Dotson is indicted for murder

WACO, Texas (AP) -- Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson was indicted Wednesday on a charge of murdering his former teammate and roommate Patrick Dennehy, and prosecutors began the process of extraditing him to Texas.

The grand jury heard evidence for about 90 minutes before handing up an indictment against Dotson, who has been jailed in his home state of Maryland since his July 21 arrest.

The indictment, which contained a single murder count, alleges Dotson shot Dennehy on or about June 12. Dennehy's body was found in a field southeast of town July 25.

He had been shot twice in the head, according to an autopsy report.

District Attorney John Segrest and other law enforcement officials have refused to discuss motive, which is not mentioned in the one- page indictment. The maximum penalty for the murder count is life in prison.

Segrest's office on Wednesday began the paperwork to formalize a request to Gov. Rick Perry's office to seek Dotson's extradition. If Dotson continues to contest extradition, a judge in Maryland will schedule a hearing.

"How long it will take to secure his presence here is anybody's guess," Segrest said.

Dotson's lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment.

The grand jury met twice, Segrest said. Dotson's estranged wife Melissa Kethley testified Aug. 13, and McLennan County sheriff's investigator Clay Perry and Waco police detective Bob Fuller testified Wednesday.

Kethley's mother, Pam Bayuk, said the family had been expecting the indictment.

"We just didn't know why it took so long," Bayuk said Wednesday.

Kethley has said she last saw her husband when he drove Dennehy's vehicle to visit her in Sulphur Springs the night of June 12 -- the same day Dennehy was last seen on campus.

The couple ate dinner and Dotson said he wanted to reconcile, Bayuk said. He then became paranoid and told Kethley not to use her cell phone or tell anyone he was there, Bayuk said.

Early that evening, friends reported seeing Dennehy and Dotson at a fast-food restaurant in Waco, about 140 miles from Sulphur Springs. One of his friends has said he talked to Dennehy on the phone June 14, but investigators believe he has the wrong date.

Dennehy's disappearance and the naming of Dotson as a "person of interest" in the case rocked Baylor and prompted intense scrutiny of its basketball program.

Basketball coach Dave Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton resigned Aug. 8. School investigators said they discovered that two players were receiving improper financial aid and staff members did not properly report failed drug tests.

In late July and early August, Bliss told players to lie to investigators and imply that Dennehy was dealing drugs, according to conversations secretly recorded by an assistant coach. After the tapes were made public Aug. 15, Bliss said he had heard stories about Dennehy but was wrong in trying to falsely portray him as a drug dealer.

Also Wednesday, Jesse Jackson urged the international basketball community to ban Bliss from coaching.

"He perpetuated a racial stereotype by casting young Dennehy as a drug pusher," Jackson said in a statement posted on his Web site. "His lie was based on belief that people would accept that Dennehy, a black man, was a thug who sold drugs."

A campus memorial service was planned for Dennehy on Thursday night.

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