On Valentine's Day morning in 2000, Jane Dorotik learned that her husband of 30 years was dead. The 55-year-old engineer and father of three was found on a road near their home, bludgeoned to death with a rope around his neck. Despite her denial of any involvement, Jane was arrested for murder. “48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 6/17/2002. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
I'm Dan Rather. He was a proud father of three, married to the same woman for 30 years. But when Bob Dorotek suddenly disappeared, the trail of suspicion led right back home. 48 hours, right now.
Chapter 2: Who was Bob Dorotik and what happened to him?
Bob Dorotek was a successful engineer and a proud father of three. His wife, Jane, was a medical company executive.
That's our wedding picture.
Married for 30 years, they lived with their daughter, Claire, on a beautiful horse farm.
The family has always been incredibly important.
Then one day... The minute I saw my mom's face, I knew right away something terrible had happened.
Bob disappeared.
He said he was going out for a jog. That was the last I talked to him.
But the truth was more sinister than that. It was obvious to me that it was a homicide. Imagine the shock when the trail of suspicion led right back home. Erin Moriarty investigates.
There's plenty of blood in that bedroom.
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Chapter 3: How did Jane Dorotik react to her husband's disappearance?
That was the day I decided to move all four mares up to the barn on top.
Just before she left the house, Jane says, she saw Bob in the living room.
Bob was sitting actually in this chair facing the TV. He had the newspapers on the ottoman. He said he was going out for a jog. And he was actually had his jogging suit on, was tying his shoes. That was it. That was the last I talked to him.
Three hours later, when Jane returned to the house, she says she was surprised that Bob hadn't returned. Were you concerned at that point?
You know, only a vague sense of, hmm, this is a longer run. But by 5, it was beginning to get dark, and I decided to go out and look.
This is the same route, Jane says, she took that late afternoon to search for Bob, driving up and down the steep hill where he sometimes ran. This kind of scares me just looking out in a car.
Yeah, and there's very little shoulder. I thought, well, maybe he fell off the side of the road and he broke his ankle and he's just sitting there calling, hoping somebody will hear him or find him. By 7.30, Jane was getting scared. I said, enough. This is enough. Something is wrong. And that's when I made the call to the Sheriff's Department.
Deputy James Blackman was first on the scene.
My first thought that night was maybe this man had a heart attack and fell down the embankment along Lake Wolford Road.
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Chapter 4: What evidence led to Jane Dorotik's arrest?
He had blood on his face. There was blood near the back of his head. And I could see that there was a rope around his neck. What did that say to you? It was obvious to me that it was a homicide.
Bob Dorotek had been severely bludgeoned and strangled.
How severely? He had extensive fractures to the skull, had lost a tremendous amount of blood, and strangulation was a contributing factor as to the cause of death as well as the bludgeoning.
How could this happen? How could somebody take away his life like this? Is there anybody you could think who would want to see your husband dead?
Nobody. Nobody. We sat and cried and prayed and wondered, how could this have happened? Who could have done this? None of us could figure it out. It was just pure, absolute shock.
But the biggest shock was yet to come. Three days after Bob's body was found, the police made an arrest.
There was only one person, in my opinion, that could have done this to Mr. Dorotek, and that was his wife, Jane Dorotek.
He said, you're under arrest. I was like, what? I just couldn't believe this would be happening.
Next on 48 Hours.
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