686: Gary Plauché - The Father Who Stood Up Against EVIL

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
A karate instructor had abducted a 11 year old Jody Pinochet several weeks earlier and taken him to California. When Jodi was rescued and returned to his family, his father Gary was coping with reports that Doucet had sexually assaulted his son. We didn't know what to do you just feel helpless. 10 days later, when the police flew set back to face trial, Gary Plouffe, che was waiting with a gun.

Unknown Speaker  0:37  
Very close shape, shoots and kills. Why, Gary, why, and to this day stands out in my mind, the shooter Gary Pelosi says, if it had been your child, you would have done the same thing to

Brian Nichols  0:57  
let's talk about that. Focusing on winning arguments. We're teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to win in the world of politics, teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Well, happy Tuesday there, folks, Brian Nichols here on The Brian Nichols Show. And thank you for joining us on of course, another fun filled episode of The Brian Nichols Show. I am as always your humble host joining you live from our Stratus ip studios. You're in lovely Eastern Indiana, don't let cyber attacks or outdated Business Technology. Put your company at risk. Learn more at Brian Nichols show.com forward slash Stratus ip. Why, Gary, why I remember watching that video for the first time, probably 10 years ago, and I saw it on YouTube. And it was one of those things where I just didn't really know the context behind the story. And I found the context behind the story. And then I said replace every jury in America with Gary O'Shea. And to talk to us today about his dad, Jody crochet is joining us Jody, welcome The Brian Nichols Show.

Jody Plauché  2:00  
Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Jodi,

Brian Nichols  2:02  
thank you for joining us. And thank you for joining us to discuss the question that everyone was asking back in 1984. Why Gary? Why but first, do us a favor, introduce yourself to The Brian Nichols Show audience and why we find ourselves here discussing that book today.

Jody Plauché  2:19  
Well, I feel like I do have to say since it is I am in Louisiana. I'm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and today is Mardi Gras. I'm kind of asking why God Why did you agree to this interview and I could be in New Orleans right now. It's a parade. But now kids. Alright, so yeah, so you set the clip when I was younger, I'm taking karate. My karate teacher sort of grew my family early on, sort of grooming me and eventually started sexually abusing me for a year. And he was a con man he was a sociopath. He took no one else's feelings into you know effects that he would willing to screw over anybody. And he had taken advantage actually was one of my dad's friends, Don Landers. He had sold him some LSU bandanas and Don had bought the original 15,000 and Jeff instead of taking the downpayment and buying the bandanas, and then appointed giving Don landers the full shipment, and getting the second half of payment, Jeff wouldn't blew the first payment didn't have money to buy the bandana. So he owed Don landers money. Well, excuse me, because he didn't have the money and he couldn't count anyone else out of getting the monies to get the dog. He just started to leave town was with I was had been his love interest. For the past year. He didn't want to go by himself. So he took me which made a kidnapping. And then then once they rescued me, they brought me back on March 4 1984. And then, daddy, the video you just saw took place a little over two weeks later on March Friday, March 16 1984, at the Baton Rouge airport. And it wasn't people say Oh, I was watching that live. It wasn't filmed live. It aired live on the 10 o'clock news. But the shooting took place about 930. And they had to beam it back to the station to decide what they were going to put it on there is how much they were going to put on there. If you go to YouTube and type in WB RZ shooting, airport shooting, you can actually see the news for the night had happened.

Brian Nichols  4:17  
Wow. So this leads to today, right? And we have a new book. Why Gary? Why? And I would love for you to maybe talk to the audience today about what this book represents to you why you went out starting, you know, obviously writing this book and telling your story, but what have you found when you were writing that you're able to share the audience after all these years later?

Jody Plauché  4:42  
Okay, well, the book is almost like two different books. And I actually had a friend suggest that I actually published two separate books, but I wasn't doing that I'm not I'm not trying to sell the book. I mean, don't get me wrong, everyone needs money. But I mean, I want it for the if anybody has a victim or has some issues, and they'll say you can't afford it. I have a latest email me, I can provide you with a free link to download a digital copy for free. But the first half is basically my story. It's me talking about how I got involved in karate, about how Jeff molested me what tactic to use is how my parents kind of overlooked it and how he groomed them. And then the shooting. And then that's kind of like where it stopped. And I started writing the book in 1993. And I stopped, because I felt I didn't have the information to make the book as effective as possible. So and when I graduated LSU 1998. I eventually moved to Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania to work at Victim Services Center. And I was doing community education programs, safety programs. And I was a certified sexual assault counselor for seven years, I used to train sexual assault counselors. And I felt I could use that information to do the second half of the book, which isn't about me, it's more for parents and victims, or survivors. So it's a combination of all that and then I wrap it up in a bow at the end when I kill daddy.

Brian Nichols  6:04  
Let's start with when you were a kid, what were the red flags when you were a kid now you're looking back that you wish you would have seen and maybe there are red flags that parents can look for, or they can help coach their kids to look for as well.

Jody Plauché  6:19  
Alright, so there were a few that I think would have been pretty obvious looking back now, now that we know what we know. Or, you know, if you read my book, you might see somebody sighs I used to play all the sports, I played football, basketball, baseball and soccer, I would leave my football game at halftime to go play soccer. I could do that because my dad was a football coach. So. And once I started taking karate and just started in less than me, he made me quit all that. So right there that I quit all the sports that I love playing just because I wanted to do karate. That's one of my personality changed. Jeff would let me play with the other kids, you want me to sit with him on family night that Jeff was over visiting, and watch TV. Just a personality changes stop and, you know, things that their interest changes, personality changes, like, like I said, I mean, it was pretty clear that I went from an outgoing kid to this quiet, abused child. And the one thing that I like to point out the most because I mean, I was just favorite and just always had a favorite. If someone wants to spend more time with your child than you do, you might want to question what's going on?

Brian Nichols  7:25  
Talk to us about when you go forward. Now, 35 years later, 40 years later, almost. And you're looking back, obviously, the years have passed. But I can almost guarantee that the trauma still remains and is something you have to probably deal with every single day. So what do you recommend to folks out there, in terms of dealing with trauma, what's been the most effective means that you have found

Jody Plauché  7:51  
by one of the things that I would say is to seek support. Now, it all depends on where you get your support from a lot of times, family members want the best support, because they know they'll take a second up, walk it off. It just so happened my mother was my support system. And so I was able to talk with her and share everything with her back when I was 1112 years old. And so I was able to then daddy shoots Jeff. And so now I got to deal with that at an early age shot, probably, it's a process, I compare it to the grieving process, like I didn't become, oh, I can sleep well at night overnight. I mean, it took a while. Several months, I did go to get professional help that Owens for like, six months, and he told my mother, you don't need to come here anymore. Like he'll be fine. So he recognized that, but everybody heals at their own pace. Whether it's like I said to family, whether it's religion, clergy, you know, Pastor, it could be a professional psychiatrist, psychologist, it could be just a support group. But you know, if you're working through these issues, definitely find some type of support system, so you can work through it. And it's a process and keep that in mind. It doesn't happen overnight.

Brian Nichols  9:02  
So obviously, watching your Dad, take the law into his own hands, and enact justice in this case. This is something I think a lot of folks empathize with your dad, especially when they look at where we are today as a society, where so many of these just traumatic cases are just stuck in the legal system. And no justice is is found and if it is, it's years delayed, and it's no true justice, it's usually some you know, plea plea deal. It's it's you know, level down and so it's not even really anything of any reformation. It's just a slap on the wrist. So I guess to you, this is a kind of a weird question. But do you look to your dad and what he did and taking these actions into his own hands, as Yes, that was the right action or do you think as a dad, you maybe should not done that way.

Jody Plauché  10:02  
Well, I advise parents that it's most important thing is to be there for your child. So I would not advise a parents it's following my my dad's footsteps. If you look at a similar case, with MMA fighter, UFC fighter, Cain Velasquez, you know, he actually shot the wrong guy. And either way he was in jail for like nine months, he finally got out recently. And I think Kane has learned a lesson that you know what, it's more important for me to be there for my child and seek revenge for my child. So I would not put myself in a position to be prosecuted would do my advice for parents. With that said, thanks to YouTube and Tiktok, you can find a number of videos talking discussing True Crime podcast talking about my father. And I think my father for a lot of people, because a lot of victims don't get the justice that they deserve, that he stands as a symbol of justice, that you know what Gary O'Shea did what he had felt he had to do, and he didn't spend any time in prison for it. So I think that people that gives people hope, and gives them faith that, you know, justice is out there. And I think that that's what he stands for. And you can go read the comments in any of those YouTube videos. And you can see most of the people, most of the people agree with what my dad

Brian Nichols  11:17  
did. Well, and I mean, political ideology, be darned, it seems a lot of folks pretty much just jump on board with just Yeah, your dad did the right thing, right, because at the end of the day, requires, I think a lot of us to look to people who are leading by example. And when the powers that be refused to lead by example, that's where a lot of people really look to see well, who will lead by example, who will stand up and say, This is wrong, this needs to be addressed. So I guess, to parents, how would you recommend to parents right now that they address this because this is obviously a topic of conversation, that's permeating a lot of the cultural conversation in terms of, you know, the sexualization of children, and the line has seemingly creep further and further. So what would you recommend to parents right now that when they're experiencing this

Jody Plauché  12:09  
one, I would tell parents, parents to take teachable moments that come about just in regular daily situations, like if there's a story on the news, and, and your young child is there, you don't have to go in explicit details, but you can be like, yes, there are bad people that harm kids. And if anything happens like that to us, you know, you come tell me. Never blame yourself, because it's never your fault. When adult does something I mean, have that conversation with your children before they're subjected to that victimization. I mean, I knew I never blamed myself. And I knew Jeff was in the wrong because my mother had had that discussion with me at a younger age. So when, when Jeff started touching me, I was like, okay, he's like one of these people my mom told me about now, I was still 10 years old. So I didn't have the, the confidence or I didn't want to upset my parents, I kept my mouth shut. But definitely have those conversations with your children.

Brian Nichols  13:03  
I know God that this you know, this story that you share in why Gary? Why? That it's a lot of dark, but also, you know, just it's it's important information you have to share because this is your your lived experience and what you you not only experienced but what other people are experiencing as well. And I think it is important to emphasize that despite that, you still found the opportunity to find some good that came out of this. Could you talk a little bit more about the good that you found as come you know, now we're 40 years later?

Jody Plauché  13:36  
Well, one of the things I'll say about the book is even though it is a book about kidnapping, child rape and murder, if you go read some of the Amazon reviews, I mean, one person says like this book is funny. Like, I know, you don't expect me to say this, but I laughed out loud. So there is some humor in there mixed in with the darkness of the whole story. I think that you will laugh out loud. But one of the things that's important is just like I said, parents to have the conversation when I was in when I was 18 years old, so it would have been right before my 19th birthday, me and my dad went to Geraldo went to New York City to film the Geraldo Rivera talk show. And I specifically went for a free trip to New York. I had never been to New York, my mother was born in the Bronx, so it was an opportunity to go see the Big Apple. And that's the whole reason why I went on that show. And I didn't think nothing of it. And then the show aired in June, we filmed that they aired in June. And then a couple days later, I got a call from a police major in with the sheriff's office. And he called me up and he said, Look, I want you to be the first to hear this from me. A kid watched you on the Geraldo show he was being molested by his pastor, and he came forward and we arrested he was molesting two boys. So that's the moment when I realized okay, I can take this negative story but powerful story and turn it into something positive. So that's kind of put me on the path that I knew what I wanted. You probably my whole life since then.

Brian Nichols  15:02  
So the book is called Why Gary wide, but that's not where your dad's story ends. Tell the viewer, you know, what was the rest of your dad's years? Like, you know, your dad, I think passed away in 2014. If I saw that correctly. Yes. It's funny

Jody Plauché  15:17  
because, yeah, go ahead. Tom say it's funny because I got a presentation April 6 in Richmond, Virginia. I'm a final keynote speaker at this conference. And so I was I pulled up my PowerPoint, I was kind of playing with it. And I was looking for pictures of my dad, just when he was like a baby or when he was younger. There was one where my mother's hold me at my christening. And my dad, like he's so young. And it just got me thinking, just like it I read one of the or like, if you typing your post a guy's you can read the order book article, or the local paper. Like I'll reread it today, which I haven't read probably since 2014. And I mean, I said my dad is, you know, he likes to entertain. He likes to host and, you know, he was a salesman, so he was inclined to buy you the next beer buy you lunch. He didn't bite, you overcook the jumbo ice for the baseball teams. He coached all the sports. My dad was one of the nicest, sweet hearted people you'd ever meet. And I'm getting choked up. Just on Twitter the other day, someone commented, and they said that, um, like if Jeff, you said doesn't last year, he posted a sun theory post, they'd never probably commits a crime in his life. And someone commented, and I loved it. It said, Gary Pelosi, was it Gary Pelosi? Until he had to be Gary push it.

Brian Nichols  16:45  
Yeah, it's pretty hard. But that was cool. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Well, Jodie, I think you know what, better way to wrap up an episode because that exemplifies excuse me why what we do here at the show, and what we're trying to promote in terms of being the change you wish to see in the world. And sometimes, there's just moments that you're called to be who you're supposed to be. And your dad was called to be who he was supposed to be back in 1984. And we're telling his story, 40 years later, I think that's pretty darn cool. So with that being said, the book is why Gary, why it can be found over on Amazon. And of course, you know, we want to wrap up the episode today with we like to call some final thoughts, you know, get I think what your dad did get, you know, Jodie, with Gary leading by example, and trying to be the change you wish to see in the world, we need more people like that. So I say to all the future, Gary's out there who are trying to make the change and trying to help help their kid be the best version of themselves that they can be to try to blaze that path forward for them where they couldn't do it for others. I mean, please just know that there are others out there who are looking to you as an example. And to God, thank you for sharing your story. Because there's a lot of folks out there who also want to be able to feel they can share their stories. So that's my final thoughts, what do you have for us,

Jody Plauché  18:00  
there are three ways to get the book, you can go to Amazon, and you can get it on paper or on paperback, you can download it to a Kindle. And just recently, as of November 1, we completed the audio book, the audio version, so you can go to Audible, and you can get it that way. So it's a six hour, you listen. So that means if you're if you're reading it, you're probably gonna read it a lot quicker. It's an easy read. Trust me, I don't have a big vocabulary. And I don't use any big words in the book. But I would like to end like the way I in my book. And I'll say this, because in when I do my speeches, I end it this way is that my final slide is that the world is it's a Helen Keller quote, and I saw it when I did a presentation in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. And it says the world is full of suffering, but it's also full of the overcoming of it. And that's what I'd like to leave you with is that you can with the proper counseling and support, you can work through this and you can live a normal life.

Brian Nichols  18:54  
God plus a thank you for joining us. And folks, if you got some value from today's episode, well, please do me a favor. Go ahead and give today's episode of shares. I think this is one of those particular episodes a lot of folks will will listen to, and it will resonate. So if you want to, to help inspire the conversations that we need to have a please go ahead. Yes, give today's episode of Sharon. Also, please go ahead and buy this book. Please support Jodi as he shares his story. And yes, the book is again one more time why Gary why we will include the link in the show notes. And by the way, folks, if you are joining us on the podcast version of the show, which I know 99% of you are click the artwork in your podcast catcher, it'll bring you over to the Brian Nichols show.com where you can find all those aforementioned links but also you can find the entire transcript from today's episode plus the video version of the show. We are on YouTube, Odyssey and on rumble do me a favor, hit that subscribe button and little notification bell so you don't miss a single time we go live. And speaking of which, we're going to continue the conversation here on YouTube, where we're going to go back to an episode I just had with John Livesey, and ironically enough, we're talking about storytelling. So if you want to go ahead and learn how to tell your story continue the conversation here episode should pop up right here otherwise thank you for joining us with that being said Brian Nichols signing off you're on The Brian Nichols Show for Ciao Jody Lindesay we'll see you tomorrow

Transcribed by https://otter.ai