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Dolin trial date set

By Staff | May 25, 2011

If Todd Dolin goes to trial on the date set Monday, more than three years will have passed since he allegedly shot Lua Zervos-Wolverton to death.

Dolin, 41, of Glen Easton appeared in Tyler County Circuit Court to allow his attorneys to review the questionnaire that is being sent to 45 residents in anticipation of an Aug. 15 trial. The case was moved from Marshall County in March after a mistrial was declared due to the lack of a sufficient jury pool.

Dolin faces a murder charge following a July 18, 2008 incident in which he allegedly shot his girlfriend, Lua Zervos-Wolverton, 43, at the Dallas Post Office. Zervos-Wolverton was the postmaster of that office.

Court documents allege Dolin entered the Dallas Post Office with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot Zervos-Wolverton at point-blank range. Zervos-Wolverton was able to speak to a Marshall County 911 dispatcher and tell a West Virginia State Police trooper at the scene that “her boyfriend, Todd Dolin, shot her.” She told the trooper the two had been having relationship problems.

Emergency personnel transported Zervos-Wolverton to Morgantown via medical helicopter, where she died a short time later. State Police confiscated the shotgun, which had been left at the scene, and apprehended Dolin later in Zanesville, Ohio.

A trial has been set in the case on several occasions, including March’s mistrial and in October 2010. That trial was canceled after Dolin’s attorneys requested to be removed from the case and new attorneys found.

Attorneys William Gallagher and Keith Hart were assigned to the case and created an 82-item questionnaire to be sent to potential Marshall County jurors. From the more than 75 questionnaires sent, 46 were called to jury duty for the March trial. After two days of searching, it was decided the necessary 24 potential jurors could not be found, and Marshall County Circuit Judge Mark A. Karl declared a mistrial.

Similar questionnaires will be sent out to 45 potential jurors prior to the August trial date. Marshall County Prosecutor Jeff Cramer had previously objected to the sending of those questionnaires, though that objection was overruled by Karl.