O'Donnell murder trial to reveal his sex habits

The trial of a Plymouth Township man accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter will include evidence about the defendant's sexual proclivities.

Mark Patrick O'Donnell, 48, had been scheduled to appear in Montgomery County Court this morning so that his attorney, Thomas C. Egan III, could oppose a motion filed by prosecutors.

"We agree there's a legal basis to admit that evidence," Egan said yesterday, making the hearing unnecessary.

In the motion, First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Assistant District Attorney Samantha L.R. Cauffman argued that the nature of the sexual assault on Ebony Nicole Dorsey, a Wissahickon High School honor student, bore graphic similarities to pornography found on O'Donnell's computer.

The motion also cited information about O'Donnell's sexual activities provided by the girl's mother, Danielle Cattie, 34, of Whitpain Township.

O'Donnell is accused of beating, raping and strangling the teen, who had been babysitting his 4-year-old daughter so he could spend the night smoking crack cocaine with Cattie. Police said O'Donnell had stuffed the girl's body into a blue plastic bin and concealed it outside the home of a relative.

The assault was at least partly witnessed by the 4-year-old, who called out "Daddy" as O'Donnell finished strangling Dorsey with her pajamas, he told police.

Cattie is awaiting trial on drug and endangerment charges stemming from the time she spent with O'Donnell preceding her daughter's death.

O'Donnell, who has admitted the slaying to police and reporters, denies any sexual assault. He has offered different scenarios for the rage he says provoked the murder. In one explanation, he said he had caught the teen molesting his daughter, an accusation that police called baseless.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, said O'Donnell met the criteria because a first-degree murder occurred during the commission of two felonies: involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and rape.

The trial is scheduled to start May 27 before Judge William J. Furber.