Murder of Kyle Dinkheller

Last updated

Murder of Kyle Dinkheller
Trafficstop1.jpg
Dashcam footage from Dinkheller's cruiser moments before the shootout
DateJanuary 12, 1998 (1998-01-12)
LocationWhipple Crossing Road
Laurens County, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates 32°31′03″N83°04′42″W / 32.517443°N 83.078321°W / 32.517443; -83.078321
ParticipantsKyle W. Dinkheller, Andrew H. Brannan
OutcomeAndrew H. Brannan injured, Kyle W. Dinkheller dead
SuspectsAndrew H. Brannan
Charges Murder
VerdictGuilty
Sentence Death

The murder of Kyle Dinkheller took place on Monday, January 12, 1998, when Dinkheller, a deputy in the Laurens County, Georgia, sheriff's office, pulled over motorist and Vietnam War veteran Andrew Howard Brannan for speeding. A verbal confrontation escalated to a shootout resulting in Brannan murdering Dinkheller. The murder continues to receive national attention because the traffic stop and shootout were captured on a personal video recorder Dinkheller had placed on his patrol car dashboard and activated when he stopped Brannan. The recording is widely used for training purposes in U.S. police academies.

Contents

In the shootout, Dinkheller was armed with his semi-automatic pistol while Brannan was armed with an Iver Johnson M1 Carbine. Dinkheller shot and wounded Brannan. Despite this, Brannan fired the rifle, reloaded it, fired a lethal shot into Dinkheller's eye, and fled the scene in his Toyota pickup truck. The next morning, police found Brannan still in Laurens County, hiding in a sleeping bag beneath a camouflage tarp. Police arrested him for the murder of Dinkheller.

Brannan pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming in part that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from his military service in Vietnam. Because Dinkheller's video recorded most of Brannan's actions, the jury found he murdered the deputy in a premeditated, torturous, and cruel manner. Two years following the murder, on January 28, 2000, the jury convicted Brannan. On January 30, he was sentenced to death. Seventeen years and one day after the murder, on January 13, 2015, Brannan was executed by lethal injection. [1]

Confrontation and shootout

On January 12, 1998, near the end of his shift, Deputy Kyle Wayne Dinkheller of the Laurens County, Georgia, sheriff's office, encountered a speeding Toyota pickup truck near Dudley, Georgia, United States, which he clocked at around 98 miles per hour (158 km/h). The deputy pulled the truck over on Whipple Crossing Road, adjacent to Interstate 16. The traffic stop at first appeared to be routine, with both Dinkheller and the driver, Andrew Brannan, exiting their vehicles and exchanging greetings. Brannan, however, placed both hands into his pockets, at which point Dinkheller instructed him to remove his hands and keep them in plain view.

At this point, Brannan became belligerent and yelled at the deputy to shoot him. He then began to dance and wave his arms in the middle of the road. Dinkheller radioed the dispatcher for assistance and issued commands for Brannan to cease his behavior and approach the cruiser. When Brannan saw that Dinkheller was calling for other units, he ran toward the deputy in an aggressive manner. Dinkheller retreated while issuing commands and utilized his baton to keep Brannan at bay. On Dinkheller's dashcam video, Brannan was heard shouting that he was a "goddamned Vietnam combat veteran."

Despite commands issued by Dinkheller, Brannan walked back to his pickup truck and drew an Iver Johnson M1 Carbine from underneath the driver's seat, taking cover near the driver side door. Dinkheller positioned himself near the passenger door of his cruiser and gave Brannan commands for approximately forty seconds before Brannan stepped away from his pickup truck, pointed his rifle at Dinkheller and fired several shots. Dinkheller fired the first shot at Brannan but missed, leading some to speculate that it might have been a warning shot. [2] Dinkheller did not strike Brannan initially and thus was forced to reload.

At this point, Brannan ran from his truck toward Dinkheller and began to fire again, hitting the deputy in exposed areas such as the arms and legs. Brannan then began to reload his weapon as the now-injured Dinkheller tried to position himself near the driver side door of his cruiser. Brannan appeared to go back to his car to retreat before another shot from Dinkheller was heard. This enraged Brannan, who began advancing and firing at the deputy, hitting him numerous times. Before being disabled from gunfire, Dinkheller was able to inflict a gunshot wound to Brannan's stomach. Dinkheller had been shot nine times when Brannan took careful aim, said, "die fucker!" and fired a final fatal shot into Dinkheller's right eye. [3] Brannan then retreated into his truck and fled the scene. [4]

Aftermath

Brannan was arrested the next morning without incident; he told the investigating authorities that "they can hang me". [5] He was found guilty on January 28, 2000, for the murder of Dinkheller and was sentenced to death. [6] On January 2, 2015, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced that an execution date of January 13 had been set for Brannan. [7] [8] On January 6, a clemency hearing was set for January 12, at which the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to deny clemency. On January 13, Brannan was executed by lethal injection, the first person in the U.S. to be executed in 2015. [9]

Perpetrator

Andrew Howard Brannan
Andrew Howard Brannan (1970) (cropped).png
Brannan in 1970, serving as a United States Army artillery officer during the Vietnam War.
BornNovember 26, 1948
United States
DiedJanuary 13, 2015(2015-01-13) (aged 66)
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, Jackson, Georgia, U.S. [10]
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
OccupationSoldier
Criminal status Executed
Conviction(s) Malice murder
Criminal penalty Death
Military career
AllegianceFlag of the United States (Pantone).svg United States [10]
Service/branchFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army [10]
Years of service1968–1975 [N 1] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Rank US Army O2 shoulderboard rotated.svg First lieutenant [10]
Unit
Battles/wars Vietnam War [10] [12]
Awards

Early life and education

Andrew Howard Brannan was born on November 26, 1948, and graduated from high school in 1967.

Career

In August 1968, Brannan joined the United States Army and received his induction training at Fort Benning in Georgia. In February 1969, he entered the artillery officer candidate school at Oklahoma's Fort Sill and was commissioned as an artillery officer in July 1969. [13] While he was still in the U.S., Brannan served with the 82nd Airborne Division. In July 1969, he was ordered to service in the Vietnam War, where he served in the Field Artillery Branch as a forward observer and executive officer with the 23rd Infantry Division at Chu Lai, South Vietnam, until July 1971. [13]

During his service, Brannan witnessed an officer being killed after stepping on a landmine, an incident he later recalled during a psychiatric interview in 1989. [13] He also assumed command of a company on two occasions, after its commander was killed. [13] Afterwards, Brannan arrived at Washington state's Fort Lewis, where he transferred to the United States Army Reserve, in which he served, periodically, for two weeks at a time until being discharged in June 1975. [13]

During his time in the Army, Brannan was awarded the Bronze Star and two instances of the Army Commendation Medal. [13] While in the military, his superiors spoke favorably of him, saying that he was an "outstanding" and "exemplary" officer. [13]

Later life and death

Brannan's defense was that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the result of serving in battle. [13] In 1975, he was married, although the couple divorced six years later as a result of Brannan's violent behavior stemming from his PTSD. [13] A psychologist for the defense indicated that the bizarre encounter with Dinkheller in January 1998 "was likely the result of a flashback to Brannan's time in combat." In 1994, the Department of Veterans Affairs had declared Brannan 100% disabled for experiencing depression and bipolar disorder. [10]

Although Brannan's lawyers tried to get his death sentence commuted on the grounds that he was not criminally responsible for his conviction by reason of insanity, both the Georgia Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court refused to intervene on his behalf on the day his execution was scheduled to take place. [11] Brannan was executed by lethal injection at 8:33 p.m. (EST) on January 13, 2015, the first person executed in the U.S. in 2015. He was 66 years old at the time of his death at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison near Jackson, Georgia. [14]

Brannan made a final statement, in which he said, "I extend my condolences to the Dinkheller family, especially Kyle's parents and his wife and his two children" and, "I feel like my status was slow torture for the last fifteen years. I had to say that with them here. I have to tell the truth. I'm certainly glad to be leaving." [11] A pastor then delivered a prayer and Brannan was executed. [11] He was executed one day after the 17-year anniversary of the shooting.

Victim

Kyle Wayne Dinkheller
Kyledinkheller.jpg
Born(1975-06-18)June 18, 1975
San Diego County, California, U.S. [15]
DiedJanuary 12, 1998(1998-01-12) (aged 22)
Whipple Crossing Road, Laurens County, Georgia, U.S.
Resting placeFountainhead Memorial Park, Brevard County, Florida, U.S.
Other names"Dink" [2]
Police career
DepartmentLaurens County Sheriff's Office [15]
Service yearsMarch 1995 – January 1998 [15]
RankBasic patrol officer [15]
Badge no.37
Awards1998 Deputy Sheriff of the Year, Georgia Sheriffs' Association (posthumously) [16]
Cause of death Gunshot wound to the right eye

Kyle Wayne Dinkheller was a deputy with the Laurens County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) in the U.S. state of Georgia. After his death, he was named the 1998 Deputy Sheriff of the Year by the Georgia Sheriffs' Association. [16]

Dinkheller was born on June 18, 1975, in San Diego, California to Kirk Dinkheller. [2] He graduated from California's Quartz Hill High School in 1993. He joined the LCSO as a jailer in March 1995 and became a certified police officer with the State of Georgia in 1996. [15] He was 22 years old when he was murdered.

Dinkheller and his wife, Angela, had children Ashley and Cody, the latter of whom was born eight months after his father's death; Ashley was twenty-two months old. Dinkheller is buried in the Garden of Remembrance at Fountainhead Memorial Park in Brevard County, Florida. [17]

The "Dinkheller video"

The video recording of the murder, known as the "Dinkheller video", has become ubiquitous in U.S. police academies. [18]

The video has, for instance, been adapted to include an interactive sequence in which trainees encounter Brannan before he kills Dinkheller. [18] Police trainers use this setup to test officers' willingness to use deadly force, and to impart to them that "there could be a time... when pulling the trigger is the only way". [19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ August 1, 1968, to June 7, 1971, in the Regular Army. June 7, 1971, to June 4, 1975, in the United States Army Reserve.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. Rap Brown</span> American activist (born 1943)

Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, is an American human rights activist, Muslim cleric, black separatist, and convicted murderer who was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s. Best known as H. Rap Brown, he served as the Black Panther Party's minister of justice during a short-lived alliance between SNCC and the Black Panther Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shootout</span> Combat between two parties using firearms

A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a combat situation between armed parties using guns. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to describe combat situations primarily using firearms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler courthouse shooting</span> 2005 courthouse shooting

On February 24, 2005, a man shot his ex-wife and son outside the courthouse in Tyler, Texas, then engaged police and court officers in a shootout. David Hernandez Arroyo, Sr. opened fire in front of the courthouse with a Type 56S rifle, killing his ex-wife, and wounding his son. A downtown resident, Mark Alan Wilson, attempted to intervene but was fatally shot. Arroyo was fatally shot by police after a high-speed pursuit.

Oneal Moore was the first African-American deputy sheriff for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in Varnado, Louisiana. He was murdered on June 2, 1965, by alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan in a drive-by shooting, one year and a day after his landmark appointment as deputy sheriff. An Army veteran, he was 34 years old, married, and the father of four daughters.

The Norco shootout was an armed confrontation between five heavily armed bank robbers and deputies of the Riverside County and San Bernardino County sheriffs' departments in Norco, California, United States, on May 9, 1980. Two of the five perpetrators and a sheriff's deputy were killed; eight other law enforcement officers, a civilian, and two other perpetrators were wounded; and massive amounts of gunfire damaged at least 30 police cars, a police helicopter, and numerous nearby homes and businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James W. Hutchins</span> American serial killer (1929–1984)

James William Hutchins was an American serial killer who killed four people in two different states. He was charged with murdering a man in New Mexico in 1954, but was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after claiming self-defense. Hutchins was later convicted of the murders of three law enforcement officers in North Carolina in 1979. He was sentenced to death and executed on March 16, 1984, by the state of North Carolina at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina by lethal injection. Hutchins became the first person to be executed in North Carolina since 1977 when capital punishment was reinstated. The murders inspired a motion picture and prompted statewide changes in law enforcement protocol for the interagency reporting of officer murders and radio cross-communication between local agencies and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison</span> Mens prison in Georgia, United States

Opened in 1969, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GDCP) is a Georgia Department of Corrections prison for men in unincorporated Butts County, Georgia, near Jackson. The prison holds the state execution chamber. The execution equipment was moved to the prison in June 1980, with the first execution in the facility occurring on December 15, 1983. The prison houses the male death row, while female death row inmates reside in Arrendale State Prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Kyle</span> American military sniper (1974–2013)

Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confirmed kills and was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 2x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" device, as well as numerous other unit and personal awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt</span> 2013 murders in California

Christopher Jordan Dorner was a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of killings against the LAPD in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California. The victims were law enforcement officers and the daughter of a retired police captain. Dorner killed four people and wounded three others. On February 12, Dorner killed himself after a shootout with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officers in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Walter Longmire is a fictional character created by American author Craig Johnson.

On August 31, 2001, a shootout occurred in Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated community in Santa Clarita Valley, California. It resulted in the immediate deaths of James Allen Beck, a convicted felon, and Hagop "Jake" Kuredjian, a sheriff's deputy. Ten years later, ATF agent Jeff Ryan committed suicide resulting from the traumatic ordeal.

The murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield occurred on February 2, 2013, at a shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas. Kyle, a former Navy SEAL, and his friend Littlefield were walking down range to set up targets when Eddie Ray Routh opened fire and hit both of them. Routh was a 25-year-old Marine who had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. The case attracted national attention due to Kyle's fame as author of a bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, published in 2012.

Gonzalo Artemio Lopez was an American fugitive, mass murderer, and prison escapee who killed a total of six people in separate murders in 2005 and 2022. In 2005, Lopez kidnapped and murdered a man in Weslaco, Texas. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. In May 2022, Lopez received international attention when he escaped from prison custody by assaulting a corrections officer and fleeing from a prison bus. He became a wanted fugitive and evaded authorities for three weeks. On June 2, Lopez broke into a ranch and murdered five people from the same family, including three children, before stealing weapons and a pickup truck. Later that same day, police spotted Lopez and engaged in a shootout with him after a high-speed chase, where he was fatally shot during the exchange of gunfire.

References

  1. ↑ "Deputy Kyle Wayne Dinkheller". ODMP Remembers. Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Trigger And The Choice: Part 1". cnn.com.
  3. ↑ "Supreme Court of Georgia, HALL v. BRANNAN". FindLaw. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ Only4Ganja (March 11, 2010). Police Vs Vietnam Veteran [Police Shootout 1998 footage]. Self-published via YouTube. Retrieved August 3, 2012.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Kovac, Joe Jr. (January 13, 2015). "'They can hang me,' Laurens cop killer once said". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Dinkheller Case Before Supreme Court". Dublin Courier Herald. Dublin, Georgia. 2008. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ "Georgia Department of Corrections". Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Andrew H. Brannan v. GDCP Warden" (PDF). United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Atlanta, Georgia. August 8, 2013. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ Berman, Dave (March 11, 2012). "After the grief, police learn from tragedies". Florida Today. Gannett.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lamothe, Dan (January 13, 2015). "Vietnam veteran Andrew Brannan executed for murder after PTSD defense fails". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Pramati, Phillip (January 13, 2015). "Brannan put to death for killing Laurens County deputy". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Brumack, Kate (January 13, 2015). "Andrew Brannan Executed For Killing of Sheriff's Deputy in Georgia". Huffington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Kammer, Brian S.; Loveland, L. Joseph (April 7, 2014). "Andrew Howard Brannan v. Carl Humphrey" (PDF). On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Atlanta, Georgia: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ↑ Sakuma, Amanda (January 14, 2015). "Vietnam vet with PTSD Andrew Brannan first man executed in 2015". MSNBC. NBC Universal. MSNBC News. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 State of Georgia (April 20, 1998). "HR 807". House of Representatives of the State of Georgia. State of Georgia: Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. 1 2 "Sheriff returns from training conference". Walker County Messenger. September 11, 1998. p. 2.
  17. ↑ "Digital Memorial". findagrave.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  18. 1 2 Beauchamp, Zack (July 7, 2020). "What the police really believe". Vox. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  19. ↑ Lake, Thomas (August 2017). "The Trigger And The Choice: Part 1". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  20. ↑ "This Reenactment of a Violent Shootout Feels Like a Game—and That's the Point". Motherboard. Vice Media, LLC. July 3, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Random Stop on Vimeo". March 25, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ "'Dinkheller' documentary premieres in Dublin this weekend". 13wmaz. January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.