Tony Dotson, on a woman set to testify against him in a rape case, sat silently, his head often bowed as his trial began Wednesday in Denver.
Dotson, 42, was indicted in 2013 for offering $20,000 in cash, a Mercedes-Benz and a $14,000 ring to fellow inmates in an attempt to kill the rape victim, who was a friend of his fiancée. He has pleaded not guilty in the murder-for-hire case.
Dotson was convicted in the 2012 west Denver rape and .
The murder plot indictment says that while incarcerated in the city’s downtown jail, Dotson purchased canteen items for gang members on his cell block trying to negotiate the murder scheme.
Dotson’s funds were the focus of testimony on Wednesday as a Denver Sheriff’s Department captain outlined the money in his account and the transfers and purchases he made.
Dotson is accused of using $6,691 a friend deposited in his jail account to become friends with other inmates who he hoped would help him murder the woman. The indictment says Dotson tried to solicit gang members to kill her.
If convicted in the murder plot, Dotson faces up to 24 more years in prison.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher contributed to this report.
