Oct. 29, 2025

The Carjacking | Bloody Angola Podcast

The Carjacking | Bloody Angola Podcast
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

In 1992 Kipp Gullett, a freshman at Louisiana State University was brutally murdered by Dale Craig with the involvement (3) others after being carjacked and kidnapped in the parking lot of his dormitory on LSU’s campus.
The ensuing investigation and legal battle would go on as Dale Craig’s original sentence would be changed numerous times. In this Edition of Bloody Angola Podcast, Jim Chapman walks you through the details of the crime, the conviction and the sentences of those involved that will leave you scratching your head for answers.

Join Bloody Angola on Patreon for Commercial Free Early Releases and more here: www.patreon.com/bloodyangolapodcast

Follow “Unspeakable: a True Crime Podcast by Kelly Jennings via the below link https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unspeakable-a-true-crime-podcast-by-kelly-jennings/id1651928508

Follow “Crime Wire Weekly” on it’s new channel HERE:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crime-wire-weekly/id1815864889
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/3zyrgjtW6gLUVbicJaYXV9?si=0dbf4983938344a2
Amazon Music
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/3738411d-828e-4138-9976-223ab5de2c87/the-crime-wire-weekly

For Louisiana Local Advertising inquiries or to book appearances please email BloodyAngola@gmail.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:05.799
M m.

2
00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:26.079
A wall Street line, shackle change, Oh someome gird, it's

3
00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.320
calling my name.

4
00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:36.240
There is no mercy and it's been a tentery juice

5
00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:42.119
as the hill Stream game Rainbow three.

6
00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:47.920
Come here by me to die.

7
00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:54.280
Inside these walls, inside the wild.

8
00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.079
Han't went more girls as I'm.

9
00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.480
Hey everyone, and welcome back to Blundy and Gulla, a

10
00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.280
podcast one hundred and forty two years in the making,

11
00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:42.599
the complete story of America's Bloody Is Prison. I'm Jim Chapman,

12
00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.920
and today I'm bringing you a story involving a current

13
00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:50.719
Death Row inmate by the name of Dale Craig, who

14
00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:54.280
in nineteen ninety two murdered a team by the name

15
00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:59.879
of Kip Gullet. Now there's a reason for the timing

16
00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:05.280
of this particular episode, and that is because Deal Craig

17
00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.439
is in the news again this past week, as the

18
00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:12.400
Supreme Court has made a ruling saying a lower court

19
00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.800
has to hear from the state to make a determination

20
00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:21.000
if Dal Craig should have the opportunity to seek parole.

21
00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:25.800
And that's after Craig, who was originally sentenced to death,

22
00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:30.879
has already had his sentence changed from death to life

23
00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:35.840
without parole and then life with parole confused yet, Well

24
00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.039
that's okay. I'm going to bring it all to you today. Now,

25
00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:44.879
what led to this crime, the convention, the change in sentence,

26
00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.639
and the reconsideration for parole, that's what we're going to cover.

27
00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.360
So I'm going to take you back to September fourteenth

28
00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.599
of nineteen ninety two, and I'm going to tell you

29
00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.599
about an LSU student by the name of Kip Gullet

30
00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:04.280
who was eighteen. This particular night, Kept Gullet, he pulls

31
00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.680
into his parking spot at Kirby Smith dormitory. He had

32
00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:14.360
a Ford Bronco. It was really nice truck. He pulls in.

33
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.560
It was late at night, near midnight as a matter

34
00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.520
of fact, and he was tired. He had been visiting

35
00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.400
a female friend at this time, and he's just ready

36
00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.039
to get back to his dorm and go to bed.

37
00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.280
He was a good kid, a freshman at LSU. He

38
00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:34.240
was really just starting out on his own in college.

39
00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:36.719
He had just left home. So as soon as he

40
00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:41.599
parks and he gets out of his Ford Bronco, Dale Craig,

41
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.639
who incidentally was with three other people, he rushes up

42
00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:52.199
to this freshman and right off the bat he hits

43
00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:56.240
him with the butt of a revolver in the face.

44
00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:02.439
That got Gullet's attention immediately, and at gunpoint, Dell Craig

45
00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:07.520
orders Gullet into the backseat of his Bronco, and he

46
00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:12.159
orders his companions, those guys with him later identified as

47
00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:19.079
Zebby Berthelot, James Laverne, and Roy Morier, to get into

48
00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.920
the bronco with them. They all get in. They ride

49
00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:26.680
around the Baton Ruge area at midnight this night for

50
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.199
nearly an hour, trying to decide what to do with

51
00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:37.240
Kip Gullet. Now, according to later court testimony, Gullet was

52
00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:43.240
understandably scared shitless. He was crying, He was begging for

53
00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.439
his life the entire time. As a matter of fact,

54
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.319
he would put his hands over his face and cover

55
00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:54.800
his eyes and say, man, I haven't seen any of y'all.

56
00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:57.720
I don't know what you look like. Please let me go.

57
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.120
He would beg these fours guys for mercy. He would

58
00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:06.480
tell them his family was rich and they would pay

59
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.279
these guys for his safe return, just anything he could

60
00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.600
think of to keep these guys from killing him. All

61
00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:19.199
during this hour long ordeal, dal Craig would just sit

62
00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.600
there and would just torn him. Why you cry and

63
00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:24.920
why you being a whimp and all this kind of stuff.

64
00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.680
Well maybe it's because you've got a freaking gun pointed

65
00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:29.920
at my head. But that tells you what kind of

66
00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.480
person Dale Craig is. So, while this is going on,

67
00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.040
the other three accomplices, they're not as agreeable as Deal Craig.

68
00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:43.560
He was asking them what should we do with this guy?

69
00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.879
They were saying, Hey, why don't we just beat him

70
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:52.279
unconscious and leave him somewhere. We don't have to kill him.

71
00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.560
And at one point during this back and forth with

72
00:05:55.639 --> 00:06:00.600
these guys, according to them, Deal Craig seeing like he

73
00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.720
was going to go along with that. Okay, we'll bring

74
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.040
him somewhere and we'll just beat him up and knock

75
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.519
him out so that he can't get up and go

76
00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:11.160
immediately to police, and we won't kill him. And according

77
00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:15.040
to these guys, that's what they assumed Dale Craig was

78
00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:19.240
going to do. So they eventually drive to a construction site,

79
00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.240
and this construction site is in what's known as the

80
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.800
Kenilworth area of Baton Rudge, and it was there that

81
00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:31.879
they all exit that Bronco and Deal Craig tells one

82
00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:37.439
of the accomplices, Zebi Birthlot, to hand him a nine

83
00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:42.639
millimeter pistol. Zebi Birthalot does that and deal Craig along

84
00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.600
with the guy by the name of James Laverne, they

85
00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:51.920
march this eighteen year old, good kid, college student with

86
00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.279
his whole life ahead of him. They march him eighty

87
00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:02.480
feet into this construction site. At that point, Laverne takes

88
00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:07.240
the butt of his gun and he hits Gullet in

89
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.040
the back of the head. In this knocks Gullet to

90
00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:15.240
the ground, and Gullet, if you can picture this, is

91
00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:18.839
kind of on all fours trying to get back up,

92
00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.199
and he was almost out of it. I would assume

93
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.360
he was almost knocked out, and he kind of just

94
00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:29.759
sinks back down into the ground. And Laverne said at

95
00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.480
that point he just walks away and he's assuming that

96
00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.879
was it. This kid was practically knocked out. And here

97
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.600
we go back to the bronco that we're going to steal,

98
00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:43.560
right But at this point, Dale Craig, he kneels down

99
00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:48.279
by Gullet. As he lays there, he's frozen in fear.

100
00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:52.240
He is actually in by this point the fetal position,

101
00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:58.920
and Dale Craig fires three bullets at point blank range

102
00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:06.160
to his skull, killing the eighteen year old. But del

103
00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:12.279
Craig's not done. He then stands completely up and he

104
00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:19.439
fires two more shots in to Kip Gulling just for

105
00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:23.920
the hell of it. That's how evil this sm bitch is.

106
00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:27.800
The four of them, they then drive away from the

107
00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:32.080
scene and these other three guys, according to them, they

108
00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.240
were like, why did you kill him? That was not

109
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:38.399
the plan. I thought we were just gonna knock him out.

110
00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:42.240
Now we're all gonna be screwed, et cetera. And del

111
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:46.679
Craig tells them, hey, man, I panicked because during the

112
00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:51.639
ride this kid overheard one of the assailants mentioned the

113
00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.759
name of another assailant, and del Craig said, hey, I

114
00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:57.480
was worried that he was going to be able to

115
00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:01.799
identify us just by hearing names. So that was his

116
00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:07.080
reasoning for shooting this kid over and over and over again,

117
00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.840
execution style in the head. Mind you now. According to

118
00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:14.240
these other guys, after they left the scene, del Craig

119
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.639
also told them quote, I love you all. You are

120
00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:23.159
all my boys, but if you say one fucking word,

121
00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:26.720
I'll kill you too, they said. He then turned to

122
00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:31.639
Roy Moyer, and he said, quote, I told you I

123
00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.399
was hard. Del Craig then turns to the group and says,

124
00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.960
while we're at it, should we go kill anybody else,

125
00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.240
and then, in an attempt to be funny, answers his

126
00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:48.919
own question by saying, Nah, the game warden may be

127
00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.759
pissed if we keep leaving bodies in the woods. So

128
00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.919
Del Craig then drives to his home in this in

129
00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:02.080
this Kid's Bronco whereas girlfriend friend, she was at his

130
00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:07.600
home and he tells her in detail the entire crime.

131
00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:12.080
His girlfriend and he they then devise a plan on

132
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.639
how to get away with this shit, and their plan

133
00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:20.120
was they were going to drive that bronco to Bogolusa,

134
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:25.519
Louisiana the next day and somehow get rid of it. However,

135
00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:30.080
the next day, just prior to leaving, he changes his

136
00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.159
mind and he tells her, hey, we're just going to

137
00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.120
destroy the bronco. So the first thing he does is

138
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.759
he rips the stereo out of that bronco, and his

139
00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:44.120
intention there was he intended to sell the stereo, the

140
00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:49.480
cor stereo and then accompanied by his girlfriend James Laverne,

141
00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:51.840
who was one of the guys with him, when this

142
00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:56.840
murder went down, and his mother, of all people, his

143
00:10:56.919 --> 00:10:59.799
own mother, They were all in a separate car. They

144
00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:05.000
follow him as he takes the Bronco to the Mississippi

145
00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:09.720
River levee in Baton rage In the group sets and

146
00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:10.320
on fire.

147
00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:23.320
In the sultry heat of Louisiana, where the bayous whisper

148
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.559
secrets and the air hangs heavy with the scent of magnolias,

149
00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:30.960
a darkness lurked beneath the surface. Dereck todd Lee was

150
00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:34.639
a man whose charm masked a sinister reality. He was

151
00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:39.080
a monster. Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile,

152
00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.000
led a double life that would unravel in a series

153
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.559
of murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and

154
00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:48.320
the surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and

155
00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.600
murders began to surface, South Louisiana was thrust into a nightmare,

156
00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:56.480
igniting a frantic search for answers. The true horror was

157
00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.759
just beginning, and the hunt for a serial killer eventually

158
00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.480
known by just three letters, would reveal not only the

159
00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:06.159
depths of Derek Toddley's depravity, but also the resilience of

160
00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.399
those most affected by his evil acts, the families, and

161
00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.879
the survivors. This is DTL.

162
00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:23.039
DTL can be found by Searching Unspeakable, a true crime

163
00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:27.840
podcast by Kelly Jennings wherever you listen to podcasts, Episode

164
00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:32.480
one dropping November three. So obviously, now you've got a

165
00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:36.240
car on fire in Baton Ridge on the levee. And

166
00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.159
it was not long before the East Baton Ridge Parish

167
00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.960
Sheriff's office gets a call and get a call and

168
00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:46.879
the caller says, hey, there's a car on fire on

169
00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:50.360
the levee in Baton Ridge. And they start investigating this

170
00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.399
arson and they discover that the owner of this Bronco

171
00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.600
is a man with the last named Gullet, and it's

172
00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:01.639
actually Kip Gullet's father. And they call the father and

173
00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:05.279
they say, hey, your bronco is on fire on the

174
00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:10.039
Mississippi River levee. And the father says, well, I bought

175
00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.799
the vehicle, but that's for my son. He's an LSU

176
00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:17.440
freshman at LSU and he drives that car. He actually

177
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:23.399
lives on LSU's campus. Now, y'all, this is at the

178
00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:28.159
very infancy of cell phones. I mean, it was like

179
00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:32.320
beepers and pagers at this point in time in the

180
00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:37.399
early nineties. So his dad he starts paging his son NonStop.

181
00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.360
He calls the dorm, etc. To no avail. He cannot

182
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.360
get in touch with his son. I can only imagine

183
00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:48.159
the panic that was going through his dad's mind. So

184
00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:54.080
his dad obviously very concerned by this point, he contacts

185
00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:58.639
the LSU police and he lets them know that he

186
00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:04.559
was unable to kate his son. Almost simultaneously, at this point,

187
00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.799
deputies were investigating reports of a body found at a

188
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:14.919
construction site in the Kenilworth area of Batan Rurage, and

189
00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:23.200
officers for both investigations. They realize relatively quickly that the

190
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:28.480
burned bronco and the body at that construction site were

191
00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.639
related and that body was identified as Kip Gullet. So

192
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:38.879
at that point police also have a tip called in in.

193
00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:45.600
The tipster stated that Dale Craig, along with Laverne Berthelot

194
00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:51.240
and Moawyer were involved in the murder of Kip Gullet.

195
00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:56.840
So police give this information and they quickly go arrest

196
00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:02.639
the four suspects and listen to the ages of these guys.

197
00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.519
Del Craig at that time was seventeen years old. Now

198
00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.639
he was turning eighteen, in just a few days, less

199
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:14.799
than a week from the time that this crime went down,

200
00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:21.279
and that would come into play later. James Laverne was nineteen,

201
00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:31.679
zebbi Berthelot was sixteen, and Roy Moyer was just fifteen

202
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.240
years old. Can you believe that? So these guys they

203
00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:42.559
get questioned, and Moyer, he's fifteen, He's in a ship

204
00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:47.120
pile of trouble. He knows it. He admits to everything.

205
00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:52.559
He just totally confesses, and they get a search warrant

206
00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.919
for Dale Craig's home, and at del Craig's home they

207
00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:03.519
find the stereo equipment for that Bronco, as well as

208
00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:09.039
the victim's keys. So very early on, police already have

209
00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:14.919
a ton of evidence, including confessions, and all four of

210
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:20.120
these guys are charged with first degree murder. So I'm

211
00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:24.440
gonna fast forward a bet because all of these guys

212
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.000
had trials. But that's not what this particular episode is about.

213
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.240
We'll get into that in a second. But all these

214
00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:35.200
guys had trials or they cut deals with prosecutors, and

215
00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:40.600
here are the results of that. Dale Craig gets sentenced

216
00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:44.279
to death first agree murder. He gets the death penalty.

217
00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:50.080
Zebbie Berthelot was sentenced to twenty years in prison after

218
00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:54.600
he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and that was a deal,

219
00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.440
a plea deal that prosecutors made with him to get

220
00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:02.360
him to testify again. It's Dale Craig. Roy Mourrier was

221
00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:06.160
sentenced to twenty years in prison after he pleaded guilty

222
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:11.119
to manslaughter and again he agreed to testify against Craig

223
00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.599
and James Laverne. He was sentenced to life inside Bloody

224
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:20.720
and Gola or second degree murder. Apparently he did not

225
00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:23.039
cut a deal or they felt like they had enough

226
00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.279
and just didn't offer him one. Remember he was the

227
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:31.759
guy that hit kept gullet in the head and knocked

228
00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:36.720
him down just prior to deal Craig executing him. So

229
00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.359
he gets life inside of Bloody in Gola. And all

230
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:45.079
of these convictions were in nineteen ninety four, So off

231
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.200
they go to serve these sentences and it's in two

232
00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:54.960
thousand and five that something shocking happens when Dale Craig

233
00:17:55.720 --> 00:18:03.039
he gets resentenced from the death penalty and death to

234
00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:08.559
life in prison with no parole. So how did that happen? Well,

235
00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:15.000
roper Versus Simmons stipulated that if you were juvenile when

236
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:18.720
you committed a crime, you could not be sentenced to death.

237
00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:25.880
So that made Dale Craig's sentence unconstitutional because remember he

238
00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.359
was seventeen, but he was only a week from eighteen

239
00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.839
when he committed this crime, and that opened the door

240
00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.720
for recents and the result of that recentence was life

241
00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.279
in prison with no parole.

242
00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.240
Jim, did you see what happened in Texas today?

243
00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.960
Wait before you tell me that, let me tell you

244
00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.200
what happened in New York.

245
00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.160
It cannot be as crazy as the case I told

246
00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.759
you about yesterday in Louisiana.

247
00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.680
You know what, we should do a podcast about it,

248
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.319
and with that we did.

249
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.720
Crime War Weekly covers the crime news headlines have dominated

250
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:01.119
the week.

251
00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:04.839
We cover trending crimes from all over the country and

252
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.359
even sprinkle in a few globally.

253
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:10.240
Crime War Weekly is available now wherever you listen to

254
00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:11.839
your podcasts.

255
00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:14.920
Simply by searching Crime Wire Weekly or clicking the link

256
00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:24.920
in the description of this podcast. Now, it's important to

257
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.880
note I keep hammering this down, but he was just

258
00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.279
six days from his eighteenth birthday when this went down.

259
00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:37.559
Then there's another shocking event when in twenty twenty three,

260
00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:44.119
the Supreme Court citing Montgomery versus Louisiana as well as

261
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.759
Miller versus Alabama, they rule that if you were a

262
00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.519
juvenile and you were sentenced to life in prison in

263
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:58.480
the state of Louisiana, it was unconstitutional to not get

264
00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.079
a shot at para. So you couldn't be sentenced to

265
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:05.680
life with no parole. Essentially, you would have to serve

266
00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:11.559
twenty years to become eligible for parole. Now, due to

267
00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.039
the fact that del Craig had been incarcerated for well

268
00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:20.519
over twenty years by this point, he would actually be

269
00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.079
eligible for parole right out of the gate. This was

270
00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:30.920
determined by the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Louisiana. However,

271
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.559
yet another change in this case when just a week

272
00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:42.759
ago the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed that twenty twenty three

273
00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:46.519
decision made by the First Circuit Court of Appeal, and

274
00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.960
that opened the door for the state to at least

275
00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.039
argue to the First Circuit the appellate Court that del

276
00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.519
Craig should not have a chance at parole. So let

277
00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:01.079
me just make this cleaner for you up, because I

278
00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:05.440
know it can be confusing. In twenty twenty three, Judge

279
00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:11.839
Ebony Rose, she re sentences Craig from life with no

280
00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:17.279
parole to life with the possibility of parole because he

281
00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:19.720
was a juvenile and they'd already been pulled off a

282
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:24.160
death row and that sentence changed to life in prison

283
00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.599
because he was a juvenile. So this is two strikes

284
00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:33.960
of luck for this guy. The Age appeals that and says, bullshit,

285
00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:38.000
this guy should never have a chance at parole. In

286
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.440
the appellate Court dismisses the state's appeal at that time.

287
00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.960
They basically say it's legal and this is the law,

288
00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.759
and we're not even going to hear your case. So

289
00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:53.480
the state then appeals that decision by the Appellate Court

290
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.319
all the way to the Supreme Court and they say

291
00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.079
they should have to hear the case. In six out

292
00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:04.680
of seven Supreme Court judges they rule that the first

293
00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:09.480
Circuit must at least hear the case, and they can't

294
00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.599
just dismiss it. They can't tell the Attorney General's office,

295
00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:15.680
you don't even get a right to argue in front

296
00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.160
of us and tell us why Dale Craig doesn't deserve

297
00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:22.920
pro now. The only dissenting judge in the Supreme Court

298
00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:28.759
Louisiana Supreme Court was Chief Justice John Weimer. So does

299
00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:32.359
all this mean that dal Craig will get parole. Well,

300
00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:35.480
the short answer is no, even if the appellate court

301
00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:41.000
upheld his shot at parole, even saying the State of

302
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:45.200
Louisiana argued this to the appellate court and they said, well,

303
00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.720
we don't buy your argument. We think that he should

304
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.880
get life with the chance at parole at least a hearing.

305
00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:56.519
It doesn't mean he's going to be granted parole. But

306
00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:01.119
to me, even the fact that this this guy gets

307
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:06.599
a shot at parole, I don't like it. It's like

308
00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:10.559
granting this guy a second shot at life. His victim

309
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:15.880
did not get a second shot at life. Why should

310
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.839
he now, hopefully with the chance to at least argue

311
00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:25.440
the reasons why Dell Craig does not deserve a chance

312
00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:29.640
at parole. By the state's attorneys at least the first circuit,

313
00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:33.440
we'll be able to consider the risk involved in letting

314
00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.240
this guy out into the free world. And anytime you

315
00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.640
get a chance to co op for parole, you always

316
00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:42.880
you know there is a risk there that you can

317
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:47.319
get out. It's happened. And here's an interesting tidbit of

318
00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.640
information for you regarding del Craig inside of Bloody in Gola,

319
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.240
and I'm gonna tell you quickly about an escape attempt

320
00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.720
that he actually had when he was on death row. Now,

321
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:05.359
these death row inmates, like really all inmates, they got

322
00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:09.759
twenty four hours a day to think about nothing but

323
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:15.720
how the hell to get out of prison, right, escape style,

324
00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:19.960
that's all they got to do. And especially with death row,

325
00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:25.039
it's a very moundane life. Boring af Well, when you're

326
00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:28.519
on the other side of carrastions, you know that an

327
00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:32.400
unoccupied mind can sometimes be a dangerous thing, So you

328
00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:37.319
try to keep the minds busy at the very least somehow.

329
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.920
In one way Louisiana State Penitentiary tried to do this

330
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:46.640
was to allow inmates on death row dominoes. Seems harmless enough, right,

331
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:51.319
play some dominoes with yourself. Well, what Louisiana State Penitentiary

332
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:55.680
officials didn't realize was that in the old death row

333
00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.200
the welds that were used on the cell bar were hollow.

334
00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:07.039
And while they did not realize that, apparently the death

335
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.839
row inmates did at some point, with Dale Craig being

336
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:18.039
one of those inmates. And as Kathy Fontau told it

337
00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:21.599
to me, and y'all, Cathy is a legend here in

338
00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:26.240
Louisiana Corrections. In a former assistant warden at Bloody and Gola,

339
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:29.519
she said, one day, while Dale Craig was housed in

340
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:34.319
death Row, she was giving a tour and she passed

341
00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:39.519
by Dale Gregg's cell and he was standing up and

342
00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:42.599
he was facing the tour group, and he was kind

343
00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:46.640
of holding on to the bars, if you can picture that. Now,

344
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:50.039
when you're a warden, an assistant warden, even a CEO,

345
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.519
you become accustomed to these inmates' habits. And one thing

346
00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:01.400
about dal Craig was he almost was never up at

347
00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:05.160
his cell door like that. Primarily he laid in the

348
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:07.720
bed all the time. So she kind of took nighte

349
00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:13.559
of that right away as very strange. Well, as officials

350
00:26:13.799 --> 00:26:18.279
would discover later, Dale Craig had managed to cut through

351
00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:21.480
those welds in his cells, and they would also discover

352
00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:26.680
later it took over sixteen hours to cut through those welds.

353
00:26:27.319 --> 00:26:31.880
And the dominoes that were given to these inmates to

354
00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:36.079
pass the time, he had disguised them to look like

355
00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:39.839
part of the cell doors, and he placed them where

356
00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:43.960
those welds would have been had he not cut through those.

357
00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:49.440
So when Warden Fonteau was with that tour group and

358
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:52.519
they were walking down you know a picture of the

359
00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:55.920
Green Mile or whatever, they're walking down that tier and

360
00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:59.599
he was in front of his cell door holding on

361
00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:04.680
to the cell door. He was actually holding the cell

362
00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:08.880
bars to make sure they didn't fall out while the

363
00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:14.359
tour group walked by. That's some wild shit right there.

364
00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:20.519
You heard. Inmates will come up with anything if given time,

365
00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:25.319
and all they have in there is time. But there

366
00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:28.519
you have it. When I came across this story, y'all,

367
00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:32.640
it just sickened me. The way that Dale Craig just

368
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.440
executed this young man that had nothing but his future

369
00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:41.680
in front of him disgusted me. And he's gotten off

370
00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:45.839
death row that was changed to life in prison. Now

371
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.079
they're trying to figure out certain people how he can

372
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:52.920
get a shot at parole. Give me a fucking break.

373
00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:57.240
So frustrating, but there you have it. And look, this

374
00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:01.759
needs to be mentioned. Speaking of death at Bloody and Gola,

375
00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:09.519
the docu series DTL is releasing Monday, November three on Unspeakable,

376
00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:13.119
a true crime podcast by Kelly Jennings. Of course, she's

377
00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:15.559
been on Bloody and Gola several times. I know many

378
00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:19.160
of you that listen or familiar with her familiar with

379
00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:23.960
the show, but some of you aren't. I executive produced

380
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.839
this series. It covers notorious serial killer Derek Todd Lee

381
00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:32.920
as told by Kelly Jennings. And this is a highly

382
00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:39.119
produced listener experience. It is unlike anything I've ever done,

383
00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:43.799
anything that Kelly's ever done, and I'm telling you it

384
00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:48.799
is absolutely fire. You're gonna want to hear every bit

385
00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:53.359
of it. As I said, it's actually coming your way Monday,

386
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:57.319
this upcoming Monday. If you're listening to this episode of

387
00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:00.480
Bloody and Gola when it drops, if you're not, November

388
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:04.400
thirty is one episode one drops. It'll drop every Monday

389
00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:09.559
throughout the series. I'll link Kelly's podcast in the description

390
00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:13.759
of this podcast, so that if you're not familiar with her,

391
00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.559
go follow her. If you love this show, you'll love

392
00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:19.200
her show. There's no doubt about that. There's no one

393
00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:22.680
out there more thorough than Kelly Jennings when it comes

394
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:26.200
to getting details on cases. So check that out. And

395
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:30.240
until next time for Bloody and Gola, a podcast one

396
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.279
and forty two years in the making, the complete story

397
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.960
of America's bloodiest prison. I'm Jim Chapman, Peace.

398
00:29:53.519 --> 00:30:01.680
A Wall Street line, shackle, chain Jack, Oh gesome Gird.

399
00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:05.279
It's calling by the name.

400
00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:08.200
There is no.

401
00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:17.799
Mercy and it's been a tentery juice as the Hillstream Game, Rango,

402
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:19.160
the Three.

403
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:24.920
I'm in by me to.

404
00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:32.599
Die inside these walls, inside the wild.

405
00:30:34.200 --> 00:31:00.640
And when theirs I know, it's so bloody. Angle Obody, Angle,

406
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:05.039
the Pact and b