10 Disturbing Details Surrounding Jody Plauche, Whose Father Shot His Rapist On Live Television

6 /10 Keeping It To Himself

Even as the sexual abuse was in full effect, Jody kept the pain and struggle (physically and psychologically) to himself. He was only a preteen and didn’t want to upset his parents.

For Jody, the easiest – but not necessarily best – thing to do was keep quiet about it.

Everyone was furious in February 1984 when reports came that Jeff had kidnapped and sexually assaulted Jody.

The police searched the country for the two and finally found them in a California motel.

5 /10 A Phone Call

Jeff took Jody first to Port Arthur, Texas, before moving on by bus to Los Angeles, California.

The two stayed in the city for about a week. Investigators eventually tracked them down when Jody made a collect call to his mother.

The operator said the phone call came from a room in Anaheim, California, in Samoa Motel (now America’s Best Value Inn).

The police came knocking and found them in Room 38 in the motel. Jeffrey Doucet was taken into custody without incident.

4 /10 Back To Louisiana

Jody Plauché was reunited with his family on March 1, 1984. About two weeks later, Jeff was extradited to face trial.

Two East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office officers flew to California to bring him back to Louisiana.

He arrived at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport at 9:30 pm, in handcuffs, escorted by the police.

Jody’s father, Gary Plauché, was aware of the arrival, and he was an excellent friend to high-ranking police officers in the city, and that was presumably how he knew precisely where Jeff would be that night.

3 /10 Vigilante

No one but certain officers in the Baton Rouge Police Department and allegedly a reporter at WRBZ-TV knew that Gary was waiting for the suspect at the airport.

Gary acted as if he was making a call from a payphone at the airport. As Jeff and the police escorts were walking past a row of payphones, he pulled out a gun and shot Jeff in the head.

It was a direct hit, point-blank into the suspect’s right ear. A local TV station camera crew recorded the incident.

The shot put Jeff into a comma. He died the following day.

2 /10 Manslaughter

Some reports said Jeff was never comatose as the shooting killed him instantly. Gary Plauché was arrested and charged with manslaughter, and he pleaded no contest and received a 7-year suspended sentence and a 5-year probation.

Gary did not serve jail time for the killing of Jeffrey Doucet.

n every interview, he maintained that everyone would have done the same had it been their son who was the victim of sexual abuse. Gary died after suffering a stroke at a nursing home in October 2014.

1 /10 Mother's Love

Although Gary was in full rage upon hearing the reports of his son’s kidnapping, sexual abuse, and the suspect’s extradition, Jody’s mother had a different approach to the situation.

She tried to stay calm and did her best to help her son recover. Jody went on to study at the LSU and secured a job in Pennsylvania as a counselor for victims of sexual assault.

He began writing “Why Gary Why?” about three years after his father’s death.