Scalping suspect surrenders, in jail
BOISE – A woman suspected of scalping a teenage girl has been charged with felony aggravated battery.
Marianne Dahle, 26, was arraigned by phone from Boise on Wednesday afternoon, several hours after surrendering to authorities. Wednesday evening she remained at the Ada County Jail on bond of $25,000.
Dahle is accused of tying up a 16-year-old acquaintance and cutting away a 6-inch by 8-inch section of her scalp as punishment for a perceived slight against women.
Boise County Chief Deputy Bill Braddock said Dahle was alone when she turned herself in. She spent much of the day being interviewed by detectives.
The victim – who has only released her first name, Sheila, to news outlets – said she spent two weeks in the hospital while doctors grafted skin from her thigh to cover the circular patch of missing skin on her crown. She said she still has one surgery left, and is wearing hats to hide the healing patch of skin.
Police would not release many details for fear it would harm the prosecution’s case.
But Braddock said the incident happened on Jan. 18 at Kirkham Hot Springs, a remote campsite about 70 miles northeast of Boise. Dahle, the victim and another 16-year-old female witness were all members of the same “punk” clique, Braddock said. No drugs or alcohol were involved in the attack, he said.
Sheila told Boise television station KTVB that when Dahle tied her up, she simply thought the woman was going to cut her hair, which she wore in a mohawk.
“Why would they do something like this to me? I thought they were my friends,” Sheila said.
Braddock said the attack was allegedly punishment for behavior that Dahle perceived as offensive to women.
“In their punk group, wearing a mohawk is a sign of being a punker, and according to their creed if you disrespect women you are not allowed to wear a mohawk,” Braddock said.
The group is not a gang, Braddock said, though they had at least some established rules of behavior.
Police were alerted after Dahle dropped the teen off at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise. Sheila said her face and body were covered with blood when Dahle left her at the hospital.
Authorities recovered the scalp, which had been left behind at the hot springs, but doctors were unable to reattach it.
The Kirkham Hot Springs, about 70 miles northeast of Boise, are popular with campers and hikers, but visitors during midweek in the winter can count on near total seclusion, Braddock said.
Stewart Harris, Dahle’s neighbor, said he was surprised to hear she was wanted for the alleged assault.
“As far as her personal life she comes from a very good family. They belong to the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) church. To my knowledge she has had some problems with getting and maintaining a job, and I don’t know much about her personal life. But she’s always been real friendly and real decent when we spoke.”