she didn’t wonder if her husband shot her by mistake? How did she not know it wasn’t her husband who shot her? Also if you fire a gun at night, doesn’t it produce light in the form of a flash? Didn’t she see the explosion from the gun? Even if her eyes were closed, she should still see the bright flash in the dark.
  9. When I listen to the segments of Linda’s 911 call played during the show, and watch Linda speak, I do not hear or see any expressions of fear that support what she is saying. On the 911 call, she sounds like she is whining, which is very notable to me.
  10. Listen to her call out Jeff’s name. Why isn’t she worried the intruder/killer isn’t going to come back for her?
  11. If Linda believed an intruder was in the house who was trying to kill her, why wouldn’t she be covert in calling 911? Do you notice she doesn’t keep her voice low? She seems to have no fear he might come back and get her. She says in what sounds like a loud voice, “Somebody in the house. Somebody’s in my house.” If you feared for your life, which she should have, would you do this?
  12. In the 911 call the operator says, “Did you see anything at all?” She cries out in a whine, “It’s dark. It’s dark. It’s dark. I just saw movement.” I have to ask then how did she see the gun laying there, but not the guy who shot her running away? Once she realized she was shot, wouldn’t she then tune in to noises? It could save her life, if she was truly in trouble, don’t you think?
  13. Why didn’t she hear the shooter drop the gun? Does she want us to believe he just gently placed it there?
  14. When the operators says, “Are you hurt?” She says, “I heard a bang. I’m bleeding.”
    Didn’t she figure out she was shot? She said that to 20/20. Why doesn’t she say that in the 911 call?
  15. It’s interesting the police dog never found any scent outside to support an intruder.
  16. What killer goes into a house on a holiday weekend with five cars in the driveway?
  17. When Jeff calls Linda after he recovers a bit, I find it strange how she says, “Can I come see you?” Hasn’t she been visiting him? Would you have to ask your spouse if you could come see him? It’s insane.
  18. When Jeff asks what happened, Linda says, “I was shot. I don’t know what happened to you specifically.” This seems to suggest Linda didn’t care to find out what happened to Jeff. If you were a victim, wouldn’t you want to know all the details so you could try to figure it out. Were the police keeping information from her or did she not care enough to find out?
  19. When Jeff says to Linda, “Why would (A) they beat me with a baseball bat, and shoot you with my gun?” She replies with anger, “I have no friggin’ idea.” Why would she be angry at him for asking that question, if she was totally innocent? Wouldn’t she want to know to?
  20. Jim Avila asks Linda “Are you incapable of a violent act?” Watch how Linda responds. Her head goes all over from no to yes to no. It’s highly notable. I suspect her conscious and unconscious were battling there in the communication.
  21. I believe Jeff when he tells us there is enough of a light source where Linda says she was shot and she says she couldn’t see. He said there was an outside light. I believe him.
  22. What murderer is going to go into a house with no weapons and dig for a bat in the garage and find Jeff’s gun in his bedroom and use different weapons on each person? It’s a complete joke.
  23. When police tell Linda Jeff thinks she may have had something to do with the attacks, she doesn’t act surprised at all. She doesn’t get mad. She stays calm, cool and collected. It doesn’t fit to me at all. If she is innocent, she should be outraged, mad, concerned, frustrated—anything but a calm, collected response! Why isn’t she saying, “You’ve got the wrong person. I am innocent”?
  24. Linda says about the time she was first confronted by people thinking she did it, “I guess I didn’t want to accept the fact that somebody could think I was capable of doing such an act.” Isn’t interesting she never says anything about her innocence? That they have the wrong person? When you know you are involved, you don’t think like that, do you?
  25. Linda says she wasn’t bitter at all about the way things were ending between her and Jeff. Yet she completely contradicts herself as she tells us, she had a dinner with him that night, they took a bath, and had sex.

    At one point in the conversation with Avila, she says, “The door was not completely shut” when talking about their status–which I think most people would take to interpret, she still hoped to win him back. She can’t have it both ways.

    I do believe Linda was jealous that Jeff told her he was going to bring another woman home the following week to survey his life and she if she wanted to share it with him. Linda was mad she was asked to move out. Linda, in my opinion, wasn’t going to have any part of it.

  26. When the forensics were done with the gun and residue, Jim Avala talks about the “bright muzzle flash” when the gun is fired and how come Linda has no memory of this?

I listened to the 911 call, too, and I hear nothing that supports honesty.

20/20 Preview: Aaron Vargas

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Somer Thompson Case on 20/20 Tonight

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LINK TO 20/20

There is also an interesting article, worth reading, at Jacksonville.com about Jared Harrell. A reporter reviewed newly released records in the case and found some interesting things. From the article:

The records show detectives first interviewed Harrell on Oct. 30 in Somer’s case. He allowed them to search the home and property, but they spotted nothing suspicious.

…Harrell’s mother, Annis Dailey, told police she was with him, apparently at the home, between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., the records show. She said they left together, gassed up their vehicles, had dinner at a McDonald’s and split up about 5:30 p.m.

The article states that Somer was last seen at approximately 2:45 so that could leave a 45 minute window still, if the time is accurate. I wonder if police questioned Harrell on October 30, and documented that he was with his mother at that time?

One of the most interesting aspects of the newly released records are that Harrell suspects he may have been setup by his roommates on pornography after he was accused of theft. Records indicate, according to this article, that the roommate was interviewed and given a polygraph and his responses were “inexplicably deceptive”. That’s interesting.

While these are nothing conclusive, I am a firm believer than remaining open-minded until all the facts of this case come out is very important, if you want to find the truth. Once the truth reveals itself, the pieces of the puzzle should fit together and make sense.

Thanks to “CW” for sending me the article.

Matt Baker’s Trial Begins Today

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For those of you who have been reading my blog for some time, you will remember I discussed and reviewed the case of Matt and Kari Baker starting back in March of 2008, after it was profiled on ABC’s 20/20 and then again on 48 Hours. Click here to see some of my posts on this story (the first post is at the bottom).

The state of Texas has taken on the case and is now pursuing murder charges against Matt Baker. His trial starts today. His attorney asked for a change in venue, but was turned down by the trial judge. More info from the WacoTrib.com.

My Thoughts: Doug Grant ABC 20/20

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Doug Grant and his wife Hilary were featured on ABC’s 20/20 last Friday night (You can watch the show here). Doug was put on trial for the murder of his 2nd wife, Faylene Eves Grant, who supposedly drowned in the couple’s bathtub in 2001. Doug was just convicted of manslaughter this month, and he will be sentenced in a couple of weeks.

Faylene’s daughter, Jenna Stradling, from her first marriage believes Doug killed her mother, and held her head under water. She claims she heard her mom that fateful day calling out for help. Others wonder if Faylene wanted to commit suicide.

In this poll, as I am writing, 15% of people believe Doug’s story that Faylene accidentally drowned in the tub while he was asleep, 65% do not believe Doug, and 19% of people are undecided.

Read moreWhen I watched Doug and Hilary speak on 20/20, both of them raise my eyebrows and cause me concern. Here are some of my thoughts as I watched the show:

  1. Why didn’t Doug call 911 when he found Faylene? Instead he called his friend, Chad White, a physicians assistant. Why would he do that? It makes absolutely no sense.
  2. Doug said about his call to Chad, “I called Chad. ‘You gotta come. Take the prescriptions. I….(unknown) found her in the tub, you gotta come. I’m scared.'” Does Doug say “They found her in the tub”? The word he says before “found her” is really baffling me, and I can’t quite make it out. He also seems to be struggling with pronouns here which is a red flag. Notice he doesn’t say who should take the prescriptions? Why? Why do the prescriptions even enter into his mind at this point? If Doug was telling Chad to “take the prescriptions”, why would he be saying that? This is very odd. Each of these elements are red flags for me.
  3. Chad White in his 911 call to police said that Doug was afraid to call 911. Does that make any sense if this was an “accident”? If it was a premeditated murder, would it make sense?
  4. Doug and his ex-wife, Faylene, went on a business trip to settle a company lawsuit for Doug’s company. It was during this trip that Doug and Faylene talked of reconciliation yet Doug tells us how he was only weeks away from asking Hilary to marry him. Does this make any sense? Why would he consider a reconciliation if he is in love with another woman?
  5. Jay Schadler says to Hilary, “It must have come as a blow to you” to hear about the talks of reconciliation. Hilary says, “I felt like, you know, Doug told me he had to work out his feelings, but I still felt like Doug and I would be together.” Is this how you would respond if your boyfriend just got back from a business trip with his ex-wife, and he told you they talked of reconciliation? Hilary’s response really raises my eyebrows. It doesn’t make sense. I’m just not buying it.
  6. Hilary remembers when Doug told her it was over. It was just after they had spent an intimate night together. “He came out of the bathroom, and I was standing there, and I said, ‘It’s over, isn’t?’ and he said ‘It’s over,'” said Hilary. The entire time she recollects what should be a horrible memory for her, she is smiling. This give me the complete chills!! Why is she smiling?? Wouldn’t this conversation be a bad memory?

    Emotions and memories are intertwined and Hilary doesn’t seem to be feeling the emotions you would expect for a woman who is being rejected. She seems much too positive. Alarm bells are going off in my head. Was she somehow in on some plan with Doug to get rid of Faylene? I can’t help but wonder this, time and time again.

  7. When Faylene tells Doug that she had this revelation that she and Doug are supposed to be together, Doug tells us he told Faylene that he was just intimate with Hilary, and according to Doug, Faylene’s simply says, “That’s interesting. All I can tell you is that I’ve been told at the San Diego temple….” Does that even seem plausible? Doug seems to make Faylene out to be a complete idiot, who has no emotions and is completely able to overlook that Doug just slept with another woman. I’m not buying it.
  8. When Hilary recounts her story about hearing that Doug and Faylene got remarried, she tries to act surprised, but it doesn’t sit right with me. She is smirking through it all. Why? Why wasn’t she truly surprised? Her emotional memories are not matching her story, which is a huge red flag for me, again.
  9. Faylene at one point writes, “I must have faith in Doug’s vision.” I think this is powerful. Whose vision was Faylene following? Her vision or Doug’s vision?
  10. In one letter that Faylene wrote, it has the word “I” underlined in multiple places. This is very strange and notable (a reader pointed this out in the comment section). Most people don’t underline “I”, however if someone else wrote it, they might to emphasize it. Have you ever written a letter, and emphasizes “I” with an underscore? This is a huge red flag for me.
  11. When Hilary reads that letter, her “cry” jumps out at me. There are no tears. Nothing about Hilary feels genuine.
  12. When Faylene believes that she is going to die, and she writes to Hilary that she wants Hilary to be with Doug, she writes”Hilary, only you can know between Heavenly Father and yourself if it is heavenly father’s will for you to be with Doug & to be part of our eternal family.” How do we know that she means marriage by this? How do we know that this is Faylene’s Doug, Doug Grant? Could Hilary have introduced another character with the name Doug to Faylene as a part of a bigger scheme? I’d have to read the diaries and journals to see. Of course, Faylene could have simply been brainwashed. She has the personality and predisposition for someone who succumbs to brainwashing.
  13. I find it odd how Faylene wrote “…whoever this guy is that you are dating…” If Hilary and Faylene are close, why wouldn’t Hilary tell Faylene his name?
  14. Also nowhere in that letter does Faylene talk about her Doug and Hilary raising her children as a family, nor does she use the term marriage. It’s oddly missing. You would think she would have written this letter to Doug and Hilary, wouldn’t you, if she wanted them to be together? Perhaps she only wanted Hilary to raise her children and be a “mom” for them should something happen to her. Then again, she could have been brainwashed. You can rule that out.
  15. I don’t believe Faylene could fall of a 60-foot cliff and still be standing, or would be able to get up and walk away. That’s flat out outrageous to me and a huge red flag.
  16. Schadler says, “If she did fall, did you push her?” Notice Doug smiles, and laughs and then very controllingly stops himself and softly says, “No”. All of these behaviors are notably odd and out of place for me and they are blaring red flags for me as well.
  17. Doug insists he made a 911 call, but there is no record of it. It’s absolute nonsense. Chad White further supports that Doug didn’t want to call 911 either because he was “afraid”.
  18. And how ironic is it that just three weeks after Faylene dies that Doug and Hilary marry? Clearly, Doug wanted to be with Hilary.

I can’t help but wonder if Doug stood a financial gain by eliminating Faylene.
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I suspect Doug confuses a lot of people because the tears stream down his face, but he could have been crying because he was worried about loosing his freedom, as his trial date was looming. At times, Doug’s tears seem genuine, such as when he looks at Hilary, but other times, I wonder if they are manufactured by thinking about how he would cope if he was convicted and lost everything, instead of truly feeling empathy for Faylene.

Faylene was deeply religious and believed in revelations. This tells us she was very open to suggestions, and had the personality which was highly susceptible to brainwashing, and I wouldn’t put it past someone like Hilary or Doug to do it to her for money. Not for an instant. I certainly don’t trust either one of them.