911 Call Shatters Life Maine Couple Built Together

July 15, 2010 — -- The town of Standish, Maine, is a quiet corner of America. The Dolloff family has called it home for generations. A street is named after the clan, bordering a piece of land that has been in the family for more than 100 years.

"It's a close-knit town," Sheriff Mark Dion said. "Everybody's connected in one way or the other. ... Unfortunately, bad things do occur ... from time to time."

On an April night last year, at the Dolloff family home, one of those bad things was under way. A call came in to emergency dispatchers.

"My husband's not responding. He shot me, he shot me," a yoga instructor cried in a frantic recording of the 911 call. "Somebody shot me."

"Your husband did?" the dispatcher asked.

"No, no my husband ... he's in bed," the woman replied. "He's not answering me. I just hear this gurgling noise."

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Jeff and Linda Dolloff had been married for 11 years. He was a high-powered management consultant. She was a yoga instructor. They had built a life together.

"His family's been in this area for six generations," Linda Dolloff, 48, said. "And shortly after we met, he said, you know, 'I've been waiting my whole life for someone to love this place as much as I do.' And I still love it."

Not long after the Dolloffs married in 1998, they started on their life project: the dream house on Dolloff road.

"We harvested the trees, we sawed the lumber, we planed them into boards, we stood up the walls, we installed our own flooring," Linda Dolloff said. "... It's a spectacular home with a beautiful fireplace. It's like being on vacation every day."

For her, the centerpiece of the home was her yoga studio. It defined her. It was her hobby and livelihood. She taught a handful of students the body-stretching and mind-calming effects of yoga.

"I'm a yoga instructor, and it's not just a physical activity to me, or it's not just that I'm a teacher," she said. "It's my way of life."

But after a dozen years of an idyllic life, their marriage began to crumble. She was having trouble with his three daughters from a previous marriage, he complained that she was never happy anymore. He wanted out.

But Linda Dolloff was holding back. She was worried about losing her house, despite a generous settlement offer to which her husband agreed.

She said she had not given up on the marriage.

"The door was not completely shut," she said. "We were moving forward, we negotiated the divorce, up to a point where I actually felt very comfortable."