Kings County man wants to stand trial for murder in Kings County in 2022
A 72-year-old man from Kings County is facing trial on second-degree murder charges in the death of a woman he lived with in Kingsport last year.
Douglas Edward Smith was charged after driving to the RCMP office in New Minas on May 1, claiming to have killed 72-year-old Iris Dodd at their Kingsport rental home the day before. The police arrested him and found Dodd’s body when they went to the house.
Smith was scheduled for a two-day hearing on Wednesday and Thursday in Kentville county court, but it lasted just half a day on Wednesday after attorney Ken Greer made some confessions that expedited the process. Three witnesses were called, but their evidence cannot be reported under a standard publication ban.
Smith will appear in Kentville Supreme Court later this month to set a trial date.
RCMP has not confirmed the nature of the relationship between Smith and Dodd. Neighbors who spoke to The Chronicle Herald after her body was found said Smith and Dodd had moved into the house about five years earlier and were reclusive and quiet.
Some neighbors described Smith and Dodd as husband and wife, but at least one didn’t even know a woman lived in the home until police searched the neighborhood. Most had only spoken to Smith once or twice.
