FORT WORTH -- The widow of Arlington pastor Clint Dobson broke down in tears on the witness stand Tuesday as she testified about finding out that her husband had been killed at the church he led in north Arlington.
Laura Dobson testified that she had begun to panic that day -- March 3, 2011 -- when she couldn't reach her husband or the church secretary, Judy Elliott, by phone.A friend agreed to go by the church to check on the pair.She said she could hear in the friend's voice that the news was bad."I think it was at that point that I knew he wasn't here anymore," Laura Dobson told jurors. "I threw myself in the car and I just started screaming."She was unable to continue speaking. State District Judge Mike Thomas called a brief recess, and she resumed her testimony shortly afterward.Steven Lawayne Nelson, 25, of Arlington is on trial on a capital murder charge in the death of Dobson, 28, pastor of NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington.Dobson was beaten, bound and suffocated by a plastic bag pulled over his head. Elliott was severely beaten and left for dead but survived.Jurors saw graphic photos of Elliott with her eyes blackened and her face so swollen that her husband didn't recognize her. Prosecutor Page Simpson told jurors Monday that Nelson attacked the pair during a robbery gone awry. He had set out to steal Elliott's Mitsubishi Galant, which he spotted outside the church.Simpson and co-prosecutor Bob Gill are seeking the death penalty for Nelson.Other witnesses said Nelson used Elliott's credit cards at The Parks at Arlington mall to buy expensive Nike shoes and a bright green Oscar the Grouch T-shirt.Receipts for $400 in jewelry were also found in a town home where he is believed to have been staying.Zorie Johnson testified that on the day of the killing, he bought a laptop for $150 from Nelson, who pulled up in a white Mitsubishi Galant while Johnson was getting new tires at a store in Arlington.The man said he turned the laptop in to Arlington police after seeing news reports about Dobson's death and finding paperwork inside the computer bag with Dobson's name. Whitley Daniels told jurors that she exchanged sometimes-racy text messages with Nelson for several days before the two met on the day of the killing."I don't mean to brag. I'm a monster," Nelson said in a text to Daniels.Defense attorneys Bill Ray and Steve Gordon questioned witnesses sharply, challenging their version of events.Testimony is expected to continue today in Criminal District Court No. 4.Dianna Hunt, 817-390-7084Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
