Auburn Professor Slaughtered While Walking Her Dog

She was a beloved Auburn University. professor, a trailblazer in veterary. medicine, and a devoted mother. But just. this past weekend, Dr. Julie Gard. Chenelli took her dog for a walk and was. savagely killed. And as a community. mourns, police say they have a suspect. Here's what we know. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music]. We go to Auburn, Alabama. Retired Auburn. University professor and veterinarian.

Dr. Julie Gardinelli is found dead. She. is found dead in a wooded area of the. Keyasel Park this past Saturday, September 6th. According to WBL, she had. driven to the park to just simply walk. her dog. This is a place she apparently. loved to go. WWNYTV. reports that investigators have. concluded her injuries were consistent. with a brutal assault that caused her. death. The Lee County Coroner said that. the doctor's injuries appeared to be.

consistent with the use of a sharp force. instrument. Talking quote multiple sharp. force injuries. And this is important, too. Apparently, her car had been. stolen, too. A red Ford F-150. She was. 59 years old. She was a mother. She. taught at the Auburn University College. of Veterary Medicine from 2003 to 2021. According to the New York Times, she. specialized in animal reproduction, dairy production, boine embryology.

According to the university, the doctor. earned her degree in veterary medicine. in 1996. She became a professor in 2015. She even worked, by the way, at one. point for the US Department of. Agriculture. Dr. Alan Riley, an Auburn. alum program chairman of the Jefferson. County Veterary Medical Association, said he is in shock. Explained that Dr. Dr. Chanelli had taught a professional. certification class for vets in. Birmingham just last month and said. quote she's been here before speaking to.

veterinarians from all over the state. She was well known. Auburn University. released a statement. Quote Julie. Gardinelli DVM PhD was a beloved member. of the Auburn University's College of. Veterary Medicine and the Auburn family. She served as a faculty member in the. department of clinical sciences in the. large animal food animal section from. 2003 to 2021 when she retired as a. professor ammerita. She was a cherished. educator, mentor and colleague whose.

dedication to students and passion for. the genealogy and veterary medicine left. a lasting impact on Auburn. Dr. Guard. Chanel's legacy of compassion, scholarship, and service will continue. to inspire generations of veterinarians. The Auburn Police Department is leading. the investigation and all questions. should be referred to them. Auburn sends. our sincere condolences to the family. and loved ones of Dr. Guard Chinelli. during this unimaginably difficult time. Destiny Beardarden Patterson, a former. student and friend, told al.com, "She.

was amazing. She was a force. She was. only a little bit over 5'2, not your. typical large animal veterinarian. She. was a force in this world. Such a. bright, bright light. just an all-around. wonderful human being that is going to. be missed terribly. And she explained. how the doctor loved to run at Keiesel. Park, took her dogs with her there. And. as I ask on so many episodes of Sidebar, who would do this? Well, this is where. we go to the next chapter because police. have made an arrest. 28-year-old Harold.

Rashad Dabney III. He has been charged. with two counts of capital murder. We. are talking about the potential of the. death penalty on the table. How did they. catch him? This is interesting. Apparently, law enforcement was called. the next morning, Sunday, and they were. called regarding a suspicious person. that was located about 3 to four miles. from the park at around 8:30 a.m. That. is when they moved in. Now, reporting is. kind of limited on this. We don't know.

exactly what he said, what he did, how. he appeared, but law enforcement. reportedly observed something for them. to say he's the suspect. He's the. killer. Although officials apparently. believe he stole her car after the. killing. And by the way, it's been. reported that that car has been found, too. They believe that he abandoned that. car in a pumpkin patch. By the way, her. dog that she was walking with, located, found, reportedly okay, has not been.

harmed. Now, authorities are being tight. lipped. They're not providing a lot of. details of the alleged murder or again. what evidence they have linking Dabney. to the attack, the circumstances. surrounding the arrest. We do know. though, he's currently being held. without bond at the Lee County Jail. But. I do want to talk about this. By the. way, talking about a video like this, let me tell you, we here at Sidebar, we. produce so many video clips a day. We. use a platform called Opus Clip. This. may be a very big interest to you. because it's an all-in-one AI editor. that makes it easier and faster to cut,

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just one button. And if you're wondering. how good these AI edited video clips are. from Opus Clip, I mean, just look at our. content here at Long Crime. Our. producers have used Opus to help us cut. and share some of our most major trial. clips, and we get them to you very, very. fast. At Sidebar, we know our listeners. have a lot of opinions and ideas to. share, and this is the most powerful. tool there is to help you edit like a. pro and grow your own audience. So, give. it a try for yourself. Go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to start creating your own videos today. All right, so I want to get into what. may be happening here and I want to. bring on Michael P. Hanley, who's a.

criminal defense attorney out of. Birmingham, Alabama. Thank you so much. for taking the time. First of all, is. this big news there? Because it's making. waves across the entire country. It. feels so shocking. Are a lot of people. talking about this? Um it is it is being. covered widely in the news. In my in my. circles it's not getting a lot of uh of. reaction because frankly we see this. type of capital murder charge every. week. >> You you see charges like this every.

week? >> Yes. Yes, we do. Um, more and more of our counties around the. state of Alabama are charging capital. murders uh regularly. Uh, in in my. hometown, Birmingham and Jefferson. County, there is a capital murder trial, every jury term, and that's 32 weeks a. year. and sometimes multiple judges. We. have six judges who do trial level work.

in Jefferson County. You can bet that at. least one or two of them will have a. capital murder trial every trial. Let me just ask about that for a second. So to be clear, you are saying you are. having defendants who are being charged. with capital murder where the death. penalty is being pursued and on the. table. And if I'm correct about this, why are you seeing prosecutors doing. that? And is that a backlog of death.

penalty cases? Because you you and I. both know it can take a long time. between some when someone's actually. convicted and actually there there's a. sentence of death that's imposed versus. when they're actually executed. I mean, let's start right there. Why are we. seeing this kind of uh I I I don't even. know what the right word is, not. preference, but we're seeing prosecutors. moving forward with capital murder. So, they're moving forward with the death. penalty in every one of these cases. >> Um, my my opinion is that a lot of.

district attorney's office overcharge. cases. uh as capital when they could. technically be a felony murder or just. an intentional murder. Uh, it adds a a. degree of leverage to them. uh when the. cases are being negotiated and litigated. uh they know that they can simply pull. death off the table and and changes the. entire dynamic of a case. You know, one. of my good friends is trying a capital.

murder trial this week in Jefferson. County, a double homicide. Uh so, you know, it happens routinely. and I think it's done with some degree. of intention. >> Let's talk about what's happening here. The charges here, we're talking about. two counts of capital murder. According. to WBL, one is capital murder kidnapping. and another is capital murder robbery. That's what the reporting indicates. So, one appears to be a killing during the. course of an abduction, right, of this.

professor, I suppose. And the other is a. killing during maybe the course of. allegedly trying to take the car. Why. would you have two charges here? And. what does that say about the theory of. the case? >> Well, I don't think it says anything. about the theory of the case at this. moment because it just happened. Um, the. district attorney's office and the local. law enforcement in Lee County are still. investigating this case, but they know.

that there's a death and they know that. there was a vehicle, an F-150 pickup. truck, uh, that was taken from the. victim. And so it becomes easy for them. to charge in district court by way of. criminal complaint. Uh this particular. defendant with capital murder in a. robbery. Uh they found the vehicle. nearby where he was. Uh the kidnapping. is is somewhat questionable. I don't. know what their basis is for that. But.

these are easy charges to file on the. front. >> Well Well, does it I'm going to push. back a little bit. To me it does say. something. It says that the intent was. to take the car, right? It's different. if somebody were to kill somebody and. then afterwards take the car to escape. I don't know if they would be able to. say that was robbery per se. Doesn't it. give them a theory about well he was. trying allegedly trying to abduct her or. allegedly trying to take the car? Maybe. I'm wrong about that. But that doesn't. this seem to indicate what the.

motivation might have been the sequence. of events at the very least? >> Yes, it does. And I don't disagree with. you that the the robbery seems to make a. lot more sense. initially uh because they find that the. car is not where she may have left it. It's seen in the area where you know. this person is arrested. So yes, the. robbery capital murder robbery seems to. make sense. What I don't understand is. where the kidnapping aspect of that is,

>> right? >> If you know, if she's in the dog park. walking her dog, uh, and he, you know, confronts her, accosts her, kills her, and takes her keys and leaves, >> it just may be harder for them to to. connect those dots, but it's very early. in this process. Do you think it's the. circumstances here of this beloved. Auburn professor who was killed in this. park where they're saying we need to. make an example of this? This is an. egregious crime. This is also warranting. seeking again if they are seeking this.

and I believe that they are seeking the. death penalty in this case. >> Um I don't know that it says as much. about the circumstances as it does just. the violent nature of the crime. Um, yes, it was this was a professor or a. former professor from Auburn who was. killed. Uh, but apparently the the the. violent nature of this offense uh. leaving uh the professor in in the dog.

park um to be found by you know some. passer by eventually uh is. is part of what's going on with that. Uh, I think um this is a a young man who. from my research has no prior, you know, felony arrest, let alone convictions. He's got a prior, you know, traffic. violation. So, he's not uh some history. of violent, you know, conduct that. causes them to seek this this crime and.

punishment. So, I think it's got to have. some factor into, you know, her status. there at Auburn and and the violent. nature of the offense. In your. experience, what you're seeing right. now, is it tough to find a death penalty. qualified jury? Is it tough finding jury. members who say they are open to. imposing the death penalty? >> Uh, I think far far from it. You know, uh, we're able to seat juries in every. capital case. Uh, the struggle is for.

criminal defense lawyers to to death to. not death qualify, but to life qualify a. jury. uh to get a jury to understand. that death is not demanded in a capital. case. That life without the possibility. of parole is is an equal uh punishment. and it it should be considered. So, no, we don't have any problems, you know, qualifying juries. Uh it's very hard for. defense lawyers to kind of do our job to.

make sure that they understand that. death is not the only option. In other. words, in Alabama, what you're seeing is. in these trials where death penalties on. the table, you were seeing a majority of. jurors voting in favor of the imposition. of the death penalty. >> Um, no, I think it depends on where. you're at. >> Okay. >> I think, you know, Jefferson County has. a a history of returning fewer death. verdicts in capital verdict cases. Uh.

and I think it's the cosmopolitan nature. of our community, the uh the mixed, you. know, uh. origins and nationalities that we have. We're more of a big city. Uh as you get. out into some of the smaller, uh areas, smaller counties around the state, you. have more death verdicts. And I think. that's because of the rural composition. you have less of a an influx of of. influence in those kind of areas.

>> What is the execution rate in Alabama? In other words, how often does it. happen? How soon after conviction could. you see someone being executed? And I. know that can be a long road given. appeals and habius corpus motions for. them to be released. But uh what is as. you know what are we seeing in terms of. the actual execution rate? How often. does it happen and how soon after a. conviction? We we have over a hundred. people on death row. Um Alabama has not.

been very quick to execute people. Uh. we've recently changed from lethal. injection as as the primary option for. death to using nitrogen hypoxia. uh which is a relatively un uh chartered. area of of execution. We have you know. another person scheduled here I think in. October or November of this year. Uh it. will be the I believe the fourth.

execution by nitrogen hypoxia uh within. the past year. So uh we have started to. see more executions scheduled now that. nitrogen hypoxia seems to be an. effective way at least effective for the. state uh of imposing that death. sentence. Um we we have hundreds of cases that are. being you brought every year uh in. capital murder cases. We're not making a.

dent in the population that are sitting. in uh in our uh home and prison there in. death row. Uh they did, you know, a few. years ago enacted the Fair Justice Act. I believe that was the name of it that. requires. um criminal appeals in death penalty. cases and uh rule 32s which is similar. to a habius petition uh to coincide at. the same time uh in an effort for the. state's effort to to speed up that.

process. It's not unusual to have cases. uh death cases linger for 15 20 25 years. uh before an execution takes place. And. so that was their attempt to, you know, speed up the process. It's relatively. new, so I'm not sure how it's working. >> Why are police, let's go to this case. more specifically. Why are police. seemingly not revealing any information. about the killing or the arrest? >> Um, as I said, it just happened. You.

know, it's it makes the news because, you know, it's a violent death. It's a. person of of known interest in the. Auburn community, but they're still. investigating this case. Um, you know, the it's been three days, four days. today. Uh, I don't know that the young. man has had an opportunity to be seen by. a judge. Uh, when I looked yesterday, he. had not been seen by a judge. Uh, he had.

not been appointed an attorney to. represent. So, it's it's very early in. the process. And I think law enforcement. is is kind of purposefully not throwing. a lot of stuff into the meat. >> But but but you and I both know that. sometimes law enforcement or prosecutors. can make announcements or have press. conferences once there's an arrest even. before there's a an arraignment. Um what. is the danger of releasing information. at this point? Or is it just they're. still trying to figure out what. happened? But at the same point, they.

had enough to say we believe he's the. suspect. They haven't indicated what. those observations were from law. enforcement to say he was the guy. Why. not release that information right now? Is there a danger? What is that danger? >> Well, I I I found that interesting as. well. The these unknown actions that. potentially linked him to this crime. I'd be curious to see what those are. Um. and and why they're not disclosing those. is interesting as well.

um maybe he's not the right person. That's one potential. Uh or maybe. there's more than one person involved in. this. Uh and they're trying to follow up. those leads. So, I I think it's prudent. police alert not to go out there and. release a bunch of details if there's. some some questions remaining about how. this happened. And that may be part of. the kidnapping, you know, portion of it. as well. >> Yeah. And again, I laid it out before. kind of what led to him suspicious. They.

observed something. Generally speaking, in your experience, what do you think. possibly? What do you think law. enforcement's observations were that led. to his arrest? Could it be I mean, what. do you think he was doing or saying or. acting or had on him or the way he. appeared? What What do you think. generally what could be observations. that led to his arrest? Well, I think. the obvious, you know, observation would. be uh does he have blood on him? And we.

don't we don't know how that the victim. was was killed. Uh but does he have. blood on him? Does he have a weapon in. his hands of some? Um is he coherent? Is he making sense? Uh is he talking about, you know, this. what happened? Is he is he making. statements as he's standing there in. public? Um It's hard to to, you know, weigh in on what those observations.

could be, but I mean, there's there's. numerous things. >> By by the way, if you were assigned his. case, okay, how how does it work for. anybody listening? Do you say you sit. down with a client and you say, "Okay, did you do it?" Or do you say, "Okay, tell me what happened." How does that. initial meeting work with a client? >> Um, I don't ever ask my clients, "Did. you do it?". >> Okay. My job as a criminal offense. lawyer is to zealously represent my. client. Um, I'm going to ask them, tell.

me what happened. Tell me your version. of the facts in this case. Uh, it's. important for me to get that type of. information, my client, as well as, you. know, I want to know who you are. I want. I want a biography. I want to know about. you. Um, and then we'll we'll get around. to what does the the state of Alabama. say the facts are. Um, and and at that. point then we can begin to have com. meaningful conversations with the client.

about, okay, this is what they say, you. know, did you have a cell phone with. you? Is, you know, is there did they. seize your cell phone? Is there going to. be some type of data dump from your cell. phone that's going to provide law. enforcement with additional information? Tell me about that. You know, what are. they going to see when they look at your. phone? So, I I'm more interested in. hearing what my client's version of the. facts are and, you know, the potential.

pitfalls that that we may see as we. begin to navigate the case. >> Do you know why I asked you that. question? I'll tell you why. because I. just was in Crime Con in Denver this. past weekend, okay? >> And I got asked multiple times, what. happens if you're representing somebody. and they say, >> "I did it. I committed this murder, but. I want you to get me off. What do you do. then? What does a defense attorney do. then? What is their obligations at that. point?" A lot of people came up to ask. me, so I throw the question to you.

My, as I said before, my my obligation. to my clients is to to zealously. represent them, to vigorously defend. them, and that involves whether they're. guilty or not. Um, you begin to build a. case. You you work the case, you work. the facts, you force the state of. Alabama, in my in my jurisdiction or US. attorney's office to prove their case, >> right? Um it it's not about whether your. client is is guilty or not. Can the.

government can the state prove that. guilt. Uh and that's why we have jury. trial. >> That's exactly what that's exactly what. I said. I said the prosecution has a. burden and it is the job of a defense. attorney to hold the prosecution to that. burden. And every criminal defendant. whether they not has is entitled. They. have a constitutional right. >> I I'm not concerned about whether my. client is is factually guilty or not. not my not my responsibility. Mine is to. defend him and to force the state uh to.

do their job and that's what we have. trials for. >> What do you think is happening right now. behind the scenes? Do you think that. they've interviewed them interviewed. him? Um are they looking into his life? What do you think is going on right now? >> Uh I think that they've tried to talk to. him. You know, if he was smart, he would. ask for a lawyer. Uh, I can't say that. always happens with my clients. Um, did.

they go through that process properly? Did they memorandize him? Did they tell. him he had a right to an attorney? And. so on. I I think they're also looking. for other sources of of corroborating. information. Are there surveillance. cameras in and around that area? Can. they use the flock camera system to, you. know, track, you know, the victim's. drive to the park? When did she get. there? How long was she there? Uh, is. there other, you know, corroborating.

evidence that they can go out there and. find? Are there people who potentially. saw an interaction between, you know, the defendant and the victim? So, there's a lot of things that law. enforcement is probably trying to get. cell phone records, hers and his if he. had a cell phone. Um, so yeah, I mean. there's a lot of stuff going on in the. background trying to confirm, you know, what they may believe is is. actually happening here and if not, you.

know, how it changes their course of the. investigation. >> According to Action 8 News, Mr. Dabney. may have a criminal history here. consisting of being charged back in. December of 2023 of possessing a saw-off. shotgun. So, not only a crime, it's a. felony. You know, for our audience, a. crime punishable, but you're in prison. Uh, this was out in Virginia Beach. However, prosecutors apparently they. didn't move forward with the felony. charge. They did move forward on. misdemeanor gun, public intoxication, and trespassing charges. He was found.

guilty on those. Um, Michael, why a why. drop a felony charge? And b, is any of. that going to affect his current case? Um, it's hard to say why the district. attorney out in Virginia may have, you. know, chosen to plea bargain away from. that felony. Um, there could be a number. of reasons, but I can't speculate on. that. Will it have some impact on his. case here? Yes, he he's going to ask for. a bond at some point in time. Right now,

he's got a no bond. Once he's assigned. an attorney or attorney is retained by, you know, family, um, he's going to want. to ask the court to grant him a bond. And the DA's office is certainly going. to bring up that fact as as a mitigate. as a an aggravator as a reason why he's. considered a danger uh, and shouldn't be. released. And so, yes, it's going to. have some bearing on the future bond. issues in his case.

>> Is this going to matter? Let me let me. throw this to you. So apparently at. first Auburn police said that Dabney was. from Montgomery. The arrest paperwork. came out and apparently says his address. is in Auburn. So Assistant Chief Mike. Harris came out and said that police. spoke with Dabney regarding a. misdemeanor obstructing governmental. operations charge for allegedly refusing. to private his address. But then he. eventually gives the Auburn address. Chief Harris says, quote, "We are still. actively investigating and working to. determine any connection to addresses.

here in Auburn. The Dunford address was. used on the warrant because it was the. last known address he personally. provided, but his driver's license lists. a Montgomery address. Is anything. important about that?". >> I I don't think so. His. >> Okay. >> His home address, where he physically. resides, is irrelevant to the charges. um whether he was from Montgomery and. drove over to Auburn or what whether he. was from Lee County and happened to be. in the area is not going to change, you.

know, his his criminal charges. Now, it. may have some question about bomb. You. know, where do you where do you actually. live? Um is there someplace that we can. tie an address to? Because eventually. family's going to say, "Hey, we want him. out. if we get him out, he's going to. come live with me at this address or. he's gonna return to his home, which may. be a different address. So, you know, in. the long run, I don't think it matters. for the criminal charges. It may for the. bomb issue. >> Now, let me just say this. Yes, we've. been talking kind of the legal.

logistics, what's happening with the. investigation. It's an interesting. discussion, but just to full circle, this is a terrible, terrible crime. I. mean, my gosh, this Auburn professor uh. uh who was beloved to be killed like. this is really, really tragic and tough. to kind of digest for a moment. So, I. just want to take it back to her. Um, our hearts and prayers go out to her. family, her loved ones, the community. We're going to continue to follow it. But, Michael Hanley, thank you so much. for taking the time. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Good to see you again.

>> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. [Music].