Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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McCALL — A McCall man was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week for shooting and killing his wife amid a domestic violence incident in February 2023.

Mark Dooley, 56, will be eligible to seek parole after 22 years in prison, under the sentence handed down by Third Judicial District Judge Jason Scott last Friday at the Valley County Courthouse in Cascade.

“This is the kind of crime that calls for a serious punishment,” Scott said before reading the sentence to Dooley and about two dozen people observing the hearing.

Lynne Dooley, 42, was shot in the back and the chest amid Mark Dooley’s drunken rage at the couple’s home in McCall’s Rio Vista Neighborhood on the afternoon of Feb. 18, 2023.

Hale Hawthorne, Lynne Dooley’s only biological child, recalled the horror of being at the home and hearing the gunshots during a statement he read in open in court.

“Finding peace has been impossible,” said Hawthorne, 30, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Mark shattered everything I once knew in the most horrific way possible.”

Hawthorne described how his mother shielded him from violence on the day of the shooting by locking herself in the room with Mark Dooley as he became more violent.

“She saved my life that day,” he said. “Had she not stood between me and that danger, and not kept that door locked, I do not believe I’d be here today.”

Boise attorney Michael Bartlett, who represented Dooley, cited his client’s longtime struggle with alcoholism in his argument for a 15-year prison sentence that would have allowed for parole after seven years served.

“Had Mark been sober, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Dooley, who attempted suicide by shooting himself after killing his wife, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.267, more than three times the legal limit to drive, hours after the murder.

A 45-minute video compilation of Dooley’s friends and family members was played in open court during the hearing at the request of Bartlett.

Dooley’s mother, brother and two adult daughters, among others, vouched for his character in the video and said his troubles with alcoholism became worse following a 2007 divorce from his first wife. A year later, in 2008, he married Lynne Dooley.

Valley County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Naugle agreed that Dooley’s intoxication led to the crime, but dismissed the idea that it should factor into his sentence.

“He shouldn’t pay a lower price than a sober person who commits a murder just because his murder began with the first drink,” Naugle said.

Naugle sought a 30-year sentence for Dooley with 25 years before parole eligibility, while Bartlett asked for a 15-year sentence with parole eligibility after seven years.

Scott ultimately agreed with Naugle and said Dooley’s alcoholism could be dangerous to society again.

“There’s no way of knowing if Mr. Dooley ever climbs that mountain and conquers that problem,” Scott said. “Ultimately, the fact that a person only does certain things when they’re drunk only goes so far.”

Dooley pleaded guilty to second degree murder on April 12 as part of an agreement with Naugle, who agreed not to seek a life sentence in exchange for Dooley’s guilty plea.

Dooley was facing a minimum sentence of 10 years and prison and up to life in prison with no parole, under state law.

Dooley also must pay court fees and $8,400 to Lynne Dooley’s family for costs associated with her death, under the sentence.

— Drew Dodson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday