| Sources |
- [S76] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume III, 1974-1986, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 15 Jun 1986.
JOhnny Dodgen obituary
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 11 May 1994.
Fanny Viola Griffin obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 25 Sep 2007.
Shooting under scrutiny
By: CANDICE GRIMM, Staff Writer
September 25, 2007
PIGEON FORGE - One person is dead and another wounded in a shooting and suspected arson which occurred Sunday morning at a mobile home on Spruce Court off McCarter Hollow Road.
Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals confirmed Sunday afternoon that the report of a fire was received at 10:38 a.m. by the Pigeon Forge Volunteer Fire Department. Upon arrival firefighters found a white male suffering from gunshot wounds lying outside the mobile home, and located a second victim inside the home after the fire was knocked down.
"The investigation is being continued by the Sevier County Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and the Tennessee Bomb & Arson Squad," said Seals. "We have no suspects at this time, but we suspect this was not random."
Seals said the body was still in the home at 3 p.m. Sunday, and the crime investigation would begin after firefighters were able to put out hot spots.
While Seals declined to identify the victims, a woman who identified herself only as Shannon said the occupants of the home were her aunt and uncle Loretta and Michael Dodgen. The woman said she had been summoned from work by her cousin Kelly Higgins, a daughter of Loretta Dodgen and stepdaughter of Michael Dodgen. Higgins, who Shannon said resided in the home along with her brother Joe Higgins, had asked that Shannon come to the scene to be with her.
According to Shannon, Higgins reported she had been told by deputies that her mother was dead and her stepfather had been transported to The University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Seals confirmed the male victim had been transported to UT and was in stable condition.
Agencies assisting Pigeon Forge in fighting the fire were Sevierville Fire Department, Sevier County Volunteer Fire Department, Sevier County Fire & Rescue Squad, Wears Valley Volunteer Fire Department, and Catons Chapel Volunteer Fire Department.
* cgrimm@themountainpress.com
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 24 Sep 2007.
Mobile home burns; body, man with gunshot found
News Sentinel Staff
Monday, September 24, 2007
PIGEON FORGE — Sevier County officials Sunday found a dead body and a shooting victim when they answered a call about a house fire.
Officers found a wounded Johnny M. Dodgen, 51, when they responded to a home at 2289 Spruce Way at about 10:30 a.m., according to a statement by Sheriff Ron Seals.
Dodgen, a resident of the home, was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the chest. He was listed in serious condition Sunday night.
The Pigeon Forge Fire Department battled the mobile-home blaze.
Once they had extinguished the fire, officials found an unidentified body inside the home. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the identity and cause of death.
The Sheriff’s criminal investigation division, the Tennessee Bomb and Arson Unit and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are investigating.
- [S51] The Seymour Herald, (www.smokymountainherald.com), 14 Nov 2007.
Sevier County man has been arrested in connection with the murder of his wife and the subsequent burning of his home according to Sevier Co. Sheriff Ron Seals.
Seals said that the arrest follows an investigation that was initiated on September 23rd 2007 when Sheriffs officers were dispatched to 2289 Spruce Way to a structure fire.
Firefighters then found the body of Pricie Loretta Dodgen inside the residence deceased. Officers had found Johnny Michael Dodgen age 51, also of 2289 Spruce Way, lying outside suffering from a gunshot wound.
Dodgen told first responders that he had been shot as a result of an attack by intruders into his home.
Dodgen also claimed his wife was attacked by the intruders as he was fleeing the home.
After a lengthy hospital stay Dodgen was released and investigators were able to interview Dodgen on Tuesday November 13th and after being confronted with conflicting evidence Dodgen gave a statement that the series of events that he first told investigators was not true.
Dodgen admitted to Investigators that he was responsible for his wife’s death and he then set the home on fire to mask the crime.
Dodgen then shot himself in an attempt to commit suicide but the attempt failed.
Dodgen was charged on Tuesday with the First Degree Murder of his wife and Aggravated Arson in connection with the burning of his home.
Dodgen is being held at the Sevier County Jail awaiting arraignment before a judge at time of release.
Sheriff Seals said that his Office was assisted in the investigation by State Bomb and Arson Division investigators.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 23 May 2008.
SEVIERVILLE - Johnny Michael Dodgen, who faces first-degree murder charges after police say he confessed to killing his wife, leads a lengthy list of indictments handed down this week by a Sevier County Grand Jury.
Dodgen will face charges for murder and aggravated arson as a result of a September incident that claimed the life of Pricie Loretta Dodgen.
By DEREK HODGES
Staff Writer
Police records allege Dodgen shot his wife, started a fire in the home to destroy the evidence, then shot himself in an apparent suicide bid.
After surviving the gunshot, Dodgen made his way out of the burning home to the yard, where emergency officials found him when they arrived. At the time, Dodgen reportedly told officials someone broke in to the home, shot him and his wife, set the fire and fled. However, an investigation led authorities to charge the Pigeon Forge man with murder, a crime they say he has since confessed to.
"He admitted to causing the death of the victim by blunt force trauma to the head and then shooting her several times and then setting the house on fire to cover up the crime he had committed," Detective Mike Watson wrote in the arresting affidavit.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 9 May 2009.
Man pleads guilty to murdering wife; Dodgen to serve at least 17 years
By JEFF FARRELL
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
Dodgen accepted a plea deal Wednesday that guaranteed he will face at least that long in prison, even if he gets the benefit of all possible credits. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, admitting that he shot his wife, Pricie Loretta Dodgen, in September of 2007.
Dodgen was initially charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutor Steve Hawkins said the attorney general's office accepted the plea offer from public defender Ed Miller after discussing it with the family.
"I took it to the family and left it completely up to them," Hawkins said.
On the night Pricie Dodgen died, sheriff's deputies found Johnny Dodgen outside their burning home with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He initially said that he had tried to fight off intruders who killed his wife and shot him before setting the fire. Investigators found several discrepancies in his story, however, and at the time of his arrest in November 2007, Sheriff Ron Seals said Dodgen had confessed that he killed her before shooting himself in the abdomen and setting the fire to cover up the crime.
Dodgen had no prior criminal offenses, Hawkins said. He had told authorities he'd been "hearing voices" that told him to kill his wife, and had undergone psychological exams by experts for the state and for the defense.
- [S84] E-Mail, Joe Dunn [djoedunn@comcast.net], 5 Dec 2010.
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Abt 1956 - (~ 68 years)
, d. 15 Jun 1986 (Age 60 years)