Decades after a man took the law into his own hands by killing someone who had harmed his son, new insights into the incident have been shared by his family.
In the 1980s, Jody Plauché, then an elementary school student, endured years of grooming and sexual abuse at the hands of his karate instructor, Jeffrey Doucet.
In February 1984, Doucet kidnapped Jody, taking him to a motel in Anaheim, California.
Jody was missing for two weeks before authorities located him and Doucet after the abuser allowed Jody to make a call to his mother from the motel.
Jody was reunited with his family, while Doucet was arrested and transported back to Louisiana to face charges.
However, the accused never made it to trial.
Upon his arrival at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, Doucet was shot in the head and died the next day.
Gary Plauché, Jody’s father, was the one who shot Doucet, while the scene was being documented by news channel WBRZ.
Gary disguised himself by wearing a cap and pretending to be on the phone, as the cameras captured the moment he fired at Doucet.
Recently, Gary’s other son, Mikey Plauche, shared a detail about the incident on Twitter.
Mikey tweeted: “The cool thing about that is my father. My brother was the one kidnapped, but my father used to work for the same TV station.
“He was cameraman so he knew when the camera came on he followed the light from the camera so he just followed the light that’s when he knew when to turn around and shoot.”
Despite committing the act, Gary never served time in prison.
Initially charged with second-degree murder, Gary agreed to a plea deal, pleading no contest to manslaughter.
He received a suspended sentence of seven years, five years of probation, and 300 hours of community service.
In an ESPN special report, Gary expressed that he bore no regrets about the killing and would do it again.
In an interview with the Mirror last year, Jody shared his perspective on his past experiences.
“I wouldn’t trade my life,” he remarked to the publication. “Knowing how it turned out, I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.”