Police: Navy member planned murder-suicide of wife, son

NEW LONDON A 13-month-old who survived what police suspect was an attempted double-murder-suicide and arson is listed in stable condition, police said Friday.

“Our understanding at this time is that the baby is well,” New London Police Chief Brian M. Wright said.

It’s a piece of good news coming out of the Wednesday-night rampage, during which authorities say a serviceman with the U.S. Navy bludgeoned his wife, Shelby Dodson, 23, with a hammer and set fires in their house — including one intended to kill their baby — before slashing his own neck.

George Dodson, a nuclear-trained technician, was arrested on murder, arson and a half-dozen other charges and remains in custody under suicide watch at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in the Uncasville section of Montville. His bail was set at $3 million.

People who know the family are reeling from the crime. Neighbors say they have seen Shelby Dodson sitting with the baby on their front porch or out for a walk with him and her husband.

A search of state records turns up no prior arrests or divorce proceedings for George Dodson, 23, who has lived in the state for about three years. The couple purchased the house on Sherman Street in September 2020.

“It’s a quiet neighborhood,” neighbor Elizabeth “Tiger” Maynard-White said Thursday. As she spoke, police were still working at the scene down the street, where a tarp covered the steps of the front porch on which she used to see mom and baby.

“My heart is still breaking,” she said. Devon Lanier, of Calhoun, Ga., said the allegations against George Dodson don’t come close to matching his memory of him. He had a class with Dodson when they were in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps together.

“As far as I can remember, he was a very nice and respectful guy,” Lanier said. “We had JROTC together. Same goes with the way he treated his now wife, we all had the same class and he was very caring of her so to even start to believe (how) any of this came to be is pretty crazy.”

According to Lt. Seth Koenig, a public affairs officer with the Submarine Readiness Squadron 32, Dodson is a 2nd class petty officer and nuclear-trained electronics technician.

Despite his arrest, his status as an activeduty sailor “is unlikely to change through the adjudication of charges against him in the civilian legal system,” Koenig said.

He said the U.S. Navy is cooperating with the police investigation.

“Certainly, the incident that happened in New London is incredibly tragic,” Koenig said. “We would not want to see that happen to anybody, anywhere, whether they are with the Navy or not.”

Dodson has been assigned to the USS Newport News nuclear attack submarine at the U.S. Submarine Base New London in Groton since June 2019, Koenig said. Koenig said he doesn’t know where Dodson lived between June 2019 and September 2020, when he and his wife bought the Sherman Street house.

Like many incoming sailors, Dodson’s first assignment was Great Lakes, Ill., for recruit training. After that, he went to a couple of schools in Charleston, S.C., to train in submarines and nuclear propulsion, Koenig said.

Dodson was briefly assigned to a command in Norfolk, Va., before he was assigned to New London, he said.

As an enlisted submarine warfare specialist, Dodson was in “a highly specialized line of training,” Koenig said. Asked if there is a lot of pressure involved, he said, “military service is an inherently demanding profession.”

However, the U.S. Navy does its best to provide a “work-life balance,” he said, and offers counseling to members who need it or want it. Koenig said he couldn’t say if Dodson had such therapy.

Dodson received recognition for his accomplishments, Koenig said. He received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal, which he said is not an uncommon medal, and he qualified for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

He also received a National Defense Service Medal, Koenig said, which recognizes his years of service.

While people tried to reconcile the contrasting pictures of George Dodson, police were documenting and gathering evidence at the Sherman Street house.