Tue, Feb 09 2010
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Published November 05, 2009 11:11 am - Zoella Mae Dorland lived in a trailer in the Port City Mobile Home Park in Catoosa. Patti Adamson lived next door. She shot him through his cheatin’ heart ... The murder case of Zoella Mae Dorland By Joy Hampton CLAREMORE DAILY PROGRESS November 5, 2009 — (Editor’s Note: This is second in a four-part series on Claremore attorney Jack Gordon, Jr., and some of Rogers County’s most infamous murder trials.)
Zoella Mae Dorland lived in a trailer in the Port City Mobile Home Park in Catoosa. Patti Adamson lived next door. In 1975, Zoella was charged in the Feb. 4 shooting death of her husband Clarence. Claremore attorney Jack Gordon, Jr. was assigned to the case. It was his first murder trial. “She shot him dead through the heart with a .44 magnum in his girlfriend’s trailer right next to hers,” said Gordon. Newspaper accounts referred to Adamson as the neighbor. Larry Larkin was the staff writer on the courthouse beat for the Claremore Daily Progress at that time. He reported on the April 1975 murder trial, describing Zoella as the mother of “three small children.” Gordon said Dorland, Zoella’s husband, had a reputation as a heavy drinker. The following accounting of Zoella’s case was compiled from the combination of Gordon’s memories, Larkin’s stories as recorded in the Progress, and a variety of other sources and records. Dorland was killed by a single shot. Zoella was alleged to have stood outside and shot her husband through the open door of Patti Adamson’s trailer. District Judge William J. Whistler heard the case. District Attorney Sid Wise prosecuted the case assisted by Bill Higgins. Witnesses for the State included Deputy Sheriff Bill Murphy and investigator J.B. Hamby. In 1973, Catoosa had hired Hamby as its first chief of police. He was later murdered, killed in the line of duty by two gunmen during an armed holdup of the Catoosa Tag Agency in 1978. That murder is another infamous story in itself. In 1975, Hamby was a seasoned veteran of law enforcement and already something of a legend. He had around 15 years experience at the time of the Dorland murder trial. “J.B. Hamby single-handedly cleaned up Catoosa,” said Gordon of the legendary lawman. Gordon had been in law practice for three years and was still building his trial experience. He spent many of his early days in law practice examining land titles. During his cross-examination of Hamby, Gordon said he learned the meaning of humility. 
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