Emotional Testimony From Ex-Wife In Retrial Of Man Convicted In Arson Deaths Of His Two Children
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The ex-wife of the Philadelphia man accused of torching a home, killing their two young sons, recalled the horror of that night, 31-years ago, during the retrial on Wednesday.
Kathleen Dippel testified matter-of-factly about her failed relationship with the defendant, 56-year-old Daniel Dougherty, and how she planned in 1985 to get custody of her children, 4-year-old Danny and 3-year-old Johnny. The night of the house fire she went to the hospital when told the boys were taken there. That's when she found out they'd perished and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Suddenly she broke down into tears, many in the court choked up, and the jury was excused for a break.
Dougherty's former live-in girlfriend, Kathleen McGovern, also testified about the night of the fire in their Oxford Circle home. McGovern said Dougherty told her that "he woke up and the curtains were on fire."
Dougherty was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000, but he was granted a new trial by an appeals court.