ATLANTA - Opening arguments are scheduled Tuesday morning in the trial of a man accused of killing three men, including one from Gainesville, in an Atlanta hotel four years ago.
Phillip Dover and the other victims were in Atlanta for an Atlanta Falcons game when they were robbed and shot in their room at the Hilton Hotel & Towers.
Jury selection began about three weeks ago. A jury of eight women and four men was finally seated Friday.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Timothy Dawson, the metro Atlanta man accused of the slayings. Court officials have said the trial may last six weeks.
Dawson is also accused of killing a man in an East Point hotel three days before the Hilton slayings and he faces murder charges in a fifth slaying DeKalb County.
Dawson's is the case that in pre-trial hearings led the state of Georgia to abolish use of the electric chair for capital punishment. A lower court ruled that use of the electric chair constituted cruel and unusual punishment and the Georgia Supreme Court agreed.
Dover; 50-year-old Gerrold Shropshire of Altamonte Springs, Florida; and, Ronald Gutkowski, 51, of Leesburg, Florida, were found shot to death in their hotel room October 18 1998. They were in Atlanta for an Atlanta Falcons game that day. Dover worked for a Gainesville trucking company and Shropshire and Gutkowski were clients of his.
Monday
June 17th, 2024
5:41AM
