End of Watch: Stephen Vincent

0:06 Welcome to Unspeakable, a true crime podcast where I tell stories of real crimes with real victims, whose cases are so shocking that many are left wondering how is this even real? I use my experiences in law enforcement corrections, and combined with my years as a criminal justice educator, dig deep into complex cases of evil acts, some so evil many feel they are unspeakable. Warning. Unspeakable as intended for mature audiences. If you are easily offended, then I'm not your girl. Listening discretion is advised. Hey, y'all, it's kJ You're back for another episode of Unspeakable. How's your week go in? I hope it's fantastic. I know I say that every time, but I really do. I know that you're tuning in and you're wanting a good story.

1:08 So today's I'm really proud of I worked hard on this one. Before I started, though, I've got to scream how are you? And Hello all the way to Jones, Oklahoma, where Miss Kylie Bush is living and she is now a new crime family member. So what is going up? Kylie? How are you doing? Thank you so much for joining. I'm proud. It's punched to have you here and Thank you so much for tuning in and supporting this dream of mine that is just taken off. I'm so excited and the story today, though, I gotta say where my Lake Charles peeps at? Where are y'all? I know I got a lot of listeners in Lake Charles, and this one is actually going to be from your neck of the woods right there in calkashw Parish and Calcashue Parish, if you don't know, is now really kind of a destination place that people seek out if they have that taste of gambling and they love to go and have that gambling aspect, but with a resort feel to it because the area now has four major gaming and resort properties that are continuing to grow, continuing to boom, and it's got this coastal vibe to it because it's reasonably close to the Gulf of Mexico or dare I say the Gulf of America Now it's but it's very close to that. Lots of seafood, Cajun culture with the petrokim industry just leading this economic boom of that area. And I've done a few cases already from that area before, but this one hit different when it happened. I do remember when this happened, and everyone who's listening by now

2:39 should know that I have an absolute heart for law enforcement and the type of person that it takes to do that job is a special one, and I will always stand on that hill that not everybody can do it. It's not meant for everybody. So this may make me sound old, and I'm okay with that, but I've always been a true fan of Paul Harvey and the explanations of people and the work that they do. And what actually drew me to Paul Harvey was when I first heard his what does a Policeman Take on the job? And it just is the lead as far as my favorite goes of the work that Paul Harvey did. So before I really get into this story, I want to play it for you, and I hope that you'll listen to these words, because I am telling you he nailed it.

3:30 He nailed it in his explanation of what it's like from the police officer's point of view, the job that they do, and that it's it's really difficult. So take a second here, I'm going to play it for you and listen to what is a Policeman by Paul Harvey. Policeman A policeman, is it compositive? What all men are? I guess a mingling of Satan, center, dust, and deity called statistics wave. The fan over stinkers underscore instances of dishonesty and brutality because they are news. What that really means is that they are exceptional. They are unusual, They are not commonplace buried under the fraud is the fact, And the fact is the less than one half of one percent of policemen misfit that uniform, and that is a better average than you'd find among clergymen. What is a policeman? He, of all men, is at once the most needed and the most wanted, a strangely nameless creature who is served to his face and pig or worse behind his back. He must be such a diplomat that he can settle differences between individuals so that each will think he won. But if a policeman is neat, he's conceited.

4:51 If he's careless, he's a bum. If he's pleasant, he's a flirt. If he's not, he's a grouch. He must make instant decisions, which would require months for a lawyer. But if he hurries, he's careless. If he's delivered, he's lazy. He must be first to an accident, infallible with the diagnosis. He must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, ty splints, and above all, be sure the victim goes home without a limp or expect to be sued. The police officer must know every gun, draw on the run and hit where it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip two men twice his size and half his age without damaging his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him, he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.

5:39 A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must know where all of the sin is and not partake. The policeman from a single human hair must be able to describe the crime, the weapon, the criminal, and tell you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches the criminal, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he's a dunce. If he gets promoted, he has political pool. If he doesn't, he's a dullar. The policeman must chase bum leads to a dead end, stake out ten nights to tag one witness who saw it happen, but refuses to remember. He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache. To build a case against some felon who will get dealed out by a shameless, shamous or an honorable who isn't honorable.

6:30 The policeman must be a minister, a social worker, a diplomat, a tough guy, and a gentleman. And of course he'll have to be a genius because he'll have to feed a family on a policeman's salary. So, now that you've heard that, I really think a lot of it. And if you've never done the job before, you've never researched or thought about what an officer goes through day in and day out. It's something that it really does have some good times, right, that you can save lives, and that you can help people, and you can stop tragedy, and you can run in buildings and do all those things whenever you're needed. But the reality is that there's a weight that goes with seeing trauma and tragedy day in and day out, dealing with drug addicts and abuse and just horrible things day in day out.

7:26 It really takes an individual with a lot of grit to do that job. And all of that being said, police work was still the ideal job for a guy named Steven Vincent. And he was a lifelong resident of Ioway, which it's spelled Iowa if you do any research on this, it's spelled Iowa, but it is pronounced down here as Ioway. And Stephen Vincent graduated from Iowa High School. He went to LSU Unice and then he also attended at McNee State University, and then he started his law enforcement career at the Lake Charles City Police Department. This was something that he dreamed of doing, and eventually he would proudly apply, be accepted, and then ultimately graduate from the Louisiana State Police Academy. And for people who may not know this, that is the real deal. The Louisiana State Police are the real deal. They do not take their job lightly or casually. Those navy blue uniforms with the top hat that they put on, its crispin appearance oozes professionalism from head to toe and they are an agency that everyone here knows as soon as they see those uniforms. And we also know that once one of them lights you up on the roadway, you are getting a ticket. You're not getting out of it. You better slow down on

8:56 that bridge from Baton Rouge all the way to Lafayette, and you better slow down because you are gonna get that ticket. And don't ask me how I know that I've but you know, I allegedly may or may not have had an experience or one hundred with them, and always a wonderful interaction ticket aside, And I've always loved their look and their presence, almost militaristic in vibe, if you know what I mean by the fact that they command respect when they arrive on scene just by uniform. It's very pristine. And this fit Stephen Vincent's lifestyle well, as he had spent a lot of time himself actually in the military. He was a proud US Army veteran.

9:42 He served during Desert Storm. And this was a man of faith who embraced his Catholic upbringing and lovingly served at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church. So the vibe that this man gives is one of and duty and commitment. Just in those few words that I think that I've shared with you about him. He married the love of his life. Her name's Katherine in this simple yet sweet beach ceremony and Catherine in her yellow or in her white dress, but it was so simple, and her yellow and white bouquet. It just radiated love in the simplicity. But the meaning behind their unity was just something that you would you feel in the photographs. And together they had a son that they would name Ethan, who they devoted their lives to. Raising him was their purpose after they had him. And I somewhat strangely identify with this family. I've never met them, in all honesty, I've never met them, but something about their life mirrors something in my life. I mean, I have family in Lake Charles. My stepsister lives there. They attend Catholic Church there, and she even named my nephew Ethan. So I feel this strange connection. I don't know if you do that, but when I listen to stories, I almost try to put myself in these stories and how I would feel in that situation. And then to know that they lived there and they named their kids there, it's just the same names. It's kind of interesting to me, but I

11:12 feel that connection. And Steven's brothers even they had this plight of the law enforcement officer and that his brother became chief of police in that area, and another one a Master trooper, married to none other than a woman named Kelly. So I guess you could say it was in their blood to serve the community that they were raised in. And I admire that so much in these people and in that family. So Catherine and Stephen had settled in and they had built this beautiful life together. Nothing overly extravagant, just like me and you, getting up every day, running the rat race of life, work, home, errand's dinner, sleep, repeat, and try in some way to have a little fun and family time in between. And they're a tight knit group. They enjoyed holidays together. They would cook gumbos at Christmas and we all do that.

12:05 I don't know if you know that, but we always cook a good gumbo at Christmas. And they also loved the great outdoors, swimming, exploring the woods. That was the kind of things that they loved to do. Stephen had been assigned to Troop D for the past thirteen years, and Troop D serves five parishes in the area, including Calcashue Parish, and he was good at his job. He was considered to be a very knowledgeable officer, someone that you could depend on, someone that understood the job, and he did it well. And to become a master trooper, that's what he was, Master trooper Vincent. To become a master trooper, that means that you had to have moved up in rank. You start as a cadet and then a trooper, master trooper, sergeant, lieutenant, etc. Stephen looked the part of the state trooper too. He was clean cut, thin, sporting his big thick black watch that just I don't know, it just looks so professional, and it looked so good.

13:03 And he held that high and tight haircut that you would expect of a man in that position, and his hair was sending a little bit on top, but you would never know that because what that trooper had in place, you couldn't tell. His face has a kindness to it, but also an a firmness about it that when it was time to handle business, he would do it. His face absolutely though, would soften immediately whenever he was around his son. He saw the best of him when he looked at his baby boy, who, as this story takes place, is now a young boy, no longer just a baby. They love to watch the Saints football team play. They would just watch with excitement together and they even both would sport jerseys on game day, sport in their favorite players, and Ethan was his daddy's pal and time together was just never enough for the two of them. But now old enough to be a Cub scout, Stephen proudly attended camping trips with his cub, took him to bass Pro for boys trips, and just really did this son dad thing you expect of a Southern gentleman who loves his baby boy. They fished together, they rode rides at Disney World, and really just everything you would want. It's almost you would envy that if you were looking for a father's son relationship. Ethan had a wonderful, loving set of parents.

14:32 They adored him. They may have been a small family, but they had an immense amount of love in their household. Stephen was active too. He loved to run. Marathons were something that he was very interested in and before he ran as very first one. He was a guy that liked to read and research and learn about things, and he sent his wife Catherine an article on Phytipides, who was a Grecian runner who is regarded if you don't know as the catalyst for the modern marathon, and Stephen was fascinated with the story about him and made it a future goal to one day run in the Athens Classic Marathon. So testing his limits and perseverance and grit were something that were just undeniable in Stephen, and maybe that's why he was such a good State trooper. He just had that it factor that it took. So he and Catherine had just celebrated their twelfth wedding anniversary when Steven started his workweek on a typical steaming hot August day.

15:32 He was August twenty fourth, twenty fifteen, and he got up, he got dressed, he kissed his family goodbye, and he went out to his police unit where he officially went ten eight on the radio to start his shift. In ten eight that's the radio code said in dispatch when a law enforcement officers in service and ready to take calls for the day. So he began his shift and he worked throughout the day answering the calls for service, assisting motorists, and just doing his daily tasks as usual. But a little later that same day, a man named Robert Ledoux was traveling down the road near the intersection of Highway fourteen and Fruge Road, and he saw flashing lights about a quarter of a mile up ahead of him, and realizing that this was a state trooper, he immediately slowed down his jeep a bit because we all know I told you you're gonna get that ticket. So he slowed that jeep down a little bit as he got closer.

16:20 But something just did not seem right about what he saw up ahead, because usually you've all seen an officer pull somebody over before. Usually they're kind of off to the side of the road and maybe kind of angled a little bit for a strategic pull up behind the person, and maybe they're standing beside the vehicle. But it's not normal that there be a group of men standing there waving frantically at oncoming traffic. So uh oh, he thought, as he slowed down to kind of assess what was going on. So as he got closer to those two men that were waving him down, they were yelling at him, turn around, turn around, do not go further. These two guys' names were Charlie and Sam, and they were unsure of them so of the situation ahead, but they could tell that something dangerous was happening ahead of them. So both of these guys looked to be in their mid twenties.

17:08 Just good old country fellas is the only way I can describe them. Not sketchy, just country. One of them was tall, strawberry blonde with a beard, and the other one brown headed, a little bit shorter. But they definitely had the look of alarm about them. And it was just too bizarre for Robert to follow their instructions because it just didn't set right. So Robert Ledoux decided he wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't turning around. He pulled up, and he got out of his vehicle, and, wanting to know more about it, he approached as the other two men started yelling at him, get out of here. Back up. We just saw a guy. He's brandishing a gun, right they are, back up, man, go. But the thing about a good old country boy is a gun ain't scary, just so you know, bad people with a gun. Now that will cause a moment of reflection. But Robert wouldn't have that much time to contemplate anything really about it, because he thought to himself, what do you mean, what do you mean there's a guy with a gun down there.

18:04 Of course there's a cop. What do you mean? And the guy says, don't go down there. That guy's got a gun, and he's pointing down in the general direction of a vehicle that was down in the ditch just ahead of the trooper's parked vehicle, lights still flashing, and that vehicle was a like a maroon truck, and it did have a camper shell type cover on it, but it was down in the ditch. But as soon as Robert heard the words, he never skipped a beat, heading straight towards the officer's vehicle to see if maybe that officer needed his help in some way. So as he got closer, Robert could see that there was a trooper on the ground and he was not moving. He also saw another man now standing over that trooper, and that guy was digging through the trooper's pockets. So Robert continued moving closer, and the man looked up at him while simultaneously yanking on the down trooper's gun, trying clumsily to remove it from the holster. And if you have never dealt with a like police officers have, this is not easily done, and that's on purpose, because they have multiple point retentions on them so that the gun isn't removed easily.

19:09 And the man looked straight up while he was jerking on this weapon. He looked dead in Robert le'doux's eyes, and he barked, everything's all right, mind your own business, and you need to go well. Robert felt a chill go down his spine when he made eye contact with that man, because on that man's face was a look of none other than desperation, and his eyes in that flash of a moment, had pure evil behind them. So in Robert's mind, in that split second, there's a good guy on the ground, not moving, and there's another guy trying to steal his gun. The man was jerking so hard on the trooper's belt that it was lifting his lifeless body off the ground. He was jerking so hard while he stared down Robert. Well, I don't know about you, listen, I don't even know where you are right now, but that's cause for an ass kicking as far as the south this concern. And Robert Ledoux wasn't armed, but he wasn't gonna wait for backup to arrive. He had to do something. And I want to tell you Robert's a healthy boy, okay, Robert, And when I say boy, he's a man. Okay, Robert is a healthy dude. But he can move that weight when it matters, which is exactly what he did as he charged at that man. The thing was that man was armed, not because he was jerking on the gun of the officer, but because he had a sawed off shotgun with him, which he was more than happy to fire to anyone who got in his way. But undeterred, Robert took off running and tackled his ass. Not only did he tackle him, he tackled him fucking hard, slamming him down, using his left shoulder

20:41 for the brunt of the blow and all of his weight, just taking that dude down straight to the pavement, and they both tumbled, and Robert was able to keep that man just under his sheer weight on the ground, shoving his face into the pavement. Well, Charlie and Sam, who had tried to warn him, don't go up there, why stroll of this unfold? And when they saw Robert take off running and tackle the man, they immediately took off after him as well to go help and subdue him. And so they got on top of him and Robert was able to get off for a second, those two guys held him down. Robert was able to go grab the troopers handcuffs and then ran back over and they worked as a three man team to wrestle this guy down, pin him to the ground, and place the cuffs on the guy. So the two guys, Charlie and Sam remained on top of this unknown guy who was continuing to fight them while Robert got up and he ran back over to that officer to check on him. And seeing that officer was nothing less than traumatic because he was in grave condition. So Robert dropped down to his knees to see if there was anything he could do to help this trooper. And Robert was once a volunteer firefighter, so he knew the basics, but this was a horraze in this situation that he was looking at, and right in that moment, the trooper began to vomit, so Robert grabbed him by his shoulders and he rolled him over on his side and did everything he could to attempt to clear the airway of this officer so he would

22:12 not choke on his own vomit. And when traumatic things are happening, It's kind of funny how your brain is thinking one thousand miles a second, but everything tends to slow down all at one time. And when Robert rolled that trooper over, he was able to quickly see the name tag, and in that moment he realized this was the man that last gave me a ticket, and it was none other than Master Trooper Stephen Vincent. It had been ten years prior and Robert was rushing to the airport trying to catch a flight to Colorado when Trooper Vincent lit him up and pulled him over, And when he walked up, he jokingly told Robert, if you can give me a good enough excuse, I might not write you a ticket. And that day Robert learned that missing a flight wasn't considered a good excuse, and he got that ticket. But flashing back to the situation at hand, Robert ran to the police unit as fast as he could, and he tried to open the door, but he was eventually able to lean in through the passenger's window and he reached and he snatched the radio off the dash, And he didn't know how to speak proper police radio etiquette per se, but he knew how to ask for help, when that's exactly what he did. He grabbed the radio, he keyed up. Officer down, officer down, he's hurt, Please send help. And all of this was heard by the dispatchers in the nine one one center, and they knew that this was bad, and it had to be really bad because if Steven could not call for help himself, something had to be stopping him. And Robert even said, get airmed here. You got to get somebody here now, hurry,

23:44 and then he ran directly back to go check on Stephen. Now you may not know this, but when a police officer pulls up to pull you over, he's gonna radio in his location. He's gonna give what type of vehicle he's with, he'll give a license plate, and all of that is done for situations just like this that if they can't radio out their location, their last known location will at least already be known in dispatch. So when Robert ran back to Stephen's side, his attention shifted momentarily to the man that they had subdued, and he was fighting those two younger guys hard, even in handcuffs. I want you to understand that people can put up an incredible fight in handcuffs. Just because they are in them does not mean that they are not still deadly and not still dangerous. Guys and handcuffs have killed police officers, so please don't let that give you a false sense of security about people. And the man was fighting so fiercely that he even bucked one of the guys off that were on top of them, So that man may have thought he was tough in that moment, but he did not realize who he was messing with. Because as he's thrashing and fighting the two young guys on top of him, at one point he looks up and he freezes because what he saw was Robert now standing over him, pointing that deputy's gun straight at his head. He had removed Trooper Vincent's weapon from the holster, and when he ran over there, he had now drawn down on the man, straight to his face, and he told him, if you don't stay down, this is not going to end pretty.

25:17 So the man seemed pissed, but in that moment he also realized, I think I'm screwed here, and he calmed down. So while that was happening, Charlie, one of the guys he got up and he ran over to go check on the officer too, and just was overwhelmed whenever he realized that this officer had not opened his eyes or responded at any moment since they had come upon him. But whether he could hear Charlie or not, Charlie really wanted to comfort him if he was able to. He consistently spoke to the trooper Vincent, and he reassured him, you're safe, You're safe. We're here, We've got you, we are gonna protect you. And he gently wiped the trooper's face as he waited for help, trying to keep the blood from getting into his eyes and clearing his mouth to make sure that he could breathe. But Stephen was laying so still he did not move periodically, though he would clench his fists while he was breathing so heavily, almost hyperventilating at times, but not responding to anything that was said to him. And I find it the ultimate display of pure masculinity when a man can be so tender towards another man who is a stranger to him, but doing what he can to make sure he felt comforted in a time of just terror and exhaustion, as Steven's brain just tried to deal with the trauma that it had happened to him. And it was about that time that the cavalry could be heard approaching. Because officers are going to show up in full force, lights and silent,

26:49 sirens wailing while they're en route to come help a downed brother and a friend. So this is too, one of the worst things that you can ever hear over the radio that one of your own is down, gravely injured and not responding. Trooper Ben Fox had worked with Stephen for roughly four years. Whenever he heard that call for help over the radio, and his mind was racing as he flew to that scene. And as he pulled up, he saw Stephen Lane on the ground next to his police car and there was a ton of blood. Even from a distance, Ben could tell that this had been a very brutal scene that had unfolded. Another trooper, Joey Babineaut, drove almost one hundred and thirty miles per hour in his unit with his lights and sirens wailing to try to get to Stephen, and when he got there, it was obvious, very obvious to him who the bad guy was, considering there was multiple men holding down another one and not letting him move, so he immediately jumped into police mode, pulled out his cuffs, and ran over to go and subdue the man, but he was taken aback when he realized this guy's already in cuffs. How did he get in cuffs? So confused, the men advised Trooper Babineaux, we cuffed him. We took the officer's cuffs, and we put him on him. So they got the guy up, secured him in a police unit, and then Trooper Babineaux ran back to Stephen's side, where it was just gut wrenching what he saw, and he had a towel wrapped around his head. There was blood pouring out of his ears very clearly. There was a gunshot bullet hole in the

28:21 center of Trooper Vincent's forehead and another one that was over his left eyebrow, and there was a couple of scratches on his jaw. Stephen was unconscious, but he was breathing, and this just gave a little bit of hope to Babineau as he just lay over his friend, and while he was unsure of any worldly help that he could give. Trooper Vencent in that moment that could even make a difference. He then decided to take up prayer with him, and he lay his hands on his fellow trooper and his brother, and he began to pray, our Father, who arn't in heaven, how it'd be thy name, Thy Kingdom, Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our truspasses, as we forgive those who trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, glory, forever and ever. Amen.

29:14 And he said it twice because it's all he could get out in that moment, and he just wanted God to hear his prayers. Help my friend do what you can do. Please don't let him die here, And he instinctively tried to shield everyone from seeing how bad their fellow brother in blue was injured. About that time, a Metavac helicopter was cleared to land, and they all worked to quickly load Troop Prevents it into the chopper, and Trooper Babineau wrote in that helicopter and flew with him as it took off towards Late Charles Memorial Hospital, and he continued to squeeze a bag valve mask over Troue Pervensan's face to try to just help him breathe. And as sick as it made him to think about it, he knew that he was going to have to face Catherine at some point and tell her the news and his baby boy, Oh my god. The thought it was too much to think about what was about to happen.

30:04 But the chopper landed and Stephen was rushed inside where advanced life saving care began. And exhausted by all of it, Trooper Babineau took a moment to just catch his breath and collect himself and readied his thoughts for how he was going to break this news to Catherine, So he decided to take the upfront approach to be to the point and direct, and he called her and said, look, I'm I'm not going to sugarcoat this, but Stephen was attacked. He's been shot, and this is not good. So family and friends and officers alike all flooded the hospital to await the news and to legit prey for a miracle because he was gonna need it. But back at the scene, the identity of the man who had attacked Stephen was realized, and police identified him as fifty four year old Kevin Dagele.

30:51 Now Dagele is a bald man and his skin is deeply weathered and wrinkled around his eyes, his forehead, and his mouth. His face just evidence of hard living, if you know what I mean. His facial expressions remained stern, almost glaring, as he stared at the people around him, trying to understand what had happened. And much to Robert Ledoux's observation of the evil in his eyes, I'd have to agree that he emotes a very stark and serious look about him when you're looking at him. The men that held him down Charlie and Sam Edmondson, it was actually Charlie Burser and Sam Edmondson. They clearly tussled with this guy too, and when they slammed him too the ground, Robert got him his face down in that pavement, and it was obvious there had been a struggle because his cheeks were red and scratched up. His nose was scratched up as well, but it was nothing compared to the injuries that Trooper Vincent had sustained and in contrast to truper Vincent's life, which was well lived and a spirit of service to others the forefront of what he did.

32:02 Stephen and Kevin Dagele may have come from the same town, but they absolutely went down completely different paths in life because for the past twenty years of his life, Kevin had been in and out of prison. He's your typical failure to launch situation of drugs, alcohol and sheer lawlessness. And I don't mean to sound jaded whenever I say that, but that's exactly what we're dealing with when I'm talking about this one. Kevin never went far in life, yet his being left a path of destruction everywhere that he went. And to start, I gotta tell you this, Kevin had only just been out of jail like that March before this incident happened. He had been locked up, he was released in March. This went down in August, but what happened was still in question. What in the world transpired to cause Stephen to lay fighting for his life at a hospital with two gunshot wounds to the head. Kevin was clearly not a good dude, and this whole situation was an insane amount of violence to have happened, but what went on here was not very clear. Kevin Dagel was well known to law enforcement across Calcashu and Jefferson Davis parishes in southwest Louisiana because he was always in trouble and he would be I guess what we would refer to as a frequent flyer in our area because

33:32 he had a variety of crimes. He had been arrested over a dozen times. This guy was just a total fuck up, dating all the way back to nineteen ninety seven. You know, he committed criminal damage to property. In two thousand and one, he burglarized a church. He was obviously prone to violence. In two thousand and three, he was arrested for assaulting a police officer, But his main issue seemed to be with alcohol, because he had multiple counts of driving while intoxicated over the years. Probably tied to his drinking behavior was a disturbing the peace charge he had picked up in twenty twelve, and then he got wild again in twenty twelve when he was also charged with arson. What did he light on fire? I bet you might want to know this because I was curious.

34:22 What did he light on fire. What was he burning down? Was he trying to get insurance money or something, you know, something of that nature. No, it was his own mother's house that he lit on fire. He had served prison time from twenty twelve to twenty fourteen for that felony arson conviction, and then he couldn't act right while he was out on parole because that had been revoked when he got a third offense DWI that he was picked up on, which would then become his fourth felony arrest. So to say this guy is an absolute total fuck up is an understatement. But he was about to level up his offenses because Trooper Stephen Vincent would pass away the day after he was brutally attacked and shot on the side of the road. So Kevin Dagel was now booked on charges of first degree murder and aggravated battery of a police officer, and Catherine's life was shattered in the blink of an eye. In just moments, she went from happily married to a widow, and she was now just in seconds, a single mom to a six year old boy who she had to look in the eyes and break the news that his daddy, his buddy and his best friend would never be coming back home. And how do you do this? You know? I remember having to break this news to my daughter when her grandmother died unexpectedly. They were so very close, so close, they

35:55 spent every day together, and she was little, and I had to look in her eyes and break that news. So what Catherine had to look at in those little eyes while she broke this news about his daddy. I know I was dreading it. I didn't want to do it. It made me physically ill because I can't fix it. I can lighten the blow, but there's just no fitting explanation for that tender young age, and breaking that news to him had to be soaked in heartbreak and silence, where words are just not enough to carry the weight of the life long change that is about to come.

36:41 And when little innocent eyes look up at you, you brace yourself, trying to find the right words that just won't shatter them all at once. And I envision Catherine getting down on her knees and through a trembling voice, explaining to young Ethan how brave his daddy was, and that is dad helped people. But something bad happened while he was doing just that, And she probably didn't even say the world the word killed, more like something along the lines of, you know, he won't be coming back, because somehow that just feels softer than the reality of what she knew to be true. You know, he was murdered, So how do you softly tell a child that their hero is gone? And then the questions that had to come, and I know she had to dread them. How did Daddy die? Did it hurt? Why did someone kill Daddy?

37:38 And to soften what I know it had to have been an immense amount of anger and hatred toward the man that did this to her, to them, I bet she instead spared her baby boy that grief, and she simply said, sometimes people make bad choices that end up hurting others, honey, And while Daddy is gone, his love will never leave you. But I'm also willing to bet I've never met Catherine, but my heart goes out to her all these years later that this happened. But I'm willing to bet at night, when it got quiet and Ethan fell asleep and the phone wasn't ringing and she was alone in her bed, I guarantee you she cried into a pillow and tried to quiet her screams, my heart does not I just don't have the capacity to gloss over that reality. And she lived it. You know, I'm just telling her story, but it's hers and what what anguish she went through. So as their lives fell apart, police were trying to understand how this had occurred. So they went back to why was Stephen on the side of the road in the first place with Kevin Dagle?

39:01 What brought the two of them together? And radio traffic records would show that Stephen was responding to the report of a drunken driver when he came upon Kevin Dagle's truck on the side of the road stuck in the ditch, and he decided to check on the driver of that vehicle and make sure that they were okay. So he radioed in that he was pulling over with a motorist assistance for a vehicle in a ditch, and the next radio traffic heard from him was Robert Leedoux requesting help for an officer that was down. That's pretty much how it went. So detectives then pulled dash cam from his unit, and remember this is their friend, but they had to watch that dash cam too, and they watched in horror as their friend was murdered in cold blood on film.

39:52 It wasn't on the shoulder where you would typically pull over. It was more angled, like away from the road down into the ditch, and there was kind of like a rut where the tires had stopped. So this wasn't like he pulled over. It was really kind of like he wrecked. And he asked him, you know what's going on? Man? Do you need help? And what Trooper Vincent didn't know was that as he approached the truck talking to the man, Kevin Dagel had a sawed off shotgun in the vehicle that he had slowly and calmly slid over into his lap, not making much movement in the cab, and Trooper Vincent's last words were, we'll call the tow truck, get the truck out, and maybe I'll just go ahead and give you a ride where you need to be. But as Stephen squared to the window to finish talking to Kevin Dagele, that's when the sawed off shotgun came up and was shoved into his face, and with no time to react, all Stephen could do. I mean he didn't even have time to unholster his weapon. All he could do was look at the before Kevin pulled the trigger and mortally shot him directly in the face with a sawed off shotgun.

41:09 And as Stephen stumbled backwards to his vehicle, Kevin got out and callously followed the bleeding and rapidly dying Stephen until he just collapsed in front of his cop car. And after he collapsed on the ground, Kevin Dagele walked up, leaned over him, and he said, oh, you're still alive. Just looking at him with just just evil in his body language and in his face, he said, oh, you're still alive. And when he realized that Stephen wasn't dead, he then sneered at him, You lucky bastard, You're still gonna die. And before kneeling down to search his pockets and try to steal his gun, he just sneered at him and then dropped down started ripping everything out of his pockets and trying to grab that gun. And that's when all hell broke loose because Robert Ludou and the boys pulled up and tackled him to the ground. So other than just being a total and complete piece of shit?

42:15 What made Kevin react so violently towards a trooper simply trying to help him get out of a ditch. Clearly, in that moment that this took place, he was of no threat to him. He wasn't under arrest, he was calm. Stephen was calm. He was trying to help him out. Was gonna get him a tow truck? Well, what I can tell you is that Kevin was drunk. Now, Steven had not even addressed this issue with him. Maybe though that's why Kevin was in the ditch to begin with. But to kill somebody over it, really, that's where we're gonna go with this. It just seemed a bit much.

42:56 Considering Kevin had already spent a majority of his adult life behind ball, this was not unusual for him to kill someone because you think you're gonna get a DWI. Well, when the murder took place, shortly after everything was you know, the Stephen was already taken off and Kevin was already arrested and put in the vehicle. The vehicle that was in the ditch was being removed, so as they were pulling that out, police ran the license plate to check and see if the truck was stolen, and wouldn't you know, it wasn't stolen, but it was not Kevin's truck. It belonged to a man named Blake Brewer. Blake was a fifty four year old and a local as well to the area. But the truck wasn't reported stolen, so they would need to track down Blake and see why Dagel had his truck to begin with. And Blake was a kind, generous and friendly guy, the type of person who never met a stranger. He was someone who believed and strong work ethic, and he was known by the place that he worked. He was known to be the first at work to be the last to leave. And I think that tells you just how much he poured into his work.

44:13 And he strikes you as the type of guy that also has lived a tough life, but an honest one. He just did not have an easy life. He had these huge, bright blue eyes, curly brown hair that he kept short, and he just had this gentleness about his face and his being. Now, when Blake wasn't on the job, he spent all of his time with his black lab that was his pal. That dog was his bud. Blake didn't have many friends. He also did not have family that kept touch with in touch with him, so his pup was really acting as his saving grace whenever it was just him and he was feeling lonely. He never was a rich man by any stretch of the imagination, and in all transparency, he could probably be more thought of as a tumbleweed, maybe a drifter at times, no real roots planted, but he built family at his workplace, and one of his favorite things to do was to take himself and his dog down to Big Lake and fish as his relaxation and his peace. It was a very simple life, but one that Blake did his best to live. So when police tried to contact Blake, he was really hard to get a hold of, and kind of from what I've laid out here, you could probably see why he could have loaned his truck to Kevin.

45:37 So after they kept trying to get in touch with him and he didn't call back, I don't know if he had a cell phone or not, the police just kind of waited for the return call from Blake. But in reality, if you're just looking at things practical, just because Kevin killed a cop didn't necessarily mean that he had stolen the truck either, and so they couldn't just go balls to the wall tearing down the world trying to find Blake. But considering how prompt Blake was and how dedicated he was to his job, his boss became really concerned when he never showed up to work on Monday, the day after Trooper Vincent was shot. He really liked Blake and he knew that this was out of the norm for his employee. So deputies had a hard time getting behold of him before. And now this was compounded by his lack of family, his lack of friends, and that no one really kept up with him, which is really kind of sad when you think about it. The relatives that police were able to get in touch with they hadn't spoken to him in literally years, so that was of no help of trying to get in touch with Blake. But whenever he was reported as not showing up to work, they put two and two together and so deputies were eventually able to locate his home on Hollyvale Road, which is in Moss Bluff, and they knocked on the door, knock knock, but there was no answer.

46:58 When they continued to knock. Now, they're really concerned about him and possibly concerned for his safety, considering his vehicle just been used in a murder of a police officer the day before, and so they made the decision to force entry into the home. So they busted through the door and they started to call out to him, mister Brewer, police, are you in here, mister Brewer, We're the police. Hello, But there was just silence. It was very quiet and still. So they went through the home carefully clearing it, you know, making sure that he wasn't hiding or something like that, and that's whenever they came upon a very terrible, unexpected and shocking scene. They found Blake Brewer, but he was dead in his home from an apparent gunshot blast to the torso, and he was well beyond saving. He had been dead for at least a day, and looking around the home, blood wasn't just in the one area where Blake lay, It was all throughout the house. And so they are starting to process the scene and figure out what happened. It became very clear, very quickly that this wasn't a suicide because there was no weapon. If you shoot yourself in the chest and you fall and you die, you're not going to have time to get rid of the weapon. Dead people don't hide weapons either. So as this crime scene was being analyzed, detectives at one point opened the washing machine and there they found a bunch

48:29 of bloody clothes and it looked as if someone had tried to clean up the scene, a miserable attempt at it, but an attempt no less, this was a murder, and police now had a really good idea who might have done it because they came to find that Kevin Dagele and Blake Brewer were roommates from time to time, so they did have a relationship. They knew one another, and this was not a random connection of any type. They also came to realize that the wounds Blake's suffered to his torso were the exact same caliber and weapon as the ones sustained by Trump Trooper Vincent. And this makes me really, really sad in this part of the story too, to tell you this, but what does it feel like to need to notify next of ken about a family member's death when he doesn't have contact with anyone, you know, my god, Like someone needs to know that he was murdered, But they had no one that they could go tell.

49:34 Blake's boss was certainly shattered by the news, but no family to tell is just heartbreaking to me. But the police didn't just say oh well. They continued to do some certain research and they ended up finding a cousin named Joy Kellogg, and they drove to her home to break the news about what had happened to Blake. Now, she hadn't spoken to Blake since they were kids, but nonetheless it was an absolute shocking revelation to find out as she thought back about how kind of a kid he was when they were little. You know, they played together as kids, when they were cousins, when they were little as cousins. So not being people of great means, Blake was still to be honored. And so to make this happen, his cousins and his boss would scrape together the funds that they could to give him an honorable memorial.

50:28 Even strangers from the community came together and donated to this cause. So good did shine through in a horrible situation. And I am happy to say that Blake Brewer was not only honored, but he was given a respectable burial. Whenever he was laid to rest and he was not alone when confronted with the fact that police found the body of Blake and Kevin was the last person to be with him, to have taken his truck, and he was dead by a gunshot blast that was the same caliber, and all of that that Trooper Dagel was shot, wait Trooper Dagel boom that the trooper was shot. Kevin now claimed that he did kill Blake Brewer, but it was in total self defense because he said that Brewer came at him with a knife, and that seemed unlikely. And a detective her names Beth McGee, she brought up the fact that, so, you were attacked by Blake Brewer with a knife, but you have zero defensive wounds on you.

51:32 You have no, no, nothing from a knife that would even suggest that you have been attacked by a knife. And I'd also like to add that whenever Kevin was tackled and subdued by the Good Samaritans at the trooper shooting scene, one of them had the presence of mind to search his pockets so that he wouldn't have a weapon on him, and he did find a knife in Dagele's pocket, which he took and he threw it into the ditch so that he couldn't get a hold of it. So it looks like he's the one to be known to have a knife on him, not Blake Brewer. So as Kevin was removed from the scene the day he murdered Trooper Vincent, he also was yelling out that he didn't kill a cop, he didn't shoot anyone, all of this while he literally had Trooper Vincent's blood on his own hands, He literally had his blood on him and I didn't shoot him. I didn't shoot him. Deny, deny, deny.

52:27 That's all he could do. So Kevin Daegel was charged with second degree murder in the death of Blake Brewer and faced charges of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon because remember, he's been breaking the law for a long time. And this, to me is where parole boards need to listen up to we the people, the constituents of the very communities that these people are released back into, because when someone shows you their propensity for lawlessness and violence, you need to believe them. Parole board, a sober person behind bars claiming that they are safe and responsible, who has a long twenty year history of being problematic and with multiple dwi's, convinced you that he was going to go the straight and narrow. Really did that really happen? He burned down his own mother's house. What the hell do you think he's going to do to people he doesn't care about.

53:31 He's willing to burn down his mother's own home. And that's exactly what he did. He did exactly what he said he wasn't going to go do, and he murdered people when they got in his way. And he can spare me the whole Oh, I had a bad childhood spill. I don't give a shit, mister Dagel. We all do, and we don't go around hurting people in the process. His own family was afraid of him too, referring to him and I quote as doctor Jekyl and hide when he drank. Well, here's an idea, don't fucking drink Kevin.

54:12 But Kevin does what Kevin wants. How much evidence do you need? If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's probably a frickin duck. I cannot believe that the Parole Board let this guy out genuinely cannot believe it. Kevin Dagele got drunk, he argued with his roommate, Blake Brewer, and then he shot him in cold blood in the chest with a sowd off shotgun, leaving him to suffer and die alone and basically to rot, assuming that no one was gonna come look for him. He knew he was a loner, but he was wrong because people did care about Blake, and they jumped as soon as they realized there was a problem and he was a no show. After killing him, Kevin stole his truck, which he was too drunk to drive, and he drove into a a ditch where he got stuck, which, by the way, I found he was four times the legal limit.

55:06 A good and kind state trooper who took an oath to protect and serve stopped to fulfill that very oath and unknowingly walked up to a murderer, offered him a tow truck and a ride. Yet he was repaid with a gunshot blast to the face with the very same murder weapon used earlier in the day to murder someone else. So why he killed Master Trooper Vincent is now very obvious. Kevin thought that Trooper Vincent was onto him for the first murder that he had just committed prior. But he wasn't. He was simply genuinely trying to help him, and that's why he reacted so brutally to save himself from going back to prison. It's that horrifically simple. He ambushed Blake and then he ambushed Steve. Then, to add insult to mortal injury, he mocked his victim as he lay dying.

56:08 If face has a boom fifty nine thirteen, If evil has a face. Those good Samaritans were right when they all said that they saw it in his eyes. Now, Kevin would initially deny having done anything, but later when it came down to the nutcutting, he would say he just didn't remember any of it. Amnesia, y'all. What a beautiful excuse for those unwilling to face nor take responsibility for their actions. But Kevin Dagele was charged with the first degree murder of Master Trooper Stephen Vincent, and he would choose to go to trial. He was also, like I said, charged with the second degree murder of Blake Brewer, and Kevin would cry. Kevin Dagele would cry as he explained in court that his dad had committed suicide when he was a child and that hurt him. Well. I wonder how young Ethan felt in that moment, because you know what your dad chose to die, Kevin Ethan's didn't you stole him from his son? Kevin Dagel also professed his desperation on the day of the murderers. He said he had given up on life because he lost his oil filled job due to a hip injury, and that he was so drunk after smoking meth from a broken

57:39 light bulb. He was just jobless, homeless and hopeless. It's really funny to me, though, that the jobless and the homeless still managed to have enough resources to buy meth. You still have enough time to smoke it. You can get alcohol, you can find bullets, and you can tote around a sawed off shotgun. Unpopular opinion here, possibly, But how about you, Kevin Dagele, just kill yourself rather than two innocent people. It would have saved you and society a whole lot of trouble. I can promise you that.

58:20 But that's not what selfish men do. They hurt everyone in their path to achieve what they want. And I'm not sure if his claims were supposed to explain away murder, But trauma mixed with self destruction isn't a coupon that you get to redeem for murder. Because you're not broken, Kevin, You're dangerous now. If excuses could resurrect the dead, that would be the only time to me that your pity story would matter. In twenty twenty two, Kevin Dagele was formally sentenced to death by Judge Clayton Davis, and he now sits on death row at Angola, awaiting his execute And I want to tell you I came upon a photo of Master Trooper Stephen Vincent's young son Ethan, looking into a mirror and he's wearing his father's trooper hat, and in the reflection of the mirror is his dad.

59:15 They're looking the same direction and he's wearing that hat as well. It was just beautiful and it just tugged at your heartstrings when you're looking at it. But if there's anything that I know, it's that Ethan may grow up without his dad by his side, but his daddy will absolutely remain in his heart forever. The goodness and the bravery and the best parts of Master Trooper Stephen Vincent will be reflected not only in the mirror, but also in the life that his precious son Ethan will lead. May he be surrounded by love and strength and happiness, all of which his father was violently robbed off. And to the coward who took Stephen Vincent from his family, May every mirror you look in remind you of what you are, so as you may or may not know.

1:00:14 There's been a shortage of execution drugs and so the State of Louisiana moved onto nitrogen hypoxia as a method. But either way, Kevin's execution date has yet to be set. But maybe we should look into bring it back some of those older methods, keV, you know. But until then, sleep tight and I'd be down for the electric chair to bite.