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Leon Gary Plauché (November 10, 1945 – October 20, 2014) was an American man known for publicly killing Jeffrey Doucet (a child molester who had kidnapped and raped Plauché's son, Jody). Plauché shot and killed Doucet as he was being escorted through an airport by law enforcement to face trial for what he had done to Plauché's son. The killing occurred on March 16, 1984 and was captured on camera by a local news crew. Plauché was given a seven-year suspended sentence with five years' probation and 300 more hours of community service, receiving no prison time. The case received wide publicity because some people questioned whether or not Plauché should have been charged with murder. When he was questioned as to why he shot Doucet, Plauché contended that he was in the right for murdering Doucet for abusing his son and that any parent in a similar position would have taken the same action stating "if somebody did it to your kid, you'd do it too".[1]
On March 16, 1984, Doucet was flown back to Louisiana to face trial. He arrived at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport and was led in handcuffs by police officers through the airport at around 9:30 p.m., where Plauché was waiting for Doucet.[6]
An employee of the local ABC affiliate, WBRZ-TV, had told Plauché when Doucet would be arriving at the airport.[7]: 81 A news crew from WBRZ was waiting for Doucet and had set up their cameras to record his arrival. Opposite the news crew was a bank of payphones, where Plauché waited while talking to his best friend on a telephone. He wore a baseball cap and sunglasses so that no one would recognize him.[6]
As Doucet was escorted through the airport, he passed the news crew who were taping the scene. He then walked past Plauché, who fired at the right side of Doucet's head at point-blank range. Doucet fell to the floor, bleeding from a wound close to his right ear. Plauché placed the telephone receiver down before a police officer restrained him and removed the gun from his hand as the other attended to Doucet.[8] The officers who grabbed hold of Plauché recognized him. They kept him pinned against the bank of telephones, asking him, "Gary, why? Why, Gary?"[6] The incident was captured on video. Doucet fell into a coma, and died from the gunshot wound the next day.[9][10]
Plauché was initially charged with second-degree murder, but agreed to a plea bargain in which he pleaded no contest to manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years' suspended sentence, with five years' probation and 300 hours of more community service, which he completed in 1989.[11]
Psychological reports helped Plauché's case after it was learned that Doucet had abused Jody months prior to the kidnapping. The psychiatrist Edward P. Uzee examined Plauché and determined that he could not tell the difference between right and wrong when he killed Doucet. Plauché's defense team argued that he was driven to a temporarily psychotic state after learning of the abuse of his son. Uzee also determined that Doucet had the ability to manipulate others and took advantage of the fact that Plauché was separated from his wife at the time, and had managed to wedge his way into the Plauché family. Judge Frank Saia ruled that sending Plauché to prison would not help anyone, and that there was virtually no risk of him committing another crime.[10]
In this house, Gary Plauche is a hero, end of story!