The murder trial of a former area basketball coach and school principal is being delayed again, and a new judge has been appointed to the case by the state’s highest court. An online document from the Arkansas Supreme Court states retired Circuit Judge William R. Wright will preside over the trial of 53-year-old Rocky Brian Dodson of Omaha in the 14th Judicial Circuit. Dodson is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Amanda Christine Dodson, in March 2022. He was the high school principal and boys’ basketball coach at Omaha at the time.
Judge Wright’s appointment from the Supreme Court comes following a request from the Boone County Circuit Clerk’s Office. The trial was previously assigned for Circuit Judge John Putman. Online court documents did not list a reason for a change in the judge.
Online court records do not indicate a new trial date for Dodson, although Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette it’s set to begin in March.
Dodson also coached basketball at Norfork and Cotter and is a former administrator at Flippin.
MURDER REPORTED
Boone County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Dodson residence along Stonegate Drive in Omaha March 6 last year where Amanda Dodson’s body was found on the living room floor.
Amanda Dodson was born in Mountain Home and held jobs in the Omaha and Cotter School Districts.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the woman’s body “displayed severe bruising on the legs, arms and areas of the upper torso.”
Rocky Dodson contacted 911. He claimed he discovered his wife deceased when he woke up about 9 a.m., March 6, 2022. He told investigators his wife had returned home in the early morning hours and that he had let her into the house, put her on a couch and went back to the couple’s bedroom.
In the probable cause affidavit, Rocky Dodson paints a somewhat unflattering picture of his wife — telling investigators she was a chronic alcoholic, among other things.
He did admit that he was the only one in the house with his wife at the time of the murder. In a summary of the evidence gathered in the case, investigators opined that “Rocky Dodson was the only person present who had the ability to inflict the blow on Amanda Dodson that caused her death.”
MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT
The woman’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Little Rock. The doctor who conducted the autopsy reported she had “found extensive bruising and hemorrhaging at the front of the neck, severe swelling completely through the neck muscles in the area of the Adam’s apple as well as fractured, broken and crushed tracheal cartilage.”
The doctor said in her opinion the blow to the neck would have immediately caused the victim “severe distress.” She said the injuries would have led the victim to have significant breathing problems due to a sharp reduction in the intake of oxygen
In addition, the injuries would have caused the victim to wheeze, cough or gurgle. The physician said anyone present at the scene should have been aware that the victim was in serious distress. Investigators said Rocky Dodson did not mention noticing his wife in any distress.
The doctor concluded that Amanda Dodson’s death resulted from “blunt force trauma.”
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