Gregory Rudolph Dodson, Jr., Part Two

This episode pulls back the curtain on the trial of Dondie Tidwell, Greg Dodson's nephew-in-law accused of the crime. The emotional testimonies of Mary Reese and Joy Dodson, Greg's mother and wife, alongside neighbor Vivian Knox, paint a haunting picture of racial slurs and threats from Tidwell. Meanwhile, Chris Stacey's testimony, the man who already confessed to the murder, tries to shift the blame away from Tidwell.

The media often slaps the 'innocent victim' label on victims who fit a certain profile - white and affluent. But victims come from all walks of life, and their stories deserve to be told. Greg Dodson, a 22-year-old father and husband, was no less of a victim because of his race, creed, or socio-economic status. Let's remember Greg Dodson, acknowledge his life, and explore the circumstances of his tragedy. Remember, justice may be blind, but we are not.

Demsky, Ian. “Man convicted of 1996 killing to get new trial.” The Tennessean. December 25, 2002.
Goode, Jennifer. “Police charge victim’s brother-in-law with murder after help from citizen.” The Tennessean. July 19, 1996.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Informant tip nets arrest in murder.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. July 19, 1996.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “2nd arrested in shotgun slaying of man.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. July 21, 1996.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Alleged murderers face court hearing.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. July 21, 1996.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Men indicted in killing.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. October 16, 1996.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Death penalty sought in killing.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 10, 1997.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Attorneys sought to take murder trial.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 29, 1997.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Insanity defense: Two men face death penalty in murder case.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. October 30, 1997.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Murder suspect escapes: Shooting suspect on lam too.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 8, 1998.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Defendant’s mental check on way: Man faces death penalty.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 21, 1998.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “In-law killer set to join in appeal of penalty: Plans to link with fast-food murderer.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. May 22, 1998.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Man murdered brother-in-law.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. March 2, 1999.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Trial attorney critical after crash.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. January 22, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Lawyer: Tidwell didn’t kill.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 11, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Wife: Murder suspect racist.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 12, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Murderer claims nephew no killer.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 13, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Hate killing nets life term.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 15, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Murderer’s sentence keeps going.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. June 23, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Second trial denied in alleged hate crime.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. October 3, 2000.
Stockard, Sam. “Victim’s mom shows true compassion.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 18, 2000.
Marchesoni, Lisa. “Murderer’s sentence reduced.” The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tenn. November 11, 2004.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi there, this is Julia, and murder is bad.
This is part two of the storyof Greg Dotson's murder by his

(00:26):
brother-in-law and nephew-in-lawand the ensuing trial.
If you haven't heard part one,you can stop right here and
catch up or not, do whatever youwant.
I'm not your keeper.
When we left off, greg's23-year-old nephew-in-law was
being brought to trial.
Four years after the murder, itwasn't until January of 2000

(00:48):
that Tidwell's trial was to takeplace.
But days before one of hisattorneys one of the Larry's
gets into a terrible caraccident.
Larry Wallace misses a stopsign and hits a guardrail,
flipping his Toyota 4Runner intoa pond.
Two passersby actually dive in,cut his seatbelt and bring him

(01:09):
to dry ground.
These passersby leave as soonas police arrive, without even
giving their names Justanonymous good Samaritans or
like serial killers or something.
But it was also like 15 degrees, so maybe they were just really
cold.
Anyways, larry Wallace makes afull recovery, but it takes
until April for Dondie Tidwellto go to trial.

(01:32):
On April 10, the trial beginsand Tidwell pleads not guilty.
His defense is that he wasn'tinvolved in the actual killing.
Defense attorney Larry Warnersays Tidwell was guilty of
assaulting and binding Greg, butnot murdering or conspiring to
murder.
Ada Paul Newman, not related tothe actor.

(01:55):
Paul Newman, says in hisopening statement that Tidwell
had previously threatened Gregand that he didn't like that.
Greg was black and Joy waswhite.
Quote Dondie Tidwell was aprejudiced young man.
He goes on to say that,according to Tidwell's statement
to Rutherford County police,greg's children were present

(02:17):
when he was beaten, tortured,begging for his life, and then
ambushed in a secluded area.
He also throws in that Tidwelland his girlfriend went on a
picnic at Oakland's mansion theday after Just to show how
cold-hearted he was, or it couldbe that he was literally trying

(02:38):
to pretend like nothing hadhappened.
Greg's mother, mary Reese,testifies that she talked to
Greg the morning he was murderedwhen he left to return to
Moffreesboro.
She didn't hear of his deathuntil Joy called the following
day.
She also says that when Joy andGreg first married, she

(02:59):
actually took Joy andChristopher Stacey, the man
who's already pled guilty tomurdering Greg, her son.
She took them both into herhome in Baltimore, tennessee,
and treated them like her ownchildren.
The next day of the trial, joyDotson testifies breaking down

(03:19):
in tears several times.
She tells the jury that hernephew didn't get along with her
husband because her husband wasblack.
She says Tidwell was prejudicedand made racial slurs toward
Greg and threatened him.
A week before the murder, whenJoy and Greg were in an argument
over the phone, greg had calledher a name.

(03:41):
Tidwell took the phone and saidto him Wait till you get back
to Tennessee, I'll take care ofyou then, general menacing
comment.
Next, the Dotson's neighbor,vivian Knox, testifies how she
heard arguing between 9.30 and10.00 pm so loud that it knocked

(04:02):
things off her walls.
She saw Greg and Stacey comeout five to ten minutes later
with a towel wrapped aroundGreg's hands.
I suppose this was to cover uphow he had been bound.
She heard Greg asked to betaken to the hospital, stacey

(04:23):
replying he was taking him tothe hospital to get his arm
treated and then watch them getin the car.
She later saw Stacey returnwithout Greg and Tidwell pull up
in another vehicle with Greg'sthree-year-old daughter.
She never saw Tidwell near Gregthough.
Then a man named EF Hoovertestifies about him and his

(04:44):
brother, jerry Coon, huntingthat night around 10.15 pm near
his home, when they heard acommotion near the creek and
there was loud music when theywere just sitting on the
tailgate of a pickup truck Quote.
All of a sudden, you know, weheard a shotgun blast.
A few seconds later all thenoise had died down.

(05:06):
The day finishes with thetestimonies of Jimmy Prater, the
man who Stacey had approachedto sell Greg's car to Lieutenant
Gage, and an agent from theTennessee Bureau of
Investigation, where to be AgentTommy Heflin, testifies about
the ballistics of the shotgun.

(05:28):
The next day begins with ChrisStacey testifying.
Stacey is now saying thatTidwell only hit Greg a couple
times but did not bind, kidnapor help kill him.
He also says Tidwell flashedhis lights when Stacey turned
away from the hospital andtowards Gucci Ford Road.

(05:49):
He even claims that Tidwellsaid that Stacey didn't have to
shoot Greg.
Stacey actually breaks down onthe stand as well as Tidwell on
the defense bench.
Mary Reese, however, showed noemotion as she stared Stacey
down while he describedmurdering her son.
When Stacey is asked why hisstory changed, he says I told

(06:12):
them what they wanted to hear.
Dondie didn't have nothing todo with it.
He says he knows he can getcharged with perjury but that he
can take it when DA Weisselcross-examines Stacey.
He goes through all theinconsistencies from his
multiple statements.
He also presents Tidwell'stwo-hour videotaped confession

(06:36):
into evidence before calling aformer cellmate to the stand.
Stephen Mitchell Regantestifies how Tidwell told him
that the murder was about moneyand that he planned on beating
Greg up and shooting him in thehead.
The day finishes with AssistantME Dr Harlin describing Greg's

(06:56):
injuries the ligature marks onhis wrists, the extensive skull
fractures, with the left side ofhis face being caved in and a
shotgun wound in the back of thehead.
Stacey is called back to testifyat the start of the next day.
He's asked why he implicatedTidwell at all.

(07:16):
He says officers told him thatTidwell was blaming him.
You know like, oh, tidwell's inthere singing like Canary and
he said I'm gonna put it on him.
Since he snatched on me, I'd doit to him.
Quote he's going down with me.
Stacey repeats that Gregthreatened to beat up everyone

(07:38):
and when asked if Tidwell usedthe N word to describe Greg,
stacey replies I don't know, butthat many of their family
members didn't like Greg.
He also says there's adifference between a black man
and an N word.
Da Whitesell asked why did youkill Gregory Dotson?

(08:02):
Stacey answers I don't honestlyknow.
When White Cell concludes hisarguments, he says we all know
hate can supply a motive formurder and that Tidwell supplied
the gun, shells, baseball batand concrete trowel to beat Greg

(08:27):
.
Quote, don't let him pull thewool over your eyes.
Just before 7 pm the jury issent to deliberation.
As time passes, mary Reeseactually ends up buying pizza,
not only for her family but forthe Tidwells as well.
After five hours the juryreturns with a verdict.

(08:50):
At 11.45 pm.
Dondi Eugene Tidwell is foundguilty of first-degree murder,
conspiracy to commit murder,kidnapping and car theft During
the penalty phase.
More evidence is presented aswell as impact statements.
A photograph of Greg's faceafter he had been murdered is

(09:14):
shown to the jury, which seemsto be very disturbing to several
jurors.
Joy Dotson states that Greg wasa good father and provider for
their children.
She says she lost her husband,her brother and her nephew that
night.
She also reveals that herdaughter, who's now in
elementary school but at thetime of the murder was three,

(09:39):
told her about the quote loudboom she heard that night and
about her father's beating.
Her daughter was also made toclean up her father's blood at
the apartment.
Joy tells the jury that herdaughter is in counseling after
having recurring nightmares andto help her handle her memory of

(09:59):
her father's death.
Greg's mother, mary Reese, alsosubmits an impact statement.
Quote my family and I havesuffered a loss I cannot explain
to you in words.
This tested my faith in God andnot feeling sure of myself as a
Christian.
She talks about how, after herson's death, she couldn't

(10:23):
function as a store manager andhad to resign.
She's lost her car, her son'scar, her house, but has learned
that material things don'tmatter as much.
She says she regrets not takingthe time from work to kiss her
son goodbye on that day and isnow afraid not to kiss her

(10:44):
husband and daughter goodbyewhen she sees them Through tears
.
She says these things are moreimportant.
Jers and other family membersalso cry while Mary speaks.
The only person to share animpact statement for Tidwell is

(11:05):
family friend Delray Helmick.
She says Tidwell's life changedwhen his mom died a few months
before the murder and that theywere very, very close.
His mother, joy's sister andGreg's sister-in-law, wanda
Tidwell, did die on December23rd 1995, of heart failure at

(11:28):
the age of 38.
Delray says he tried hishardest to keep his family
together.
Dondi was a loving, givingchild.
She also adds that he wasn'taggressive or violent, which is
hard to hear when he's on trialfor literally beating a man.

(11:51):
Ada Tom Jackson describesGreg's last moments of pleading
for his life before the shotguncame out with a quote blast that
sent this man to eternity.
Defense attorney Larry Wallaceasked Jers to consider Tidwell's

(12:11):
young age, saying I'm here tobeg you to do the right thing.
The thing is Dondi Tidwell isalready older than Greg was when
he was murdered, so it's hardto consider age when it's a case
like this.

(12:33):
There's an hour deliberationbefore the jury returns and
gives Dondi Tidwell a lifesentence without the possibility
of parole.
Mary Reese comforts joy whenthe sentencing is announced.
A couple months later, tidwellis called back to court for a
continuation of his sentencing.
I've never heard something likethis.

(12:53):
But on top of Tidwell's lifesentence, judge Clayton
sentences him to 23 years forespecially aggravated kidnapping
, 23 years for conspiracy tocommit first degree murder and
four and a half years for cartheft.
He is classified as a dangerousoffender, which Judge Clayton

(13:16):
adds 23 years to be servedconsecutively with his other
sentences.
Tidwell's defense motions for aretrial, which will be heard in
the following September.
When the defense returned, theypresented 12 grounds on which

(13:37):
to base Tidwell's appeal.
Some of these were not beingallowed to dismiss a juror, to
be agent Heflin testifyingoutside the scope of his
expertise, greg having traceamount of cocaine in his system
not being allowed in at trial,the photograph of Greg's body

(13:57):
inflaming the jury duringsentencing, joy being allowed to
testify on her daughter'sbehalf, and that there wasn't
enough evidence to prove firstdegree murder.
Judge Clayton denies a retrialIn the case of the juror.
The defense argued that becausehe worked in human resources he

(14:21):
would become a leader andimpress upon the other jury
members too much, and thedefense attorneys said that
their kind of jury expert saidwe don't want any leaders.
The prosecution objected,though, because this man was one

(14:42):
of only two black jury membersand they accused the defense of
wanting him off the jury basedon race, which obviously isn't
allowed.
Assistant Emmy Dr Harlan alsoruled that the trace amount of
cocaine found in Greg's systemwould not affect his actions,

(15:02):
reactions, emotions or manner ofdeath, and the photograph and
Joyce testimony are allowedduring the sentencing phase only
.
They weren't used to convicthim or anything, so that's
allowed.
Two years later, however,tidwell's defense puts up

(15:22):
basically the same grounds foranother appeal to the Court of
Criminal Appeals, or CACA, butthis time the argument about the
black juror wins Tidwell.
Another trial, judge Jerry LSmith states that unless an
attorney flat-out says they wanta jury member to be dismissed

(15:44):
on the basis of race, a jurymember is allowed to be
dismissed.
You can't read minds, sothere's no way for the
prosecution to know exactly whatthe defense is thinking.
They have to take them at theirword.
Basically, they can object, theobjection can be entered, et
cetera, et cetera.
The defense argued that it'snot because he's black, but

(16:07):
because he would quote undulyinfluence his fellow jurors and
become a leader on the jury, andthat same juror did actually
become the jury foreman.
Now Tidwell's defense has toprepare for a brand new trial,
but a couple years after this.

(16:29):
I don't know why it took so long.
You know appeals or othermotions, yet on November 10th
2004, tidwell ends up pleadingguilty for a reduced sentence.
All of his charges arebasically condensed into just
serving 60 years.
He will become eligible forparole in 2030, at the age of 54

(16:55):
.
If he doesn't get parole, hewill be released in 2044, at the
age of 68.
Greg Dotson would be 49 todayand while he's not this quote
perfect victim and this story isnot exactly narratively

(17:17):
satisfying.
I think it's important tohighlight cases that are
basically just regular.
The media has this thing wherethey call victims innocent
victims, which generallyspeaking means like white and
affluent, and if you're not aninnocent victim then they just

(17:42):
smear you essentially.
But Greg had a family, wasloved.
Even the wife that he washaving problems with called him
a good father and a goodprovider.
I just think it's important torecognize that.
So thank you for listening toMurder is Bad.

(18:04):
If you're interested inpictures from this case, you can
check that out on Instagram atMurder is Bad podcast.
Thanks again for listening andsupporting over a thousand
followers on Instagram is veryexciting to me.
So take care of each other andremember murder is bad.