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Quick judicial action ensures couple's return
Briefly, it appeared the Citrus couple accused of child torture might get out on bail.
By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published February 8, 2005
[AP photo: Dave McPherson, The Panorama]
Lt. Alan Freestone and Sgt. Kelly Bradford, of the San Juan County Sheriff's Office pose Saturday in Monticello, Utah, with John and Linda Dollar's vehicle.
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The Citrus County couple accused of torturing five of their eight adopted children waived extradition Monday from Utah, giving local authorities permission to return them to Florida.
John Dollar, 58, and his wife, Linda, 51, spent the weekend in the San Juan County jail after they were arrested Friday evening by Utah authorities. They are expected to be back in Florida in the next seven to 15 days, according to Citrus County sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney.
The Dollars were arrested on Citrus County warrants charging them with aggravated child abuse and torture. Authorities have accused the couple of abusing five children by pulling out their toenails with pliers, forcing them to sleep together in a closet and shocking them with a cattle prod.
The several-day hunt for the couple brought international media attention to Citrus County.
The drama continued Monday morning when Citrus County authorities realized the Dollars might be able to post bail and get out of jail in Utah.
Citrus Circuit Judge Ric Howard, who signed the arrest warrant for the Dollars, was presiding over jury selection in the case of a convicted sexual predator. While prospective jurors answered questions from attorneys, Howard looked preoccupied.
A flurry of notes written on small blue squares of paper passed back and forth between Howard and a prosecutor in the courtroom gallery. Bailiffs delivered the messages.
Just after 11 a.m., Howard announced he needed to tend to an emergency. Bailiffs removed prospective jurors from the courtroom.
Howard then called local attorney Charles Vaughn and Assistant State Attorney Richard Buxman to the front of the courtroom.
The Dollars were set to appear before a Utah judge that morning, and, according to the warrant Howard signed, they could be released, Buxman explained. Prosecutors feared the Dollars might disappear again.
The Dollars weren't a flight risk and never intended to run from the law, according to Vaughn, their attorney.
The search for the Dollars began after they failed to show for an emergency hearing Jan. 31 about their children. But Vaughn said the Dollars did not know about it.
The hearing was set after the Dollars' children already had been taken from them and placed with foster families, he said.
Vaughn said he did not know about the hearing until hours before it was set to begin. He said he left the Dollars several phone messages but they didn't respond.
He said he learned of their whereabouts on CNN and did not talk to them again until they were in jail in Utah.
"They didn't know there was a warrant," he said.
After their children were placed in state custody, the Dollars headed to California to straighten things out, Vaughn said in court. He later declined to elaborate.
The State Attorney's Office wanted the Dollars held without the possibility of release because of their "apparent flight to Utah where they have no ties," Buxman said.
Howard ordered that the Dollars' not be released from custody.
About two hours after the emergency hearing, a Utah judge followed Howard's recommendation, according to San Juan sheriff's Sgt. Troy Butler.
The Dollars appeared before District Judge Lyle R. Anderson in Monticello, Utah, Butler said. The Dollars had no comment in court about the charges against them, Butler said.
Authorities had not yet determined Monday how the couple would be brought back to Florida, Tierney said. She added that such information may not be released for security reasons.
Tierney said she has been called from media outlets as far away as London. People magazine called with questions about the Dollars, she said.
Sheriff Jeff Dawsy appeared on NBC's Today show about 7:10 a.m. Monday, answering questions from anchor Lester Holt. Dawsy was in Inverness.
"They flew under the radar," the sheriff said of the Dollars, noting that the couple homeschooled their children.
--Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com
[Last modified February 8, 2005, 05:01:41]
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