Man Who Captured Dodd Would Like To Witness Execution

YAKIMA - Three years later, people still ask William Ray Graves about the night he caught child-killer Westley Allan Dodd.

After Dodd tried to kidnap a boy at a movie theater, Graves chased Dodd through the streets of Camas, grabbed him and held him until police arrived.

Dodd was convicted of killing three boys and is scheduled to hang Jan. 5.

"I would like to watch that myself. It would set my mind at ease," said Graves, whose life has taken several turns since he apprehended Dodd.

Graves was out of work then, a single father of five. For the capture he received more than $8,000 in rewards and several job offers.

Now 36, he has split up with his girlfriend and is engaged to another woman. He recently lost his job as a construction worker.

Catching Dodd changed his life, he said last week at his home in Washougal, Clark County.

"It's made me watch more. It was quite a learning experience for my family and the people around me and the community," he said. "I feel good about it."

Dodd was caught the night of Nov. 13, 1989, in Camas, a small town just east of Vancouver. The area was still shaken by the unsolved killings of two young brothers in September and a 4-year-old boy in late October of that year.

Graves went to the New Liberty Theater to watch "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" with his girlfriend and her son, 6-year-old James Kirk. The boy went to the bathroom and a few minutes later Graves and his girlfriend heard James crying.

Graves said they ran into the lobby and saw James rushing back into the theater in tears. He said he had been hit in the stomach by someone in the bathroom.

Graves asked theater employees who hit the boy. They described a man with black hair and a mustache who was wearing black clothes.

"Fire hit my eyes," Graves recalled.

CAR HAD ENGINE TROUBLE

He drove to the corner and a man in a truck told him about a yellow Ford Pinto that had driven away in a hurry. Graves drove about four blocks and spotted the Pinto, barely moving because of engine trouble.

Graves parked and walked up to Dodd's car, asking through the window if he needed help. Dodd pulled over, got out and raised the hood. Graves made his move.

"I tapped him on the shoulder and grabbed him by the arms and said `Why did you hit that kid in the theater?"' he said.

Dodd denied hitting anybody.

"I whipped him around and put a choke hold on him and said he was detained and we were going to the cops," Graves said. "I told him `If you try to get away I will snap your neck."'

VICTIMS' PICTURES FOUND

The two walked back to the theater, Dodd still in the choke hold. Graves had Dodd sit on the ground and bound his hands with a belt.

Police arrived and asked Graves to make a statement.

At the police station, Graves learned that officers had found pictures of the murdered boys in Dodd's possession.

That was his first indication that Dodd was not just some drunk who'd come to the theater to make trouble, Graves said.

"It's almost like fate, isn't it?" Police Lt. John Chaney said. "Dodd's engine happens to fail at the point where Graves was headed. The boy had the courage to scream and the people in the theater to respond. The sequence had to be just right for everything to fall into place."

Acclaim came quickly for those involved in the capture. James Kirk was praised for having the courage to scream and fight. Theater employees were praised for getting a description of Dodd, following him out of the theater and causing him to panic and release the boy.

For a long time Graves denied he was a hero, or that his motivations were particularly pure.

"I went after him to kick his ass," Graves said. "But everything changed after I caught him. I was not 100 percent sure he was the man. And if I had hurt him it would kind of make me like him."

Graves last saw Dodd when he was sentenced to death in 1990. Graves won't be allowed to witness the execution. The state will admit only 12 reporters and one member of each of the two victims' families.