Coffee County man sentenced to life in prison

A Coffee County man was sentenced to life in prison for a murder conviction two days after being sentenced to prison on federal charges.

Mitchell Byron Doster, 44, was sentenced by Thirty Third Judicial Circuit Judge William Filmore Dec. 17 in connection with the 2017 murder of Ricky Dease.

On Tuesday, Dec. 15, Doster was sentenced in federal court to 63 months in prison for possession of an explosive device, according to the United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. There is no parole in the federal system but the state court life sentence is set to begin immediately upon completion of the federal sentence.

This case began in early 2019 when detectives from the Dale County and Barbour County Sheriff’s Officer were investigating a homicide. Investigators developed Doster as a possible suspect in the crime and eventually charged him with murder.

Doster was charged with the murder of Daleville woman Orchid Bolin by the Barbour County Sheriff's Office, Dale County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mason Bynum said at the time of Doster’s arrest.

Bolin, 22, was missing since Feb. 25, 2019. A press release from the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation revealed Bolin was last seen in the company of two older white males, possibly in their 40s.

The release stated that on March 6, 2019, law enforcement found Bolin’s body in a wooded area approximately 500 yards off Sutton Dairy Road and approximately two miles from Highway 51.

According to The Southeast Sun archives, Doster was arrested on Dec. 5, 2017, in connection to the murder of Dease. who was found dead in his home on Highway 231 North in Dale County early on Dec. 3, 2017.

In March 2019, Doster was arrested and charged in the murder of Orchid Nichole Bolin, 22, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds just inside Barbour County near the Dale County line.

At the time of Bolin’s murder, Doster was out of jail on bond for Dease’s murder. While on bond for the Dec. 5, 2017 arrest, Bynum said Doster murdered Bolin. Doster was brought back to the Dale County Jail Feb. 4, 2018 after failing to appear in court for the first murder charge, according to Bynum.

He received the second murder charge while in the Dale County Jail, Bynum said.

On March 18, 2019, based on information obtained during the investigation, deputies retrieved a backpack and a duffel bag from a residence that they believed contained evidence in their murder case.

When investigators searched the duffel bag, they discovered an improvised explosive device built from a modified training grenade that had been wrapped with metal shrapnel secured in place with tape.

Local investigators requested assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to analyze the device. The ATF lab discovered a fingerprint on the tape used to make the bomb belonging to Bobby Wayne Williams, who was an acquaintance of Doster.

Doster and Williams both pleaded guilty to the charges.

Williams, who was also charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun from a previous encounter, was sentenced in May of this year to 63 months in prison.

According to court records, Doster was previously charged with murder in 1998 in connection with a Coffee County slaying. He pleaded guilty in 1999 to manslaughter and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office and the Dale County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Russell Duraski prosecuted the case.