Rochester man charged with attempted murder after domestic dispute hospitalizes two people

ROCHESTER — When Rochester Police arrived at 206 Snipatuit Road the evening of Friday, Aug. 7, they found two men fighting on the ground over an axe, both covered in blood.

Police arrested Theodore Labelle, 37, of Rochester after reports he attempted to strangle and gouge out the eyes of his 38-year-old girlfriend, Melissa Dodson, and struck his cousin, 55-year-old Billy Labelle, with an axe.

Theodore Labelle faces 11 charges, including two counts of attempted murder, assault to maim, domestic assault and battery, and mayhem. He has also been charged with strangulation/suffocation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping.

He was arraigned in Wareham District Court on Monday, Aug. 10 and will be held without bail until Friday, Aug. 14 for a probable cause hearing.

According to the police report, Melissa Dodson had gone outside of the house she lived in with Labelle to check on her boyfriend of five years. She told police they had been having a normal conversation when Theodore Labelle asked her if she loved him.

When she told him she did, he asked if she knew that he loved her, according to the report. She replied she didn’t know, and told police he said he did love her and immediately dug his fingers into her eyes.

Melissa Dodson reported he repeatedly punched her in the face, then wrapped both hands around her neck to choke her. She said he then slammed her to the ground by her neck, sat on her back and tried to pull her head back to snap it.

According to the report, Billy Labelle arrived at the house at this time. While Theodore Labelle was distracted Melissa Dodson was able to run inside, yelling for someone to call 911.

She told police she believed she was only able to escape because the sweatshirt she was wearing ripped, and that Theodore Labelle would have killed her if he had gotten her to the woods by the house.

Billy Labelle said he saw Melissa Dodson running across the yard, then saw his cousin take an axe from the back of his pick-up truck. He reported Theodore Labelle then came into Billy Labelle’s vehicle and began swinging the axe at him. 

According to the police report, Billy Labelle put his truck in drive and hit a tree, then grabbed the axe. Both men tumbled out of the truck, the report states, each still holding the axe. 

Police observed Billy Labelle had been struck multiple times with the axe, including on the back of his head, upper shoulders, right arm and chest. He was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital for his injuries.

Police arrived on the scene around 9:22 p.m.

Patrol officer Cailin White wrote in her report that she saw an axe on the ground and Laurie Labelle, Theodore Labelle’s mother, screaming at the men to stop.

When White entered the house, she reported she found Melissa Dodson sitting in a kitchen chair with an ice pack over her eyes.

“Melissa continued to shake and stated that she could not see and that Theo had tried to gouge her eyes out and that he had tried to kill her,” White wrote.

Melissa Dodson was initially taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford for medical treatment. She was then transferred to Rhode Island Hospital’s trauma center due to the severity of her injuries, which include a broken eye socket, a fractured nose and cuts and scrapes on her arms. 

Police reported she also had numerous cuts on her mouth, as well as bruises on her shoulder and leg.

Melissa Dodson’s mother, Lucille Dodson, told police Theodore Labelle had always been a “kind, quiet country boy,” but had become paranoid after a May incident at SEMASS, the waste facility where he worked. Since then, Lucille Dodson said he was “like a zombie” and appeared "possessed," according to the police report.