Jeanne Dotts Brykalski discusses her parents murder and the killer who has a surprise early parole hearing (10 years early) on Dec 8, 2015.
Jeanne is he only child of Les and Carol Dotts who lived in Knoxville, Tennessee. Les was a WWII veteran and business owner and Carol, a gentle volunteer who rescued animals.
Jeanne’s world was turned upside down on February 3, 1995 when her parents were brutally murdered in their home by three perpetrators: Harley Watts, David Leon Scarbrough, and Thomas Paul Gagne.
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The 3 young men were burglarizing a house that they chose at random. When Les and Carol Dotts returned home from dinner they were confronted and shot by Gagne who emptied a 9mm gun into them.
All three men had a history of crime:
- A few months before the murders Scarbrough was caught stealing a car, illegal drugs and weapons in his possession; He testified on the stand, that he began abusing and dealing drugs and stealing cars when he was ONLY 13 or 14 years old. There was also testimony from his father about a “shootout” he was involved in with his “friend” and co-conspirator Tom Gagne. His parents never reported this to the police. They enabled his criminal behavior which resulted in Jeanne’s parents brutal murders.
- Gagne had been convicted of two counts of aggravated assault. He recruited a 10-year-old Harley Watts to assist in drug deals. And a few days before killing her parents on January 29, 1995, Gagne broke into a home, shot the homeowner,Tim Fitzpatrick and left them for dead; the same gun would be used less than 48 hours later to murder the Dotts. Jeanne’s husband went to the same school as Tim and they lived in the same dorm.
In 1998, in the Criminal Court of Knox County, Tennessee, David Scarbrough was convicted of two counts of felony murder, two counts of theft, and one count of aggravated burglary. Gagne and Watts pled guilty in a plea bargain; Gagne eligible for parole in 2050, and Watts released in 2001. Les and Carol Dotts’ loved ones sighed with relief: their legal nightmares were finally over. Jeanne Dotts Brykalski and her family believed Scarborough would be in prison for at least 50 years.
Click here to sign the petition to deny parole to the murderer of Les and Carol Dotts.
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