[Chicago JK]

Missing Player May Have Had Guns
Friend Says Dennehy Felt 'Threatened'
_____ From The Post _____




• Shortly before his disappearance, Patrick Dennehy, pictured, obtained firearms with the help of Carlton Dotson after being threatened by someone on the team, a friend told police.
• An informant tells police that Dennehy was shot in the head by a former Baylor teammate.




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By Greg Sandoval
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 2, 2003; Page D01


HURLOCK, Md., July 1 -- Shortly before his disappearance, Patrick Dennehy, the Baylor basketball player missing for almost three weeks, obtained firearms with the help of former roommate Carlton Dotson after being threatened by someone on the team, a friend of Dennehy's has told police.

Daniel Okopnyi, who met Dennehy six years ago while the two were freshmen at San Francisco area high schools, said today that he told Waco, Tex., police that Dennehy told him during a phone conversation on June 14 that "someone is out to get me."

Okopnyi declined to name the person who Dennehy said threatened him but Okopnyi told The Washington Post that it was not Dotson, a former star player at North Dorchester High in this town of 1,800 on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

"Patrick told me that he and Dotson got the guns to keep themselves safe," said Okopnyi, who lives in the Fort Worth area. "They had a gun, a rifle or shotgun, that they might have exchanged for another one. They were supposed to be helping each other. Now I don't know what to think."

Dotson spoke briefly tonight, saying only: "I have hired a lawyer and from now on everyone is going to have to go through him. I want everyone associated with this to know my prayers are with them."

Dotson's lawyer, Grady Irvin, said it was "too early in the case" to comment on Okopnyi's statement to police.

"I've only had a brief opportunity to spend with the family," Irvin said. "We're not going to give specifics or take a position. . . . My next step is to spend time with authorities to see if we can be of assistance."

Dotson spoke with police Friday and has not been charged or arrested.

Dennehy, 21, has not been seen since June 12, although Okopnyi said he talked with him on the phone two days later. Police in Delaware said an informant told them that Dotson told a cousin that he shot Dennehy in the head with a 9-millimeter handgun while the two were "shooting guns" in McLennan County, Tex., according to a court document released Monday. The informant said Dotson shot Dennehy after an argument during which Dennehy first pointed a gun at Dotson, according to the document, an affidavit used by Waco police to obtain a search warrant for Dennehy's computer.

Dotson's family members criticized the media this morning for reporting the informant's allegation.

"He hasn't been to court yet and the media has already tried and convicted him," Patricia Waters, a cousin of Dotson's, said in an interview in the family's home. "He's a good kid. Never been in any trouble."

Okopnyi was identified in the affidavit as a friend of Dennehy's. Dotson's family could not be reached late today to comment on Okopnyi's assertion that Dotson helped Dennehy obtain firearms.

According to Okopnyi, he called Dennehy on June 14 to invite him over the next day to celebrate his birthday, June 15.

Dennehy was "nervous and sounded paranoid," Okopnyi said. Okopnyi said that after telling him about the guns and the threats, Dennehy said he had discussed the threats with the Baylor coaching staff. Okopnyi said Dennehy then told him he had much more to say but that it could wait until he arrived at Okopnyi's home in Fort Worth the next day.

That was the last time Okopnyi spoke to Dennehy.

"I told him he was going too fast and not to think about it anymore," Okopnyi said. "I tried to reassure him that it was going to be okay."

Baylor spokesman Scott Stricklin said he did not know whether Dotson and Dennehy had obtained firearms and would not comment about Dennehy possibly being threatened. Stricklin defended the school's actions during the investigation.

"Anything we have learned about we have turned over to the police and chosen not to talk publicly about it at this time," Stricklin said. "Let's say the coaching staff was aware of the threat. We would have turned it over to investigators."

Okopnyi said he received a phone call a day or two later from Dennehy's girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, who was crying. She told him that she was afraid because of the threats Dennehy had received. De La Rosa asked Okopnyi to pick up and care for Dennehy's dogs, who hadn't been fed in days.

"He had never done anything like that, leave without calling or telling someone," Okopnyi said. "And then we hear about him supposedly being shot in the head and it's made my entire family sick and scared. He was a part of this family."

In the affidavit released Monday, De La Rosa told police that Dennehy had been threatened by someone named Harvey. She met Dennehy at the University of New Mexico, before he transferred to Baylor after walking off the court during a game and being dismissed from the team.

Dennehy's vehicle, a 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe, was found stripped of its license plates in the parking lot of a Virginia Beach shopping center last week, more than 1,400 miles from Waco and 150 miles from Dotson's home in Hurlock. Dennehy is not believed to have any ties to the Virginia Beach area.

Officials from the Waco Police Department say they continue to treat this case as a missing person's investigation.

"If Dennehy had been threatened, I don't have that information," said Steve Anderson, public information officer for the Waco Police. "That's not to say that it isn't true, but I can't verify it at this moment.

"We're not going to rush this case or leave any stone unturned. Detectives are continuing to interview individuals even as we speak."

Anderson said that the number of tips Waco police officials have received has risen sharply because of the intense media coverage.

Waco police, with the help of the FBI, searched a 50-acre tract of land near Leroy, Tex., last Friday, Anderson said. The area was searched with the aid of cadaver dogs, Anderson said.

Irvin represents former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson, charged in Leon County, Fla., with grand theft, petty theft and forgery. An earlier charge of gambling against McPherson was tried and resulted in a mistrial.

Irvin arrived in Maryland tonight and met with Dotson and members of his family for the first time.

"My personal prayers go out to the Dennehy family during this period of grief and uncertainty," Irvin said. "We are specifically requesting members of the media respect the privacy."

A slew of reporters descended today on Hurlock, where Dotson was raised by his grandparents, Mildred and Gilbert Waters, who are his legal guardians.

Chris Waters, Patricia's brother and a great-grandson of Mildred and Gilbert Waters, said this morning that Dotson is nearby and "isn't hiding out. He's not running. He doesn't have to. Nobody has charged him with anything."

Dennehy, who transferred last fall, was ineligible to compete last season because of NCAA transfer rules. Friends and family said Dennehy and Dotson, who averaged 4.4 points for the Bears last season, grew close in a short time and were often seen together.