Gary Dodds and the Bizarre Story of a Congressional Candidate

I moved to New Hampshire in 2007. I expected calm, country living and for the most part that's what I found. Since I moved here, however, I have been witness to one of the most bizarre series of events I can ever recall by a mainstream political candidate. I am talking about former congressional candidate Gary Dodds and the entire story is playing out right here in Strafford County, where I live. Gary Dodds has been headline news here, virtually from the day I moved to New Hampshire. Today, Gary Dodds is at it again.

The Accident

It all started back during the 2006 congressional campaign. During the campaign, Gary Dodds went missing. His car was found, apparently the result of an accident in which it ran off the road. Gary Dodds was nowhere to be found at the scene of the crash. A massive search effort was launched with dogs and helicopters to find the missing candidate. He finally turned up 27 hours later, suffering from frost bite, and complaining of a head injury, but in decent condition. OK, so far no problems. Unusual, but it could happen. Gary Dodds claimed he hit his head in the accident and wandered confused in the winter woods for the 27 hours until he was found by search dogs.

The Investigation

Then the story took a bizarre turn. Police announced that they were investigating the accident. They said the facts didn't fit the circumstances. Gary Dodds claimed to have swum across a freezing cold river sometime during the night when he was missing. Only his shoes and socks were wet. He had frostbite, but only on his feet. His hands and face had no similar damage as many experts suggested they should if he were outside for 27 hours in the dead of the New Hampshire winter after swimming a river.

The Trial of Gary Dodds

In January of 2008, more than a year after the incident, Gary Dodds was put on trial for faking his disappearance with a motive of drawing attention to his faltering 2006 campaign against Carol Shea-Porter. The trial was long and drawn out. Gary Dodds seemed like a normal person at every point. He was amazed and outraged that such accusations were being made and suspected that they were politically motivated. He sounded like any politician and quite reasonable. The evidence presented on TV seemed to be a lot of opinion-based testimony. Paramedics said they thought it was unusual for only his feet to be frost-bitten. Experts testified that the frost-bite was consistent with soaking his feet in a bucket of ice-water to fake long-term exposure... really? That sounds kind of far-fetched to me. I was even beginning to think perhaps Gary Dodds was being railroaded as he claimed.

Gary Dodds' Sentence

At any rate, Gary Dodds, erstwhile congressional contender from New Hampshire, was convicted, in part because his body temperature when found was warmer than experts said it should have been. He maintained his innocence after he was convicted, though his political ambitions for all time were completely crushed by the event and surrounding publicity. Gary Dodds was sentenced to 20 days in jail for faking his disappearance and ordered to pay $21,000 restitution for the cost of the search and rescue effort. But, alas, that was not to be the end of the story. Not even close.

Attempting to Flee the Country?

In April of 2008, while out on bail pending the appeal of the case, Gary Dodds filed paperwork to renew his passport citing a pending trip to South America to work with a church group as he had done several times before. Of course, with a jail sentence still pending, authorities quickly moved to change his bail conditions to prevent such travel.

Gary Dodds Arrested Again

So stay with me now. The pace is about to pick up. In May, Gary Dodds was arrested again. This time because his wife reported that he assaulted her and was behaving irrationally. During the discussion with police, Mrs. Dodds informed them that despite his bail conditions, he was not living at the address that he left on file with the police, and had made an unauthorized trip to Florida. A couple of days later he was released from jail with an electronic bracelet on his ankle so police could keep track of the wandering Mr. Dodds. His lawyers claimed that dealing with the conviction for a crime that he didn't commit had caused tremendous stress on the man and his relationship with his wife, a plausible explanation.

Gary Dodds Faces Kidnapping Charges?

On July 4th, Gary Dodds was arrested again at his Portsmouth, New Hampshire home. A smiling and seemingly jovial Dodds was led past cameras as he was escorted to jail. Ok, by this time I was convinced that the man is disturbed. The charges were simple assault and false imprisonment . After the judge learns of these incidents and hears testimony from his wife about threats, kidnapping, and more, Dodds' bail is revoked on July 14^th and he is kept in jail this time to serve his 20 day sentence. Nothing more is heard from him for two whole days, but apparently 20 days in Strafford County Jail is too much for any man to bear.

Gary Dodds Found Unresponsive, but Otherwise Healthy...?

On July 16^th, Dodds is removed from his cell and brought to the hospital. Authorities claim he is in an unresponsive state. An unresponsive state? A coma? What's going on now? Authorities told us that his his wife and lawyer have been in to visit him. And then, according to WMUR.com, the website of the local TV news station, Tom Velardi, the Strafford County Attorney went on to say he was in "sound physical health, but refuses to talk to anybody." The Strafford County Sheriff reports that Dodds received a phone call shortly before he was found lying down in his cell in the unresponsive state.

The Fall of a Congressional Candidate

Gary Dodds, in 2006, was a viable candidate for the United States Congress. Now two years later, after a series of bizarre events that are still unfolding, it is hard to believe that this man was even remotely considered for office. Then again, those who do get elected have been known to exhibit some pretty bizarre behavior as well. Maybe it just goes with the territory, and you really have to be a little crazy to want to run for office. That would explain a lot. I have a feeling that the bizarre story of Gary Dodds is to be continued...