A plumber called to a Spanaway home was shot to death. This is what authorities found
A Spanaway man charged in the shooting death of a plumber had a cache of weapons and ammunition and recently called a veteran’s crisis line after allegedly threatening to kill his son, Pierce County court records show.
Jacques Noel Dothard, 55, is accused of firing roughly seven rounds through the driver’s side door of a Beacon Plumbing work truck on Monday evening, fatally striking an employee who Dothard had called to his residence after reportedly running over a drain pipe, according to a charging document.
The victim, identified in court records only as “T.L.,” was found by sheriff’s deputies slumped over in the truck’s cab with blood on his face and neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records did not indicate a possible motive for the alleged homicide. But a representative for Beacon Plumbing reported to a Pierce County Sheriff’s detective that the victim had called his work to say that Dothard was upset because the victim had hit and damaged a gate, according to the charging document.
Surveillance video provided by a neighbor showed Dothard and the victim standing outside the truck at 7:55 p.m., a little more than an hour after prosecutors say the plumber was called to Dothard’s residence. When the victim returned to his truck, Dothard allegedly walked to the driver’s side door and fired into the vehicle.
Dothard was taken into custody without incident outside his residence in the 1000 block of Military Road. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder and five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and remained in custody as of Friday on $1.5 million bail, court records show.
Detectives obtained search warrants for Dothard’s residence and a neighbor’s home, where Dothard reportedly left weapons after the shooting and confessed to having shot someone, according to the charging document.
Authorities said they found gun cases for rifles and pistols, three .40-caliber magazines and several empty 30-round magazines in Dothard’s bedroom. They said they also discovered a 9 mm handgun on the neighbor’s front porch. In the neighbor’s detached shop, authorities said they found ammunition and a ballistic vest with Dothard’s name on it, as well as four loaded weapons: a Ruger Mini 14 rifle, an AR-15 pistol, a Sig Sauer .40-caliber handgun and a Glock handgun.
The sheriff’s department received a welfare check request on March 28 from the Veteran’s Crisis Line, which had advised that Dothard, who is believed to be a military veteran, was in a dispute with his son, according to the charging document. Dothard had reportedly threatened to kill his son, although his son was not present.
Deputies apparently did not conduct the welfare check, court records show.
