Woman convicted in killing awaits sentencing in jail
Angela Dosal, 33, who pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in the stabbing death of her boyfriend, will learn her punishment next month.
By DUANE BOURNE
Published June 13, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - Angela Dosal, charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing of her boyfriend Jonathan Bissonnette in a fit of rage in April 2002, had been free on bail for much of the court proceedings.
On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Richard Tombrink jailed her, much to the approval of Bissonnette's family and friends.
"Anyway you look at it, she is going to do jail time," Tombrink said.
On May 15, Dosal pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of manslaughter. As Tombrink ordered that she be taken back into custody Thursday, the 33-year-old woman's arms shook and she fiddled nervously with her fingers.
Moments earlier, her lawyer Scott Timothy Smith successfully argued to delay sentencing because results from a psychological evaluation were not available and authorities had not conducted the mandated pre-sentence investigation.
Assistant State Attorney Donald Scaglione, who called Dosal manipulative, demanded that Dosal be taken into custody until her sentencing.
On April 14, 2002, hours after they spent a day drinking and fishing on a rented pontoon boat in the Gulf of Mexico, Dosal began to argue with Bissonnette about his drinking and the mixing of pain medication, according to court records.
Dosal plunged a 2-inch pocketknife into Bissonnette's chest, inches from his heart.
The attack left Bissonnette, who friend Richard Mann on Thursday described as a pacifist, mortally wounded. Emergency personnel found him collapsed on the floor having stumbled from the bathroom. He was flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"I just don't know how this could have happened," said Mann, reading from a prepared statement. "I don't believe he could have been the aggressor. Jon was not capable of that."
Dosal is scheduled to be sentenced in front of Tombrink on July 14 at 2 p.m.
- Duane Bourne covers law enforcement and emergency services in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to dbourne@sptimes.com
