Information that led to the filing of a second-degree murder charge against the high school principal and head basketball coach at Omaha has been unsealed.
Fifty-two-year-old Rocky Brian Dodson, who also coached at Norfork and Cotter, is accused of killing his 36-year-old wife, Amanda.
Amanda Christine Johnson Dodson was born in Mountain Home. She also was reported to have held jobs in the Omaha and Cotter School Districts.
Boone County sheriff’s deputies were called to the couple’s residence along Stone Gate Drive in Omaha Mar. 6 where Amanda Dodson’s body was found on the living room floor.
According to the probable cause affidavit, “the body displayed severe bruising on the legs, arms and areas of the upper torso.”
Rocky Dodson is reported to have been the person who contacted 911. He claimed he discovered his wife deceased when he woke up that Sunday morning.
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 had been the only one in the house with his wife. In a summary of the evidence, an investigator opined that, “Rocky Dodson was the only person present who had the ability to inflict the blow on Amanda Dodson that caused her death.”
The woman’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office. The doctor who conducted the autopsy reported she had “found external bruising and hemorrhaging at the front of the neck, severe edema (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 severe distress for Amanda Dodson.
She said the injuries would have led the victim to have significant breathing problems due to a reduction in the intake of oxygen.
In addition, the injuries would have “caused the victim to wheeze, cough or gurgle.”
The doctor said anyone present at the scene would have been aware that the victim was in serious distress.
She points out the report Rocky Dodson made to investigators, “involved no noted distress on the part of the victim.”
According to the probable cause affidavit, Rocky Dodson denied there were any signs that his wife had been injured.
The doctor said, in her professional opinion, the injuries suffered by Amanda Dodson resulted from “blunt force” trauma
Shortly after his wife’s death, Rocky Dodson was arrested and taken to the Boone County Jail. He is now free on $250,000 bond and prohibited from leaving the 14th Judicial District (Baxter, Boone, Marion and Newton Counties).
Dodson, who is being represented by Bentonville attorney Shane Wilkinson, has entered a not guilty plea to the 2nd degree murder charge.
According to the current scheduling order in the case, the final hearing is set for August 23 and a jury trial for September 26.
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