Michael Dorris's daughter contested his will and sued his estate making sexual abuse accusations at the beginning of this month, the latest development in the ongoing saga surrounding the former College professor's death.
Dorris, an acclaimed author and founder of Dartmouth's Native American Studies Program, committed suicide at a Concord, N.H. motel on April 11.
Madeline Dorris, 21, accused her father of sexually abusing her during her childhood and requested that the will be set aside until a judgment is made on his mental capacity, according to the Associated Press.
She also said her adoptive mother and writer Louise Erdrich knew of the abuse and did not try to stop it. Erdrich denied the allegation, according to a Valley News article.
The lawsuit said Dorris "regularly and repeatedly engaged in unpermitted, harmful and offensive sexual contact" with Madeline, from ages 5 to 12, when she was then sent to orphanages and boarding schools, according to the article. The abuse continued when she returned home for vacation or other reasons, the article said.
The lawsuit also states Dorris was negligent for not seeking sufficient treatment for his depression and sexual perversions, according to the article.
Madeline Dorris is suing for more than $50,000 from her father's estate, according to the AP.
On June 2, Madeline Dorris asked that the will be set aside because her father lacked the mental abilities to write his will before he committed suicide April 11, according to the AP. She said he had suffered from depression and had been hospitalized for suicidal tendencies.
Kathy Johnson, clerk to Judge William Howard, who is handling the case, said the attorneys now have 60 days to prepare informational statements for Howard and it may take up to a year before there is a trial.
Madeline Dorris and her adopted brother, Jeffrey, were not included in Dorris's will. His three biological daughters with Erdrich were left most of his $2.4 million estate, according to the AP.
Erdrich, who was in the process of divorcing Dorris at the time of his death, was left a grand piano and a Venetian vase. The will also includes many gifts to the College, including an American Indian beaded vest and headdress as well as his manuscripts and letters.
In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, a friend of Dorris said the allegations were false and added Dorris committed suicide because he hoped to prevent a "feeding frenzy" by law enforcement officials and the media. Sources also indicated that he was distraught over his separation from his wife and friends said they were in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.
Douglas Foster, former editor of Mother Jones magazine and a close friend of Dorris, said the sexual abuse accusation was false, according to the AP. The day Dorris learned of the accusation, "He called me and said, 'My life is over,''' Foster said.
Madeline Dorris first told an investigator with the Hennepin County attorney's office in Colorado about the abuse March 13, her attorney Jeffrey Anderson told the Valley News. The investigation was continuing when Dorris died.
A judge granted an injunction at the end of May to keep the records of the investigation into the sex abuse charges sealed.
Dorris, who was founder and director of the College's Native American Studies Program and a member of the College faculty since 1972, died at age 52.
He was an award-winning writer with his first novel, "Yellow Raft In Blue Water" selling over 500,000 copies.
Before his death, Dorris was on leave from the College and working as Visiting professor of Creative Writing and Winton Chair Scholar for the spring quarter at the University of Minnesota.
