Police identify body of Dennehy; Baylor teammate Dotson held_81103

Posted: 7/29/03

Police identify body of Dennehy;
Baylor teammate Dotson held

By Hannah Lodwick

Associated Baptist Press

WACO, Texas (ABP)—Authorities have positively identified the body of missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy.

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Posted: 7/29/03

Police identify body of Dennehy;
Baylor teammate Dotson held

By Hannah Lodwick

Associated Baptist Press

WACO, Texas (ABP)—Authorities have positively identified the body of missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy.

Searchers found the body in a Waco-area field July 25. A medical examiner in Dallas confirmed a positive identification for Dennehy two days later. Officials did not specify a cause of death.

After finding the decomposed body, investigators continued to search through high weeds in the rural area roughly five miles south of Waco. They found a head the morning of July 27.

Carlton Dotson, Dennehy’s former teammate, reportedly told FBI agents he shot Dennehy after the player tried to shoot him, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The two had been shooting guns in a country field. On July 21, police in Maryland arrested Dotson for murder. Dotson denies he confessed to murdered.

Dotson’s attorney, Grady Irvin, told CNN he feels concerned about the mental well-being of his client. Dotson reportedly called 911 before his arrest and complained about hearing voices.

"Any statements that were given by Mr. Dotson, if any, couldn’t have been given freely, couldn’t have been voluntary, and couldn’t have been done when he was coherent in any way, shape or form," Irvin told CNN.

Dennehy’s family reported him missing June 19, about a week after he was last seen on the Baylor campus in Waco. His mother and stepfather, Valorie and Brian Brabazon, had traveled to Waco to gather their son’s belongings but left for their home in Nevada the morning of July 27.

Baylor President Robert Sloan expressed shock and asked for prayer in a July 28 e-mail addressed to the entire "Baylor family."

"Baylor has endured the heart-wrenching loss of students before, but never in such a startling and perplexing manner," Sloan wrote. "We grieve the loss of Patrick and the impact of that loss on the Baylor community."


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In response to alleged impropriety on the men’s basketball team, Sloan’s letter also described an investigative committee he formed to "perform a full and credible review of our basketball program." Sloan said he has no reason to believe the accusations but takes NCAA rules seriously.

"Integrity is the cornerstone on which our entire athletics program is built," Sloan wrote. "We will spare no effort to determine if that commitment was compromised in any way."

The committee includes three Baylor law school professors and the former mayor of Austin—a Baylor alum—as outside counsel.

Both Dotson and Dennehy had transferred to Baylor on basketball scholarships, Dotson from Paris Junior College and Dennehy from the University of New Mexico.

Dotson remains jailed without bond in Maryland while he fights extradition to Texas.

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