Brandon Scott Lavergne - Guilty Plea and LWOP

[Foxfire]

No objection here to the suggestion, but just wanted to say: IMO, Louisiana doesn't need New York word to know that Mickey is a hero, nor does Websleuths!

I agree, Backwoods, but it speaks volumes as to how far reaching Mickey Shunick's fighting spirit is.. Folks in NYC, NY are very fast paced, have faced catastrophes such as the 09/11/2001 twin towers terrorist attacks, and recognize a true hero & warrior when they see one; NYFD.

Yet, they chose to place 'Mickey Schunick Fought her attacker'
on a marquee at Times Square.. Imo, that speaks volumes....

 

[Backwoods]

garryb, if you come back and can answer a question I have, I'd be grateful:

There was a strong rumor here that Brandon had visited a third hospital, one in Texas, during the course of all these events. Do you know if that's true -- and, if it is, can you tell us a little about it? (What was the purpose, etc.)

 

[gngr~snap]

A tiny, brave "Cajun" girl fought hard for her life...
Times square "represented her"...

Did she NEED the attn? no.

Does she deserve it? yes!

Mighty Mick!
moo

 

[DizZ]

Did they ever recover the knife and gun?

 

[mamacat]

Except that there were two witnesses the day that Ali was abducted.. And from BSL's patterned behavior and other info that investigators have learned. It may not be difficult, to not only charge BSL, but also locate Ali's remains..

Imo, an experienced geographical profiler could narrow down the search locations in a New York minute... and TES is just down the road...

I wonder though, if her abductor was in fact Brandon Lavergne, would he take her back to Louisiana instead of sticking around in Texas? As far as I can tell, Texas Equusearch last searched for Ali Lowitzer on February 11, 2012.

http://www.khou.com/community/Sprin...-to-find-Ali-Lowitzer-Saturday-139122744.html

 

[Foxfire]

Who in £€*>#% hell could unlike that comment??

LOL, settle down Donamena...When you click like to a comment, unlike appears in case you decide to delete it....

'I liked it, as well as 4 others'...lol..

 

[mamacat]

Did they ever recover the knife and gun?

That's a really good question. I remember they said he threw away the knife in a dumpster - and I recall that a dumpster in Church Point was mentioned before his confession. As for the gun, perhaps he threw it in Whiskey Bay. Does anyone know?

 

[Foxfire]

I wonder though, if her abductor was in fact Brandon Lavergne, would he take her back to Louisiana instead of sticking around in Texas? As far as I can tell, Texas Equusearch last searched for Ali Lowitzer on February 11, 2012.

http://www.khou.com/community/Sprin...-to-find-Ali-Lowitzer-Saturday-139122744.html

mamacat, imo & imo only, if BSL was responsible for Ali's abduction. He would have placed her in TX, in a LE jurisdiction other than where she was abducted due to his jurisdiction linkage blindness pattern of behavior.
Ironically, the cemetery where BadBoy from Rosebud, TX, Kenneth McDuff & prolific serial killer Henry Lucas are buried in an adjacent jurisdiction.

 

[GulfCoastKAT]

Did they ever recover the knife and gun?

I don't think they did. The plea summary states that he got rid of the gun, the knife, and the shell casing. There are a million hiding places between Church Point and New Orleans.

 

[Lera213]

Thanks to GarryB it is what I suspected his confession is based on a lot of lies! The only truth in his confession is cause of death, and MS fought back. All the rest is spun to take any heat off of him for his prison stay.

GarryB, I would consider helping the bio half sister move to another area. While the letter he sent her is no threat outwardly..I did pick up he was threatening her. My gut...the part where he said "I forgive you" really hit me. Edit to add: His anger pattern also gives me this gut feeling. Just something to think about! Another lesson to all WS and guest who have been following this case. Never assume any story is "Fact" based on words alone. Verify, ask more questions.

 

[mamacat]

mamacat, imo & imo only, if BSL was responsible for Ali's abduction. He would have placed her in TX, in a LE jurisdiction other than where she was abducted due to his jurisdiction linkage blindness pattern of behavior.
Ironically, the cemetery where BadBoy from Rosebud, TX, Kenneth McDuff & prolific serial killer Henry Lucas are buried in an adjacent jurisdiction.

That is ironic, sure enough! We know BSL liked darting around from one parish to another and crossing state lines for the very reason you just mentioned, i.e.
jurisdiction linkage blindness but as Ali was from Texas, and this state is renowned for it's death penalty record - I'm thinking this would be a great incentive for him to cross state lines. I'm not clear on how this would play out in court, if the abduction occurred in TX but the murder was in LA or another state. Does anyone know?

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Texas"]Capital punishment in Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

[simon magus]

That is ironic, sure enough! We know BSL liked darting around from one parish to another and crossing state lines for the very reason you just mentioned, i.e.
jurisdiction linkage blindness but as Ali was from Texas, and this state is renowned for it's death penalty record - I'm thinking this would be a great incentive for him to cross state lines. I'm not clear on how this would play out in court, if the abduction occurred in TX but the murder was in LA or another state. Does anyone know?

Capital punishment in Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i'm no expert, but i believe since the first felony, the kidnapping, occurred in texas, they would have jurisdiction, regardless of where any additional felonies might have occurred following the kidnapping. moo

 

[Donamena]

Did they ever recover the knife and gun?

No, no clue where it would have dumped them. In a field, in a bayou...endless possibilities.

 

[gngr~snap]

"Brandon Scott Lavergne's guilty plea in the murders of Lisa Pate and Mickey Shunick does not exclude him from prosecution in any other cases that may come forward."
http://www.theadvertiser.com/articl...sey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE&nclick_check=1

 

[Foxfire]

That is ironic, sure enough! We know BSL liked darting around from one parish to another and crossing state lines for the very reason you just mentioned, i.e.
jurisdiction linkage blindness but as Ali was from Texas, and this state is renowned for it's death penalty record - I'm thinking this would be a great incentive for him to cross state lines. I'm not clear on how this would play out in court, if the abduction occurred in TX but the murder was in LA or another state. Does anyone know?

Capital punishment in Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

mamacat, if you research death penalty execution statistics. Although TX leads the nation in executions, TX also has a very high number of inmates on death row. Most of the inmates on TX death row quietly die of natural causes, giving TX the appearance of being tuff on crime. The death penalty is rarely carried out in the US, compared to the escalating number of murders and convictions/sentences for various reasons. Many times the DP sentences are commuted to LWOP once the spotlight is lifted by the media.

Prolific SK Kenneth McDuff had his first death sentence commuted & then was paroled, and sentenced to death the 2nd time. Prolific SK Henry Lucas's death sentence was commuted to life, and he had hundreds of victims..
If my memory is correct TX executes about 10 per year, in recent years, with approximately 400 awaiting executions, and new sentences handed down weekly.
Due to growing budget deficits, worldwide pressure to eliminate the DP by the UN, and other agencies, etc. The DP will soon be as extinct as the dinosaurs.

 

[mamacat]

No, no clue where it would have dumped them. In a field, in a bayou...endless possibilities.

I had read previously that LE had found items in a dumpster in Church Point, but perhaps these were other items and not weapons.

Just read this article that states he disposed of both weapons in the New Orleans area.

http://www.wafb.com/story/19302087/...-fought-for-her-life-lavergne-will-serve-life

In his court statement, Lavergne said he drove to his home with Mickey still in the passenger seat of his truck. After he tended to his wounds, he got rid of his clothes and other evidence. He drove Mickey's body to an area of an old cemetery in Evangeline Parish intending to bury her body. He was unable to dig because of his injuries, so he left the body in a nearby tree line, covering her body with branches and debris.

The next day, he went to an area off the Whiskey Bay area and threw Mickey's bike into the water. He continued to his friend's home in or around New Orleans. Once there, he got rid of the handgun and threw the knife in a dumpster.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Who is Garryb? And I don't mean that as in 'who does he think he is'. I mean, who is he in relation to all this. I read through all his posts and he came in with a first post that appeared to be he jumped in to correct someone about the sister's address. He mentioned he isn't related. Is he a neighbor? Family friend? Is this information not for us to know, or did I miss it? Again, I don't mean to come across as rude. I always try to find the answers myself before throwing stuff out like this.

 

[Crimson clover]

I would hope that they had discussed this with her even if it was right before the hearing started so the info wouldn't be leaked to the public. I can't imagine finding out specific details of my child's death in a court room. Such a sad and horrible way to find out.

I hope Mrs. Shunick was aware before-hand, too. But regardless if she'd heard it 100 times before, the silence in that courtroom, the tension as Mr. Stutes read...the initial sight of Ms. Mickey's murderer, now standing only a few feet away. The words '...and shot Mickey in the head, killing her instantly' was heart-breaking. Bone-chilling.

 

[txlams]

garryb, if you come back and can answer a question I have, I'd be grateful:

There was a strong rumor here that Brandon had visited a third hospital, one in Texas, during the course of all these events. Do you know if that's true -- and, if it is, can you tell us a little about it? (What was the purpose, etc.)

Backwoods, I can tell you he visited Austin Regional Clinic on 6/18/12. Also, on 6/8/12, he visited OLOL. I can only speculate that these visits were for his cut tendon(s).

 

[FrayedKnot]

Wonder why he went to NO to toss the knife and gun.

The gun was probably not traceable to him since he legally cannot own a firearm, and knives don't have registrations, do they?

Why not just toss it closer to home or even with Mickey's bike? Maybe I wouldn't make a very good criminal, but I don't get why the long trip to NO.