← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · jay
Thread ID: 7681 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2003-06-28
2003-06-28 17:09 | User Profile
**I wonder what that private, Baptist university of "higher learning" thinks about a black basketball player killed by other blacks at their own school! Maybe Bushie will use this as an excuse to give more $$$ to black youth programs. Stop killin' ya own homies, word? Jeez, when will people GET IT??? - Jay **
[url=http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0627/1573882.html]http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0627/1573882.html[/url]
Dennehy missing since June 11; foul play suspected
WACO, Texas -- Some of Patrick Dennehy's teammates might be suspects in the disappearance of the Baylor basketball player, police said Friday.
Dennehy, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center, has not been seen or heard from in more than two weeks.
While police have not found a body, department spokesman Steven Anderson told The Dallas Morning News on Friday that officials have received information from sources that would lead investigators to believe that foul play was involved.
"It escalated from a missing person's case because of information coming in," Officer Anderson told the newspaper. "It's not classified as a homicide at this moment, but because of the information we're getting it's going that direction."
In a written statement, Anderson said police were looking into whether Dennehy might have been killed in the Waco area. A sport utility vehicle belonging to Dennehy was found this week in Virginia Beach, Va.
"From that lead and others, potential suspects in the disappearance of Dennehy potentially include fellow Baylor basketball players,'' Anderson said. "Information about possible crime scenes are currently being investigated.''
The statement did not elaborate on the possible connection of Baylor players to Dennehy's disappearance.
Police records supervisor Tommy Tull said Friday night that he could not release any additional information and that Anderson was out of the office. Anderson plans a news briefing Monday on the case.
In the Saturday editions of The Dallas Morning News, two Baylor players said they had spoken to police.
Ellis Kidd Jr, a guard from Dallas, said the team has talked with police as a group. "They just wanted our help," he said. "We just started having meetings with them. We don't know nothing. Everybody's shook up. We don't know what's going on. It's unknown."
Carlton Dotson, identified by the Morning News as a teammate who lives in Hurlock, Md., said he was instructed not to talk about the case. "I had to talk to police today, and I told them everything I can tell them and everything I knew," Dotson told the Morning News.
On the school's Web site, Tom Stanton, director of athletics, released a statement offering the university's thoughts to Dennehy's family.
"Baylor University has just learned about these new developments involving the disappearance of Patrick Dennehy. The nature of the developments is certainly disturbing," Stanton's statement read in part. "It's impossible to respond at this moment until we learn more about the investigation."
Virginia Beach police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said at least one Waco detective flew in Thursday to examine an SUV found without license plates in a strip mall. The mall's owner had it towed as an abandoned vehicle.
The towing company reported the vehicle's identification number to Virginia Beach police, Barnes said. Police then checked the number on a national law enforcement database and found it was wanted by Waco police in connection with a missing person.
Baylor coach Dave Bliss could not be reached for comment Friday night. Earlier this week, Bliss said the team remained hopeful that Dennehy would eventually turn up unharmed.
"Obviously, we've got tremendous concerns," Bliss said. "We are prayerful, we're concerned, we're anxious, we're apprehensive. We just pray for this to be resolved, and we look forward to him returning to our team.''
Dennehy, who played high school basketball in Santa Clara, Calif., sat out last season after transferring from New Mexico and was expected to vie for playing time this fall. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Dennehy had an impressive but controversial two-year stint at New Mexico under former Lobos coach Fran Fraschilla.
Midway through his freshman season at New Mexico, Dennehy said he might transfer at year's end because of a lack of playing time. Dennehy eventually saw more action and became the third-leading freshman rebounder in school history.
As a sophomore in the 2001-2002 season, Dennehy averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds, but his season was clouded by a number of problems. During a game against Air Force in February 2002, Dennehy argued on court with teammates, shoved a one of them, kicked over a chair and stalked off to the locker room. He didn't return to the game.
Fraschilla declined to discipline Dennehy, and the team physician said the player was being treated for "a confidential medical condition."
Fraschilla resigned under pressure in March 2002, and Ritchie McKay was hired later that month. Less than two weeks later, Dennehy had another flare-up during practice. McKay dismissed him from the team.
A month later, Dennehy announced he had accepted a scholarship to play for former New Mexico coach Bliss.
2003-07-01 14:31 | User Profile
UPDATE: It was a fellow teammate. A black man. Supposedly, the 2 were "friends" - as if we haven't heard THAT news angle before. Sheez. - Jay
[url=http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-baylor-dennehy&prov=ap&type=lgns]http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap...ov=ap&type=lgns[/url]
WACO, Texas (AP) -- The roommate of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy told a cousin he shot Dennehy in the head as the two argued while firing guns, according to court documents that cited an unidentified informant.
A search warrant affidavit made public Monday says the informant told investigators in Delaware that Carlton Dotson, a former teammate of Dennehy's as well as his roommate, killed Dennehy with a 9 mm handgun. Dennehy has been missing for nearly three weeks.
No charges have been filed, Waco police spokeswoman Melody McElyea said Tuesday. She said she had no information on Dotson's whereabouts or whether he was being sought by police.
Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said Monday that no body has been found. District Attorney John Segrest declined to comment.
Last week before the affidavit was made public, Dotson told The Dallas Morning News that police asked him not to discuss the case and that he had learned Dennehy was missing from Dennehy's girlfriend.
``I had to talk to police today, and I told them everything I can tell them and everything I knew,'' he said from his Hurlock, Md., home.
Dennehy's family reported the 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior missing June 19. His sport utility vehicle was found last week in a mall parking lot in Virginia Beach, Va. Waco police asked the FBI to join the investigation and have said several Baylor players had been questioned.
According to the warrant, filed June 23 in 19th District Court in McLennan County, the informant said **Dotson told the cousin that while he and Dennehy were shooting guns, they argued and Dennehy pointed a weapon at Dotson as if to shoot him, but Dotson instead shot Dennehy.
Dotson said he then drove home to Maryland and got rid of the guns along the way, the document said.**
A message left on an answering machine at a number listed for Dotson's guardians in Maryland was not returned.
Baylor athletic director Tom Stanton released a statement late Monday confirming that Dotson was a former player, but said he couldn't discuss the case.
We saw a young man who got along well with his teammates and was extremely anxious to compete this year,'' Stanton said. **Patrick has been a model student-athlete since coming to Baylor.'' ** ????
Dennehy transferred to Baylor last fall. He had played two seasons at New Mexico, where he averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds his sophomore year, but then **was cut from that team after losing his temper during practice. **
He accepted a scholarship to play at Baylor and told friends he had become a born-again Christian. He was a B student and rarely missed a class. He was not eligible to play for a year, but he practiced with the team.
It's a fresh start,'' Dennehy said in May 2002.I feel great. It's a new coach, a new team, a new set of personalities.''
Dotson, a 6-7 forward, averaged 4.6 points as a reserve with Baylor this season and was not expected to return next season.
People who knew the players said Monday they were fun-loving, well-mannered roommates who never argued.
Neighbor Kristal Wilson, 21, said the pair knocked on her door last semester when they were locked out of their third-floor apartment, laughed and asked if they could crawl over her balcony.
They were just really funny guys,'' Wilson, a senior, said, fighting back tears.I'm sure it's upsetting for everybody. It's a tragedy.''
Brian McDonald, 21, a Baylor junior, said he went to the apartment in early June to see Dotson's pit bull. He said Dennehy also was there, and the two seemed friendly.
Friends and family said it was uncharacteristic of Dennehy to disappear for days on end without calling someone.
Another Dennehy roommate, Chris Turk, who is not on the basketball team, told police he last saw Dennehy before leaving for a trip June 11. When Turk returned five days later, the apartment looked normal but Dennehy's dogs had not been fed, he said.
Dennehy's girlfriend in Albuquerque, N.M., 20-year-old Jessica De La Rosa, said he seemed fine during their last phone conversation the night of June 11. His mother and stepfather contacted the university after Dennehy did not call his Santa Clara, Calif., home on Father's Day, June 15.