Jurors hear confession in murder

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, April 7, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.

A capital murder case took a dramatic turn Friday as jurors learned that the man charged with killing an elderly Las Vegas woman had confessed the crime to police.

On the third day of Anthony Dotson's capital murder trial before District Judge Michael Cherry, prosecutors played for jurors Dotson's taped voluntary statement given to Metro Police homicide detectives.

In the statement, which lasted about an hour and a half, Dotson, 45, told police he beat and killed Doris Bair, 79, in her home in the 1400 block of Bracken Avenue.

Dotson, who had moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles about a month before the killing, said he intended to rob Bair. He said he chose the home because the front door was open.

"I never meant to hurt nobody, especially kill anyone," he said. "I feel bad about that."

Dotson also admitted to assaulting and carjacking 90-year-old Kathryn Waldman in the parking lot of University Medical Center days later. He told police he took the car because he needed to get out of town.

"I walked over to her, socked her, jumped in the car and drove off," he said.

Prosecutors played the tape during Metro homicide detective Jim Buczek's testimony. Buczek had interviewed Dotson on Dec. 17, 1999, five days after Bair was killed.

Bair was found badly beaten and gagged in her kitchen. Her hands had been tied behind her back with her own shoelaces. She died of suffocation.

Dotson had pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges, including murder and robbery, but a new trial was ordered when the three-judge panel that was to determine Dotson's fate was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The taped statement outlined Dotson's actions on the day of the killing, which he said began with his smoking crack cocaine with his friend Kenneth "Mario" Chapman and Leanna Tamminen, an ex-prostitute.

But Dotson's confession didn't come immediately. He initially maintained his innocence, saying he went to the house with Chapman, who had robbed the woman beforehand, but never went inside.

"I may have robbed somebody and I may jump on somebody, but I ain't going to kill nobody," he said.

When asked by detectives what should happen to Bair's killer, Dotson suggested that police "lock his (expletive) up."

Dotson, who was seen driving Bair's white Grand Marquis after the killing, said he had borrowed the car from Chapman, who took it during the robbery.

It wasn't until Bruczek confronted Dotson with physical and fingerprint evidence found in the home that Dotson confessed.

He said he pawned Bair's silver tea set, jewelry and tools with Tamminen at a downtown pawnshop for $75. He said alcohol played a role in his actions.

"Mainly it's because I been drinking and I got all this stuff on my mind," he said. "I know that when I get to drinking my mind just goes blank."

The taped statement also revealed Dotson's extensive criminal history. A twice-convicted felon, Dotson was on parole for another robbery in California at the time of Bair's killing. He spent eight years in prison for that crime.