Stepmother Says Randal Was Prone to Accidents
Parents describe final hours of boy's life
By Shannon Kari
Originally published in the National Post, February 7, 2002
TORONTO — Randal Dooley's stepmother suggested to police that her "accident prone" son must have died in his sleep several hours after he slipped and fell from his bunk bed, an Ontario Superior Court jury heard yesterday.
Marcia Dooley, 32, and the boy's father, Edward "Tony" Dooley, 36, are on trial for second-degree murder in the Sept. 25, 1998, death of seven-year-old Randal.
Two Toronto police officers testified yesterday about statements made by the parents the morning Randal's severely bruised body was discovered.
It is the first time in the nearly four-week-old trial that the jury has heard, even indirectly, a detailed explanation by Tony and Marcia Dooley about the final hours of the boy's life.
An autopsy revealed that Randal had 14 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver and four separate brain injuries. Autopsy photos displayed in court showed the boy's body covered with bruises and welts, including U-shaped marks on his legs, which the Crown alleges were caused by a metal clip on a bungee cord.
Detective-Constable James Flett said he arrived at the Dooley townhouse in Scarborough after receiving a call about a suspicious death.
The officer noticed that Mrs. Dooley looked like she was crying but "appeared very much in control" during the interview.
Mrs. Dooley said she had put Randal and his older brother, Teego, to bed after bathing the two boys, Det.-Const. Flett told the court. Mrs. Dooley said she remembered telling the boys during the bath, "they could be anything they wanted to be, if they put their mind to it," Det.-Const. Flett testified.
While attempting to put lotion on Randal after the bath, Mrs. Dooley said his "two feet came down hard on the rail, he fell hard," Det.-Const. Flett told the court.
In her statement, Mrs. Dooley said that after putting Randal to bed, she looked in on him in the middle of the night and moved the boy from the floor to lie on the bottom bunk next to Teego.
Mrs. Dooley said that at about 7:30 the next morning, she found Randal "face down, with his palms up."
Mr. Dooley's version of what happened was similar to that of his wife, according to the interview notes of Detective-Constable Charlene Van Dyk.
However, Mr. Dooley said he was asleep on the living room couch when he heard his wife screaming from the bathroom that Randal was biting her finger, Det.-Const. Van Dyk testified.
"I told her to leave him alone because he likes to misbehave," Mr. Dooley told the officer.
Randal's father also suggested he turned off the bath water and left his wife to put the two boys to bed.
The police statements of Tony and Marcia Dooley are different from the trial testimony of Teego, who is now 11 and lives with his aunt in Jamaica.
The older brother said Randal was trying to avoid a beating by their stepmother when he fell out of the bed's top bunk.
Teego testified that Randal was unresponsive and his stepmother attempted to put ice in the boy's mouth to revive him while he was sitting in a bath of cold water.
His father came in, turned off the light and he and and his stepmother left the two boys alone in the dark bathroom, Teego told the court.
Eventually, Teego said, he pulled Randal out of the bathtub, put him in new clothes and carried his younger brother to the bunk bed and lay down beside him that night.
The young boy testified that he learned the next morning Randal was dead.
