What lengths would you go to protect your child? This episode of Human Wreckage brings you the harrowing tale of Leon Gary Plauche, a father who became notorious for publicly executing a man accused of kidnapping and abusing his son. Dive into this real-life saga of retribution, recorded live on camera at Baton Rouge airport in 1984, that fueled a national debate about justice and punishment.
The narrative unfolds as we detail the chilling ordeal of Plauche's 11-year-old son, Jody, kidnapped and violated by his karate instructor, Jeffrey Douset. We delve into the family's trauma, the legal battle that ensued, and how Plauche narrowly escaped jail time. This episode is not just about a father's revenge; it's also about the impact of the incident on the family and the public, and a judicial system's response to a tragic incident. Join us as we navigate this gripping narrative, a raw testament to a father's love and his desperate measures.
What lengths would you go to protect your child? This episode of Human Wreckage brings you the harrowing tale of Leon Gary Plauche, a father who became notorious for publicly executing a man accused of kidnapping and abusing his son. Dive into this real-life saga of retribution, recorded live on camera at Baton Rouge airport in 1984, that fueled a national debate about justice and punishment.
The narrative unfolds as we detail the chilling ordeal of Plauche's 11-year-old son, Jody, kidnapped and violated by his karate instructor, Jeffrey Douset. We delve into the family's trauma, the legal battle that ensued, and how Plauche narrowly escaped jail time. This episode is not just about a father's revenge; it's also about the impact of the incident on the family and the public, and a judicial system's response to a tragic incident. Join us as we navigate this gripping narrative, a raw testament to a father's love and his desperate measures.
Meet Karate Coach Jeff Dusset. That's him walking off a plane and into the Baton Rouge Louisiana airport on March 16, 1984. There's a sheriff with him. News cameras are rolling. He's accused of repeatedly molesting an 11-year-old boy, jody Plotch, then kidnapping him to Disneyland. Now meet Jody's dad, gary Plotch. That's him waiting by a bank of pay phones. He's got a 38-snub nose revolver in his right boot. He's facing the wall talking on one of the phones to his best friend, jimmy. Then Gary Plotch reached down for the gun, spun around and fired a hollow-point bullet into Douset's brain from three feet away. Then he lowered the gun, turned around and hung up the phone. A TV camera caught it all. Douset would be dead within 24 hours. The video is powerful and discretion is advised.
Speaker 2:
March of 1984, when authorities escorted 25-year-old Jeffrey Douset through the Baton Rouge airport to face charges of kidnapping and sexual assault on a 12-year-old boy. The victim's father suddenly appeared, shot Douset, while news cameras were rolling. The father, 39-year-old Leon Gary Ploshe, pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of manslaughter and today received a suspended sentence with five years probation. The judge said prison would serve no useful purpose.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Human Reckage. Today's episode is about the superhero otherwise known as Gary Ploshe and I for an eye kind of guy. Let's get into it.
Speaker 3:
Well, I've lost faith in the crowd and I can't touch the ground. I'm proud into the sound. Well, I'll make the same mistake as before.
Speaker 1:
So I guess it's. The other day At the Plotch residence, gary's wife, june, was just coming home and turned on the news An unidentified man has shot Jeff Dauphsette in the airport. The news anchor said June's knees buckled. She fell backward onto the carpet. When June saw Gary that night in lockup the first thing she said was You're gonna hell for this. You know that, right, I know. Gary said Hell, maybe Jail. No, gary Plotch got seven years on a suspended sentence, five years probation and 300 hours of community service, which he did at his local church, mostly cutting the grass. The judge said he was no threat to the community.
Speaker 1:
Leon Gary Plotch, a, born November 10, 1945, and died October 20, 2014, was a man known for publicly killing Jeff Dauphsette, an accused child molester who had kidnapped and raped Plotch's son. The killing occurred by use of a revolver on March 16, 1984, and was captured on camera by a local news crew. Plotch was given a seven-year suspended sentence with five years probation and 300 hours of community service, receiving no prison time. The case received wide publicity because some people questioned whether Plotch should have been charged with murder. Plotch contended that he was in the right and that any parent in a similar position would have taken the same action. Gary Plotch, a native of Baton Rouge, louisiana, was separated from his wife, june, at the time of the shooting. During 1983 and 1984, his 11-year-old son, jody, was taking karate lessons with an instructor, 25-year-old Jeffrey Dauphsette. Unbeknownst to Jody's parents, dauphsette had been sexually abusing the boy for at least a year. On February 14, 1984, dauphsette kidnapped Jody and took him to a motel in Anaheim, california, where he sexually assaulted and molested him. Jody, the focus of a nationwide search, was eventually found after Dauphsette allowed the boy to place a collect call to his mother from the moat. California police raided the motel and arrested Dauphsette without incident.
Speaker 1:
On March 16, 1984, dauphsette 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 pm, plashe was waiting for Dauphsette with a revolver. A news crew was waiting for Dauphsette and had set up their cameras to record his arrival. Opposite the news crew was a bank of pay phones where plashe waited while talking to his best friend on a telephone. He wore a baseball cap and sunglasses so that no one would recognize him.
Speaker 1:
As Dauphsette was escorted through the airport, he passed the news crew who were taping the scene. He then walked past plashe, who took out his handgun and fired at the right side of Dauphsette's head at point blank range. Dauphsette fell to the floor bleeding from a wound close to his right ear. Plashe placed the telephone receiver down before a police officer restrained him and removed the gun from his hand. As the other attended to Dauphsette, the officers who grabbed hold of plashe recognized him. They kept him pinned against the bank of telephones, asking him Gary, why, why, gary? The incident was captured on videotape. Dauphsette fell into a coma and died from the gunshot wound the next day.
Speaker 5:
A trusted martial arts instructor is accused of kidnapping and abusing one of his young students. The victim's father uses a gun to take matters into his own hands, and a horrifying scene is all caught on camera.
Speaker 6:
His body is completely limp and he turns his head. I can see coming out of his right ear blood. As I pan up on my camera, I can see Gary Ploshe standing there and, almost immediately, the two officers who was escorting Jeff to set pounce upon him.
Speaker 4:
I turned and got the gun away from Gary. Gary just gave up after he shot. We took the handcuffs off of Jeffrey and put him on him. Gary was almost catatonic, not aggressive, not trying to get away, Just.
Speaker 1:
I did it. Ploshe 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 community service, which he completed in 1989. At age 67, ploshe gave an interview where he stated that he did not regret killing Douset and would do so again. Gary Ploshe suffered a stroke in 2011. He died in 2014 at a nursing home after another stroke three weeks before his 69th birthday. Thanks for joining me on another episode of Human Wreckage. I wanted to do an episode with some sort of happy ending. We definitely need more Gary Ploshe in this world and a lot less of Jeff Douset's. Till next time, please take care. We appreciate the support.