Bellevue man charged with wife's kidnap, death attempt

6/19/2008

CASTALIA, Ohio - Two days after her father allegedly bound her mother's wrists with a chain from a chain saw and nearly shot her with a 12-gauge shotgun, University of Toledo graduate Liz Dority still was in disbelief.

"I never in a million years thought he was capable of doing something like that, ever," she said while cleaning the Margaretta Township home from which police allege her mother was kidnapped.

"I don't know what to say because you never know what somebody's capable of."

Ms. Dority's father, Ronald Dority, 43, of Bellevue, Ohio, was charged Monday with multiple felony counts, including attempted murder and kidnapping, after police allege he entered the Herr Road home of his estranged wife, Beth Dority, 43, around 3 p.m. Monday, lurking over her as she slept and attacking her when she woke up.

He told police he snorted three lines of cocaine and drank four beers before kidnapping his wife that day.

Ms. Dority, 22, said it wasn't the first time her father attacked her mother, but she hopes it would be the last.

Beth Dority was granted a restraining order against her husband, who she was divorcing, after a December, 2006, incident when he choked their son, Anthony, and assaulted his wife for trying to call police.

"Apparently that [restraining order] didn't do any good," Ms. Dority said. "It's hard to have faith in our justice system when he's done it before. He violated it numerous times, but nothing was done about him violating it. I guess this is what it took for them to wake up and realize that he needed to be stopped."

After the estranged couple began fighting, Mr. Dority forced his wife out her front door and into an attached garage.

There, he held her down and wrapped her wrists with the chain from a chain saw, according to Ms. Dority, who was not in the house at the time but spoke with her mother after the incident.

Police reports describe Mr. Dority dragging Mrs. Dority into the woods across the street, where his hidden Chevrolet Suburban awaited with a loaded shotgun and two knives inside.

He spent the next few hours driving with Mrs. Dority in the front passenger seat, threatening to shoot her in the back if she tried to escape, according to police.

"He allegedly fired a shotgun blast at her," said Paul Sigsworth, captain of the Erie County Sheriff's office. "Fortunately, it missed."

The pair ended up in Bellevue, where Mr. Dority called his son and said, "Hey, I've got your mom with me and we just passed you," or words to that effect, Captain Sigsworth said.

After his mother didn't answer her cell phone, Anthony, 18, called his friends, Joshua and Gary Meyers, who later spotted Mr. Dority at a Marathon station on State Rt. 269 near Bellevue, according to Captain Sigsworth.

"That's when [Gary] grabbed Ronald and took him to the ground," Sheriff Deputy Keith Bodi wrote in his report.

A gas station employee called Bellevue police, who took Mr. Dority into custody, later turning him over to Erie County Sheriff deputies, who placed him in an isolated cell on suicide watch, reports show.

Experts say Mrs. Dority's story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when domestic violence situations aren't properly addressed.

"My suggestion would be for the victim to follow through with the prosecution of cases early on so that we're not leading up to the more serious incidents," said Jody Craig, director of victim's assistance for the Erie County Prosecutor's office.

University of Toledo law professor Gabrielle Davis, who conducted a 2003 to 2006 study on fatal domestic violence situations in Lucas County, said many people wonder why victims don't just leave their abusers, but it's not always that simple.

"[In Lucas County], almost 100 percent of the women killed in domestic violence were killed when they've left or were trying to leave the abuser," she said.

"There are no hard and fast rules that result to all people in an abusive relationship. What might be useful to one person may put another person in grave danger."

Ms. Davis said the key is to know the warning signs of a potentially violent individual, which include possessive, controlling behavior, a history of physically abusing significant others, illicit drug use or alcohol abuse, and threats of violence or suicide.

Ms. Dority said she hopes her father goes to jail for a long time. "There's not one person in the world that should get away with this," she said.

Mrs. Dority has been treated and released from Bellevue Hospital for severe lacerations to her wrists as well as cuts on her face.

Contact Chauncey Alcorn at:

calcorn@theblade.com

or 419-724-6168.