CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The man accused in a brutal double homicide at the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park in Orient is once again facing all original charges after his guilty pleas were overturned earlier this month.
Marty Ray Dotson Jr. appeared in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court this week, where he entered pleas of not guilty to all nine charges now reinstated against him. The court set a $2 million cash bond, meaning Dotson must pay the full amount to be released pending trial.
There is a constitutional right to bail in Ohio, established by the Ohio Constitution, but it has exceptions, and bail is not always guaranteed. All persons have the right to be bailable unless charged with a capital offense or a felony where proof is evident and they pose a substantial risk of serious physical harm to others. Both the U.S. and Ohio constitutions also prohibit “excessive bail”.
In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that public safety should not be a consideration when setting bail and that judges should set bail in an amount “reasonably calculated” to make sure a person shows up for court.
After that decision, Ohio lawmakers voted to place a constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot The amendment — which voters overwhelmingly approved in November 2022 — requires judges to consider public safety when setting bail. The amendment also took power away from the Ohio Supreme Court to set rules on bail amounts or conditions and gave it to state lawmakers.
In Dotson’s case, the Bond set this week was the same one sent in 2023 when he originally faced charges
Dotson is now facing four counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of abuse of a corpse, and one count of kidnapping — the same charges originally filed following the October 2023 killings of Craig T. Dewitt, 58, and Cory A. Moore, 22.
The case was effectively reset after the Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals vacated Dotson’s previous guilty pleas to murder and voluntary manslaughter, ruling that the trial court failed to properly inform him about mandatory post-release control — a key procedural requirement under Ohio Criminal Rule 11(C)(2)(a).
Dotson had originally reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that dismissed several charges in exchange for his guilty pleas. He was sentenced to 15 years to life for murder and 11 to 16½ years for voluntary manslaughter, to be served consecutively.
The appeals court, however, determined that because the plea hearing failed to meet legal standards and the agreement was interconnected, both pleas must be vacated, returning the case to its pre-plea stage.
The double homicide occurred on October 20, 2023, when Pickaway County deputies responded to a home at Whispering Pines after neighbors reported seeing two unresponsive people inside. Deputies discovered Dewitt and Moore dead in a back bedroom. Both victims had suffered multiple stab wounds and their throats had been slashed.
Reports indicated that the killings occurred following a multi-day gathering involving drugs and alcohol.
Dotson remains in custody as the case moves forward toward trial in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court.
