No matter how someone has been victimized, there is never any justification for murder. Gary Plauche murdered a man in what was, in my opinion, cold blood over the molestation of his young child, Jody Plauche. Yes, yes, I get it: touching a child sexually for any reason is reprehensible and should not go unpunished. But murder is not the way.
Jeff Doucet was Jody’s karate instructor, and on many occasions, he allegedly (he was never given the chance to be proven guilty in a court of law) molested the boy on numerous occasions. As if that weren’t bad enough, Doucet kidnapped Plauche, taking him from Louisiana to California.
Once the child was reported missing, a desperate search took place, of course. Doucet’s undoing was allowing Jody to call his mother collect. In short order, authorities busted into the hotel room where the boy was being held. Doucet was taken into custody until tests proved that Jody was in fact molested.
As Doucet was being returned to Louisiana, Gary was informed by a local news station that Doucet would be walked through the airport at a certain time. It was there, in front of horrified witnesses and the media, that he turned away from the pay phone bank he was hiding at and shot Doucet, killing him.
Initially, Gary was charged with second-degree murder and that would have been an appropriate charge. Somehow, prosecutors lowered the charge to manslaughter and allowed him to skate with five years of probation and 300 hours of community service. But it could have easily gone another way.
What if prosecutors decided to proceed with the murder charges? What if he’d been convicted? Gary could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Would it have been worth it, denying his son a father over petty revenge?
I can understand Gary’s anger, but there was never justification for shooting Doucet. This wasn’t a heat of the moment thing, nor was it a crime of passion, neither of which are okay. He had plenty of time to plan the murder and he had plenty of time to abandon the idea. Still, he went ahead with the killing.
Unfortunately, the internet seems to think Gary, who has since died, was a hero. Not so! Yes, Gary had every right to be enraged, but this wasn’t a matter of him catching Doucet in the act and shooting him to protect Jody. This was a well-planned, calculated murder and it should have been treated as such.
Look, I’ve witnessed a child being molested at church. I get it. In that case, I chose to remain silent, never reporting it to church leaders or law enforcement. I don’t regret that decision. I would never touch a child in that manner and I do not look upon children in a sexual way. Those things are disgusting. I chose to adhere to the bro code.
Yes, I could have stopped the guy and forced him away from the child. Could have. Didn’t have. I chose to turn around and walk away. But even if I had reacted, I would have been arrested and charged with assault. I wasn’t going to take that chance. I wasn’t going to put my freedom on the line for that child, or any child.
That’s why I didn’t intervene and I did not contact law enforcement because I didn’t want to wind up on the witness stand.
But suppose I had a son and what happened to Jody happened to him. I would let the legal system handle that and I would not have done anything that would put me in handcuffs and into a jail cell. I’m not going to put myself on the line like that for anyone, my child or not.
What Doucet did was, again, reprehensible. There is no defending him. But he did not deserve to be murdered, and let’s be honest, that’s what it was. Murder. If he’d been convicted, the prison inmates would have handled him. They would have literally had nothing to lose. But Gary had plenty to lose and he almost lost it all because he couldn’t sit back and let the law handle it properly.
Was it worth it to him? According to numerous sources on the internet, he was proud of what he did. That’s disgusting. Just as disgusting, in my opinion, is the number of people who consider him a hero for what he did. That’s alarming. Vigilante justice is never okay, just like touching a child is never okay.
According to a recent interview that Jody did, he gave his father “the silent treatment” over how he handled it. But in time, Jody understood why his father did what he did for all to see. Jody almost lost his father to prison because Gary couldn’t just calm down and let the system do its work.
I guess revenge mattered more to Gary than being there for his son.