PORLTAND — Linda Dolloff, accused of trying to kill her husband by beating him with a softballl bat, voluntarily gave police her fingerprints and a DNA swab five days after the attack, the lead investigator on the case said this morning.

William Ross, a detective with the Maine State Police, said Linda Dolloff provided the prints and allowed a swab to be taken when he met with her on April 17, 2009. Her husband, Jeffrey Dolloff, was beaten, and Linda Dolloff was shot early on April 12, 2009, and Linda Dolloff said they were victims of a home invasion.

Prosecutors, however, have charged Linda Dolloff with attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and filing false report. They allege that Linda Dolloff beat her husband, then shot herself in the abdomen and reported the home invasion to cover up the assault.

Ross made the statement about Linda Dolloff’s voluntarily turning over potential evidence while under cross-examination by defense lawyers today. He also said that Linda Dolloff did not ask for a lawyer at her initial interview with police.

Ross also said that police had to go to a South Portland waste processing center to retrieve the shirt that Linda Dolloff was wearing when she was taken to the hospital after the assault. He said the shirt had been discarded by hospital workers treating Linda Dolloff’s gunshot wound, had gone through a Maine Medical Center trash compactor and been trucked to South Portland.

Ross said he and other detectives had to sift through a pile of 8 tons of waste to find the shirt.

Most of the testimony today was dominated by a State Police crime lab forensic chemist who testified about how evidence was tested for the presence of human blood and processed for DNA testing.

Jeffrey Dolloff, who has said he doesn’t remember anything about the attack, is expected to return to the stand this afternoon. He was in the middle of being cross-examined when court recessed Friday and the judge indicated he had a doctor’s appointment this morning.

 

 

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