A Denver jury convicted a man Wednesday in a failed 2012 jailhouse murder-for-hire plot that targeted a woman he had raped and who was set to testify against him.
Tony Dotson, 42, , a Mercedes-Benz and a $14,000 ring to fellow inmates to kill the rape victim, who was a friend of his fiancée’s. He pleaded not guilty in the murder-for-hire case.
“I’ve never known anyone so methodical and purposeful in the destruction of lives,” prosecutor Adrienne Greene said after the verdict was handed down.
Dotson showed little reaction as jurors one by one affirmed their unanimous finding that he was guilty.
Greene called Dotson the “worst of the worst” and a “horse of a different color,” saying the conviction showed the Denver district attorney’s office’s aggressive stance against those who target witnesses.
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 is accused of using $6,691 — an amount that 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.
The rape occurred in 2012 at a west Denver home where Dotson broke in and staged a burglary in order to rape the woman at knifepoint. Family of the victim, who went into witness protection because of Dotson’s plot, declined to comment after the verdict was read Wednesday.
Dotson was , Nonnie Dotson, who went missing during a pre-Thanksgiving visit with him in 2006.
Prosecutors on Tuesday also noted how years ago Dotson’s business partner was found dead in the trunk of her own car, leaving him with a $300,000 life insurance payout.
The convicted rapist has not been charged in those cases.
Dotson, convicted of solicitation of first-degree murder, faces up to 48 years at an April 20 sentencing. He previously was convicted in the rape and sentenced to 96 years to life in .
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
