Michael J. Dobbs is led back down to the jail after a bail setting hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Police believe a 47-year-old man forged a will making himself the sole heir of a Chehalis man who died, posed as his relative and took over his house, personal property and car.
Michael J. Dobbs, from Centralia, has been under investigation since last September when relatives of Walter Pettit went to Pettit’s home near Chehalis Middle School and found it had been cleaned out and someone was remodeling it. Pettit was 55 when he passed away in January of last year, according to police.
Dobbs was arrested for theft and forgery but subsequently charged only with possession of methamphetamine, based on a baggie of meth found. At the time, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said further investigation needed to be conducted regarding the authenticity of the will.
Since then, a Chehalis Police Department detective has gotten Pettit’s purported signature on the document compared with his signature card at his bank by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, which concluded the signature on the will does not appear to be Pettit’s, according to Eric Eisenberg. The name is also misspelled, according to Eisenberg.
In addition, an individual who supposedly signed as witness, was shown the will and said she recalled signing a document, but not the one she was shown, Eisenberg said.
Dobbs was booked into the Lewis County Jail last week, and went before a judge where his bail was set at $20,000, plus another $20,000 for a bail jumping charge.
According to court documents, he pleaded guilty to the drug possession and was supposed to serve 30 days on electronic home monitoring, but vanished.
Dobbs was described as a full time parent of three children when he appeared in court in September. Court documents show his address on Centralia College Boulevard.
He is charged with first-degree theft, forgery, theft of a motor vehicle and also false statement to transfer title. The charges were filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Feb. 10.
Charging documents allege Dobbs pretended to be Pettit’s son when he transferred the man’s car into his own name, and told a funeral home he was Pettit’s nephew when they released Pettit’s cremated remains to him.
Court documents state that when asked about the dead man’s belongings, Dobbs offered several improbable stories about how they’d been stolen, returned and then stolen again.
His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.
Court papers indicate Dobbs has state IDs in Oregon and Maryland. He also has prior convictions in California, from the 1990s through 2001 for offenses such as spousal assault, burglary and receiving stolen property.
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For background, read “Centralia man questioned about dead man’s vehicle, home, belongings” from Friday Sept. 19, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
R.I.P You worthless P. O. S.
BleeBloo, you are oh so correct.
Fair enough, XDs, but how many people are going to misspell their own name on their will, which is (to most) a pretty important document? And while we’re at it, was there any kind of probate hearing held to execute this will? If there was, why didn’t the judge catch that?
Dobbs appears to be a real piece of work regardless, but this was a systemic failure because of lack of due diligence until last week.
stealing from dead people, he would make a perfect democrat
Guilty Bystander,
You have to make sure the case is solid & secure. You would be a fool not to.
Stealing from the dead…..not much lower.
This is the same guy who was accused of stabbing his girlfriend, Amy Moore, where in the end she admitted to stabbing herself. These two could share a jury pool and save the tax payers a bunch of money
Wait a minute…these two passages jumped out at me:
“At the time, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said further investigation needed to be conducted regarding the authenticity of the will.”
Makes sense, right? But now read this:
“…the signature on the will does not appear to be Pettit’s, according to Eric Eisenberg. The name is also misspelled, according to Eisenberg.”
If a man’s name is misspelled on a will, does that really require further investigation to determine its authenticity? And this guy is a deputy prosecutor. Terrific.