Detectives In Dodd Case Are Haunted By His Story

PORTLAND, Ore. - Two detectives say they were lucky the night they elicited the confession from Westley Allan Dodd that he had murdered three children.

Detectives C.W. Jensen and Dave Trimble have since transferred out of the homicide division, saying they are haunted by Dodd's diaries describing his gruesome plans to stalk and kill young boys.

Dodd, 31, is scheduled to die by hanging Jan. 5 at the Washington State Penitentiary.

The detectives had compiled a thick file of 160 names in their attempt to find who abducted, raped and murdered 4-year-old Lee Iseli of Portland in October 1989. On the night of Nov. 13, 1989, they got a break.

An officer from the Camas Police Department in Washington called Trimble at home to say there was a man in the Camas jail he might want to interview.

Earlier that night, the man had tried to abduct a 6-year-old boy from a Camas movie theater. The boy broke free and the man was caught several blocks away when his car broke down.

"We got lucky," Jensen said. "We got lucky he was caught . . . that we decided to interview him that night and that Dave and I used the right style on him during questioning."

Jensen, with the Portland Police Bureau's homicide unit, and Trimble, with the Clark County Sheriff's Department, were partners because the crime spanned two jurisdictions. The boy's body was discovered at Vancouver Lake in Clark County.

They learned Dodd lived near there and had a record of sex crimes against children.

Jensen and Trimble said they tried to be low-key in approaching Dodd. They introduced themselves and said they wanted to talk.

Dodd was cooperative. He admitted he had taken a child from the theater, but said he would never harm any child.

"I like kids. I love little children. I would never hurt a child," Dodd told the detectives.

"You can't blame us for asking," Jensen said. Dodd agreed.

"We have to prove one way or the other if you're involved," Jensen said.

Jensen told Dodd they would have to search his house and car. Then the detectives noticed Dodd seemed upset.

"Something's bugging you. We're here to help you. You got something hurting you inside," they told him.

Dodd's eyes began to water and he appeared on the verge of crying. He sighed and asked for a drink of water. Trimble got him some water while Jensen asked about Dodd's job and what he wanted to do in the future.

The detectives told Dodd that talking would make him feel better.

Dodd said he had a briefcase hidden under his bed. In it, Dodd said, the detectives would find things about "Lee and the other boys."

Jensen and Trimble looked at each other. A few weeks earlier, brothers William and Cole Neer were found stabbed to death in Vancouver park, but police had no suspects.

"Let's go back to the beginning," they told Dodd.

During the next three hours, Dodd confessed to killing Iseli and the two brothers.

Trimble said Dodd showed "no emotion" when he talked about what he did to the boys.

"It was like he was going over a shopping list," Trimble said. "I've never run into someone like that, someone who went that far over the edge."

Jensen calls Dodd "the ultimate all-star homicidal maniac."

Jensen said Dodd's diaries detailed how he murdered the three boys and also revealed violent sexual fantasies Dodd had of torturing and mutilating young boys. "We've given seminars on Dodd and have had law-enforcement officers faint, get sick and leave the room when we read portions of the diaries," Jensen said.

The case took an emotional toll on Jensen and Trimble, who are now administrators. Jensen, 37, is a lieutenant; Trimble, 36, a sergeant.

Jensen stayed in the homicide division for more than a year after the arrest.

"Every time the phone rang I prayed it was not going to be another case like this," he recalled. "I felt it was best to get out."

Jensen said he awaits the execution.

"For me, on a personal level, it will be a closure," he said.