Dennehy Tragedy Comes to a Close: The emotionally wrenching story of the murder of former Baylor forward Patrick Dennehy ended when his former teammate, best friend and admitted killer Carlton Dotson was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Dotson pleaded guilty to killing his teammate in a field near Baylor in 2003. Dotson disappeared for several weeks before calling police after he said he heard voices. He was deemed incompetent to stand trial last fall and spent time in a mental institution. But psychiatrists said his insanity claim was suspect, and he returned to jail in February.
Several members of Dennehy’s family expressed their anger toward Dotson during the sentence, and Dennehy’s mother said she would attend Dotson’s future parole hearings to try to dissuade prison officials from letting him out. Dotson will be eligible for parole about half way through his sentence.
The case led to the revelation of major violations at Baylor, which resulted in the firing of former coach David Bliss. Bliss paid the tuition of several players, including Dennehy, then asked assistants to tell officials that Dennehy earned his tuition by selling drugs. [6/15/05]
