MICHAELA "MICKEY" SHUNICK - 21yo(2012)/ Convicted: Brandon Scott Lavergne - LaFayette, LA

Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, Louisiana college student, missing after bike ride

May 22, 2012
(CBS/KLFY) LAFAYETTE, La. - Police in Louisiana say they are now
searching for a 21-year-old college student who went missing after
leaving a friend's residence early Saturday.
Michaela "Mickey"
Shunick was last seen riding a bicycle around 2:00 a.m. on May 19, 2012,
according to a Lafayette Police Department press release.
Shunick's
family says they knew something was wrong Saturday morning when she
didn't attend her brother's graduation ceremony, reports CBS affiliate KLFY.
According to the Daily Advertiser, the FBI joined local and state police in the search on Monday, which was also Shunick's birthday.
"We
just want her to come home," Michaela's sister Charlie Shunick told the
Daily Advertiser. "Anything -- any clue -- if anyone saw her."
The 21-year-old is reportedly a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Police
say Shunick is a 5'1" white female, with blonde hair and weights 115
pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel, multi-colored striped shirt,
light wash skinny jeans and grey shoes. Shunick departed the residence
on a black Schwinn bicycle with gold handle bar grips and wearing a
brown leather backpack purse. It is believed that she was going to her
residence near the intersection of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and
Congress Street in Lafayette.
Detectives are asking anyone
with any information about the case to contact the Lafayette Police
Department or Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information that may lead to finding her.




http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57439062-504083/michaela-mickey-shunick-louisiana-college-student-missing-after-bike-ride/

Michaela "Mickey" Shunick Missing: Volunteers retrace bike route of La. college student

May 24, 2012
(CBS/KLFY) LAFAYETTE, La. - Dozens of searchers gathered Thursday to
retrace the route thought to have been taken by missing Louisiana
college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick the night she disappeared.
Pictures: La. college student missing after bike ride

According to ABC News, searchers followed the path presumed to have been taken by Shunick after leaving a friend's residence around 2 a.m. Saturday.
Hundreds gathered Tuesday night in Lafayette to pray for Shunick's return.
At
the vigil, those who know Shunick shared stories about her and pleaded
for anyone who has information that could help locate her to please come
forward, reports CBS affiliate KLFY. Scores of strangers also reportedly showed up in a display compassion and support for Shunick's family.
Shunick
was last seen riding a bicycle around 2:00 a.m. on May 19, 2012,
according to a Lafayette Police Department press release. Shunick's
family says they knew something was wrong Saturday morning when she
didn't attend her brother's graduation ceremony, reports KLFY.
Friends,
family, volunteers, and law enforcement officers have reportedly been
looking for Mickey since Sunday with search efforts growing daily.
The
college student, who turned 22 on Monday, is reportedly a senior
anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for any information that may lead to finding her, according to ABC News.
Police
say Shunick is a 5'1" white female, with blonde hair and weights 115
pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel, multi-colored striped shirt,
light wash skinny jeans and grey shoes. Shunick departed the residence
on a black Schwinn bicycle with gold handle bar grips and wearing a
brown leather backpack purse. It is believed that she was going to her
residence near the intersection of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and
Congress Street in Lafayette.
Detectives are asking anyone with any information about the case to
contact the Lafayette Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57440926-504083/michaela-mickey-shunick-missing-volunteers-retrace-bike-route-of-la-college-student/

Video may show missing student Michaela 'Mickey' Shunick just before vanishing

May 25, 2012


Investigators involved in the case of missing Lafayette, La. university student Michaela “Mickey” Shunick, announced Friday they may have surveillance video that shows her on a bicycle just prior to her vanishing.

They are now trying to locate information about a white pickup truck that is seen on the same video, according to ABC News.
“Investigators are seeking information regarding a white newer model
four door pickup truck which was captured on video after Mickey Shunick
traveled on both streets,” a news release from the Lafayette Police
Dept. noted.
The video footage reportedly shows Shunick on St. John Street and St.
Landry Street as she heads home on a bicycle from her friend Brettly
Wilson's home at 1:47 and 1:48 a.m. on May 19.
Shunick's purse, cell phone and bicycle have not yet been located, which baffles police.

“What concerns us is, where is her bicycle?” Lafayette Police Det.
Stephen Bajat told ABC. “If it is some kind of abduction, most people
would snatch and go on and not concern themselves with the bicycle.”

After a night on the town, Shunick, who turned 22 on May 21, left
Wilson's house in the early morning hours of May 19 on her bike. When
she failed to show up to her brother's graduation ceremony the next day,
her family contacted authorities.

Shunick is an anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at
Lafayette. She is described as 5-foot-1 and weighing 115 pounds. She was
last seen wearing a multi-colored pastel top, light wash skinny jeans,
grey shoes and a brown leather backpack. The bike she was riding is a
black Schwinn with gold handle bar grips. Police believed she was headed
to her residence located at the intersection of Ambassador Caffery
Parkway and Congress Street in Lafayette.

A $25,000 reward is being offered for information regarding Shunick and what may have happened to her.

Anyone with information regarding Michaela "Mickey" Shunick is urged to call Lafayette Police or Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.
http://www.examiner.com/article/video-may-show-missing-student-michaela-mickey-shunick-just-before-vanishing

Mickey Shunick: Missing Student's Bike Found Under Bridge

By YUNJI DE NIES (@yunjid)
May 27, 2012

Two fishermen found the bicycle of missing Louisiana student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick today, more than a week after the 22-year-old woman went missing after leaving a friend's home on her bike.

Police found the bike early this morning under a bridge at Whiskey Bay on the Atchafalaya River, after being tipped off by the fishermen.

Shunick's family members were brought to the scene and confirmed that the bike is Shunick's black and gold Schwinn. Police are not releasing details on the bike's condition.

Police are planning to perform a grid search of the area where the bike was found on ATVs. Officers are searching the Atchafalaya River by boat, but the river's current was too strong to allow for divers this afternoon, police said.

The discovery comes two days after investigators said they found surveillance video showing Shunick on a bicycle the night she disappeared, and they are trying to track down information about a white pickup truck seen on the same video.

The surveillance images appear to corroborate elements of the timeline surrounding Shunick's last known whereabouts because it is believed they show her riding her bicycle home from a friend's house at 1:47 and 1:48 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, as the friend had described.

The images show the bicyclist believed to be Shunick, a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, on St. John Street and St. Landry Street in Lafayette, La.

According to a news release from the Lafayette Police Department, "Investigators are seeking information regarding a white newer model four door pickup truck, which was captured on video after Mickey Shunick traveled on both streets."

Investigators earlier had found other surveillance video showing a glimpse of someone riding a bicycle who they believed could be Shunick, but police said that video was too blurry to tell for sure if it was her.

Shunick left friend Brettly Wilson's house on her bike last week after a night out, and hasn't been heard from since.

Before the newest surveillance video, investigators searching for any clues have found no cell phone, purse or virtually any trace of Shunick after she left Wilson's house on her bicycle.

As investigators and the woman's family expanded the search, even sending out a recorded plea for help mentioning a $25,000 reward for information, some people in the area where she vanished have begun to wonder whether Shunick was abducted at all.

"What concerns us is, where is her bicycle?" Det. Stephen Bajat of the Lafayette police department said. "If it is some kind of abduction, most people would snatch and go on and not concern themselves with the bicycle."

Past instances of what were first thought to be abductions have eventually been discovered to be entirely different criminal situations. In 2003, a Texas woman was convicted of hitting a man while intoxicated, and then in a panic left his body in a park to cover the crime. A friend ultimately tipped off police, leading to her arrest.

"The only way to solve this is if someone comes forward with a tip -- and [investigators] need the public," former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said.

Hundreds of people from the community and beyond have come to aid in the search for Shunick. So many are coming to help that the volunteer headquarters had to be moved to the nearby university to accommodate them all.

Now Equusearch, the well-known search and recovery group, has turned out in force.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mickey-shunick-missing-students-bike-found-bridge/story?id=16440759#.T8KwFNX5DO_

Mickey Shunick: Two vehicles of interest ruled out

Published On: May 30 2012 01:15:10 PM CDT
Updated On: May 30 2012 01:15:50 PM CDT

Lafayette Police have identified the operators and occupants of both an older model 4-door car and a white 4-door pickup truck with the bed cover, which were captured on surveillance video in the case of missing Lafayette woman Mickey Shunick. Investigators have ruled out any involvement by these individuals and they offered no additional clues for the investigation.

Investigators continue to seek information on a newer model white Z-71 pickup truck. The investigation remains ongoing.

http://www.ktbs.com/news/Mickey-Shunick-Two-vehicles-of-interest-ruled-out/-/144844/14310650/-/7yxfnp/-/index.html

Police: Torso not that of missing Lafayette woman

Posted: Jun 08, 2012 11:19 AM CDT
Updated: Jun 08, 2012 11:19 AM CDT
By Renee Johnson

BAY ST. LOUIS, MS (WLOX) - Officials in Lafayette, LA say a woman's torso found washed up on the beach in Bay St. Louis is not that of missing woman Mickey Shunick.


Mickey Shunick, 21, of Lafayette

Officials had been in contact with investigators in Bay St. Louis since the body was discovered Thursday. There were several body piercings found on the torso, but Corporal Kyle Soriez with the Lafayette Police Department said they do not match those of Mickey Shunick.

An autopsy was underway Friday morning on the remains. Officials hope to have an identity later today.

Hancock County authorities said the torso appears to be that of a white female in her late teens or early 20s. They aren't sure if the limbs were intentionally removed. The body was stabbed once in the chest, and had three piercings, one in each nipple and one in the navel.

The torso was found near Bay Oaks Drive in Bay St. Louis where crews are working on the county's beach replenishment project.

Three young women from the Gulf South area are currently missing: Mickey Shunick from Lafayette, Jaren Lockhart from New Orleans and Brittany Nicole Wood from Alabama.

http://www.wafb.com/story/18738953/police-torso-not-that-of-missing-lafayette-woman

Divers search Whiskey Bay area

06/20/2012
Divers on Wednesday searched the Whiskey Bay area, but police would
not confirm whether the activity was linked to the case of Michaela
"Mickey" Shunick, who went missing a month ago.
Instead, Cpl. Kyle
Soriez, a spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department, said there are
no developments in the disappearance of the University of Louisiana at
Lafayette student.
"There is nothing new in our investigation with
Mickey Shunick," Soriez said. "There have been divers that have come
and gone throughout the investigation."
Wednesday's search came
more than three weeks after fishermen on May 27 found Shunick's bicycle
partially submerged in the waters of Whiskey Bay. Shunick went missing on May 19 and was last seen early
that morning riding her bike near downtown Lafayette. Since the
discovery of her bicycle, there have been no other breaks in the case.Soriez
said police divers have searched the Whiskey Bay area multiple times as
part of the search to find Shunick, but he could not say exactly how
many times police divers have been to Whiskey Bay.
He said the
divers use sonar devices to capture images of the Whiskey Bay area, and
those images are viewed in the office rather than in the field. Finding
anything that could possibly be evidence would prompt another diving
search, Soriez said.
Meanwhile, police are still looking for the driver of a white Chevy
Z-71 pickup truck that was seen in the same area as Shunick just before
she disappeared.
Also, volunteers continue to operate out of their
headquarters, located at 2811 Johnston St. The doors are open daily
from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with limited hours on Sunday.
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120621/NEWS01/206210312

Murder charge in Mickey Shunick case

Brandon Scott Lavergne, 33, has been charged
with first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the case of
missing ULL student Mickey Shunick, according to officials at the
Lafayette Parish Prison.

Lavergne appears on the Louisiana State Police website
as a registered sex offender. According to the website, he was
convicted in 2000 of aggravated oral sexual battery. Police have spent
several hours searching a home in the Lawtell area.

Lawtell
is located in St. Landry Parish, along Louisiana Highway 190 just west
of Opelousas. St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz confirmed the
search of the home is related to the Shunick case.

Thursday LPD and Saint Landry Parish Sheriff Deputies executed a search
warrant Lavergne's residence in the 100 block of Elaine Lane in the
Swords area. Saint Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz confirmed the
search was in connection with the Shunick case.

Lawtell is along Louisiana Highway 190 just west of Opelousas.

Shunick,
of Lafayette, was last seen just before 2am on May 19, when she left a
friend's house to go home. She was riding a bicycle at the time.
Friends believe she was heading to her home near the intersection of
Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Congress Street in Lafayette. Days
later, police found her bicycle abandoned in a swampy area off
Interstate 10 more than 20 miles east of where she was last seen.

A
news conference is scheduled for Friday at the Lafayette Police
Department regarding new information in the Mickey Shunick case. Police
say there will be no comment on the investigation until the press
conference. They will only say the investigation is ongoing.
http://www.ksla.com/story/18961151/murder-charge-in-mickey-shunick-case

La. Chief Mum on Why Missing Student Believed Dead

By SHEILA V KUMAR Associated Press
LAFAYETTE, La. July 7, 2012

A Louisiana police chief said Friday that a burned truck found in Texas was the key to the arrest of a 33-year-old registered sex offender in the disappearance of college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick.

Brandon Scott Lavergne was booked Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, authorities said.

Shunick, a student at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, was last seen riding away from a friend's house on a bicycle in the early hours of May 19, days before her 22nd birthday.

Her friends wept openly at a police news conference on Friday, comforted by search party members and community supporters who'd been working to locate the student for almost two months.

Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft provided few details about the investigation. He said no body has been recovered. He would not detail any evidence that led investigators to certainty that Shunick is dead.

He cautioned that while an arrest has been made, much more investigation is ahead. "Lavergne is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of Mickey Shunick," Craft said.

Craft said surveillance video that picked up Shunick shortly after she left a friend's house on May 19 led them to a white Chevrolet pickup that was seen in the same area. Police put out a community appeal seeking to identify the vehicle and its driver, but no one came forward.

A break in the case came June 14, Craft said, when a tip came into a phone hotline set up after the student's disappearance. Craft would not go into detail on how officers were led to a white pickup truck found burned in San Jacinto County, Texas, on May 31. But he said the truck was registered to Lavergne and had been reported stolen in Montgomery County, Texas.

"Based on information and surveillance, detectives were able to positively identify the truck that traveled directly behind Mickey in the video as belonging to Brandon Lavergne," Craft said. "Investigators were also able to place Brandon Lavergne in and around the location of where the bicycle was located."

Craft said Lavergne was arrested Thursday after a state police traffic stop on Interstate 10 on an unrelated warrant. Craft said Lavergne had tampered with his driver's license so that it no longer indicated he is a registered sex offender. Sex offenders in Louisiana are required to have driver's licenses that display a code identifying them as such.

The state's online list of registered sex offenders says Lavergne was convicted of aggravated oral sexual battery in 2000. He was released in 2008.

Craft said Lavergne declined to cooperate with police. He was booked in the Shunick case and was being held without bond on Friday.

"We want the family to know that we will not rest until we can fully know what happened to her. We continue our efforts to locate and bring Mickey home," Craft said.

Craft said her family reported her missing after she didn't return home, missed her brother's high school graduation and failed to answer calls to her cell phone.

Eight days after she vanished, local fisherman reported they had found a bicycle in a remote, swampy area under a highway bridge about 25 miles east of Lafayette in Iberville Parish.

The black Schwinn bicycle was identified as Shunick's. Craft said the damage to the rear tire was consistent with damage associated with being struck by a vehicle.

Police said they sent the bike to a state police crime lab but that Craft said his department hadn't received the results from those tests at the time of Lavergne's arrest.

Craft said Lavergne was an offshore worker but couldn't provide further details about his whereabouts during Shunick's disappearance. Authorities searched his mobile home in nearby St. Landry Parish on Thursday.

The Shunick family did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/la-chief-mum-missing-student-believed-dead-16730075#.T_hCbVKbyKt

Murder charge in Mickey Shunick case

07/07/2012

Authorities
said the man arrested in connection with the disappearance of ULL
student Mickey Shunick has been charged with murder.

Officials at the Lafayette Parish
Correctional Center said Brandon Lavergne, 33, is charged with
first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.
During a preliminary hearing Friday morning
via video conference, a judge assigned him a public defender after
Lavergne told him he couldn't afford an attorney "for a case like this."

The judge also ordered he be placed in critical care in the jail to protect him from other prisoners.

A neighbor said Lavergne drives a white pick-up truck.

A white pick-up truck was mentioned several times after Shunick disappeared on May 19.

A white pick-up truck was also seen on
surveillance video in the same area where Shunick went missing in
downtown Lafayette back in May.

Lavergne appears on the Louisiana State Police website as a registered sex offender.

According to the website, he was convicted in 2000 of aggravated oral sexual battery.

Investigators spent several hours Thursday searching a home in the Lawtell area.

Lawtell is located in St. Landry Parish along US 190 just west of Opelousas.

St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz confirmed the search of the home was related to the Shunick case.

Louisiana man indicted in two murder


07/19/2012
LAFAYETTE, La., July 19 (UPI) -- A
33-year-old man is accused of first-degree murder in the disappearance
of a Louisiana college student and the 1999 death of another woman.

Brandon Scott Lavergne, 33, of Swords, La., was indicted Wednesday by
a Lafayette grand jury, The Daily Advertiser of Lafayette reported.

Lavergne, a convicted sex offender, was formally charged with
first-degree murder in the May 19 disappearance of University of
Louisiana at Lafayette student Mickey Shunick and first-degree murder of
Lisa Pate of Youngsville, who disappeared in 1999 and whose remains
were reportedly found behind a house near Church Point in Acadia Parish.

Judge Herman Clause said Lavergne, who has been held in the Lafayette
Parish Correctional Center since his July 5 arrest in connection with
Mickey Shunick's disappearance, would be held without bail on both
charges.

The Daily Advertiser said the first-degree murder charge in connection with Pate's death came as a surprise.

District Attorney Mike Harson and Assistant District Attorney Keith
Stutes, the lead prosecutor in the case, said in a news release the
charges of first-degree murder include underlying felony charges
including aggravated kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping.

The state will seek the death penalty, the news release said.

Police continue to search for Shunick, who disappeared about 2 a.m. while riding her bike near downtown Lafayette.


The Daily Advertiser said few details were available Wednesday night
about Pate's case. She disappeared around July 3, 1999, and her remains
were found in October 1999, the newspaper said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/07/19/Louisiana-man-indicted-in-two-murders/UPI-26851342727984/#ixzz21ATWXVJn

IS THE ALLEGED KILLER OF MICKEY SHUNICK A SERIAL KILLER
07/19/2012

Brandon Scott Lavergne, 33, of Church Point, La., was indicted
Wednesday for first-degree murder of missing Michaela "Mickey" Shunick,
reports USA Today.
What came as a surprise was Lavergne was also indicted for the murder
of Lisa Pate, 35, of Youngsville, La., who went missing in 1999.
Pate's body was found under some large boards in a field near Church
Point in 1999.

View slideshow:
Mickey Shunick
Lavergne grew up in Church Point and shows a recent address for 143
Elaine Lane, Church Point and a work address of 2550 Bellechasse Hwy,
Gretna, La., which is a staffing company. Lavergne worked as an off
shore worker before his arrest.

Lavergne was already showing aggressive tendencies when back in 1999,
while he was serving in the Army at Fort Polk, he was arrested for
sexually assaulted Evangeline Parish.
He was also allegedly
assaulting his new wife, Lainey Vasseur. Lainey eventually left him and
divorced him in October 2000, after he went to jail for Parish's
battery charge.
“We have been contacted by other agencies regarding the arrest and
have shared information,” Lafayette Police Department spokesman Paul
Mouton writes in an email response to The Independent’s
questions about Lavergne's potential involvement in other crimes. “I
cannot confirm the agencies that have contacted us in this
investigation.

Police are also saying that items retrieved from Lavergne’s home
after his arrest were bloodied pictures he took of himself and an
undisclosed number of women’s IDs.

Will these ID's be from missing women from Montgomery or Liberty Counties?
http://www.examiner.com/article/is-the-alleged-killer-of-mickey-shunick-a-serial-killer?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Brandon Scott Lavergne pleads not guilty in Mickey Shunick, Lisa Pate cases

11:22 AM, Jul. 27, 2012

LAFAYETTE -- Brandon Scott Lavergne pleaded not guilty this morning to two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the May 19 disappearance of Mickey Shunick and the 1999 death of Lisa Ann Pate.

Lavergne, 33, of Swords in St. Landry Parish, was arrested July 5 in connection with Shunick’s disappearance.

Shunick was seen on surveillance video riding her bike just before 2 a.m. on May 19 past City Hall on St. Landry Street. A white pickup truck, later identified as belonging to Lavergne, was seen riding past City Hall shortly after Shunick.

Lavergne sought treatment for non-life-threatening stab wounds at a New Orleans hospital around 10 p.m. May 19, telling law enforcement officers that he was mugged and stabbed while asking for directions at a gas station.

Police said they can place Lavergne at Whiskey Bay off Interstate 10 where Shunick’s damaged bike was recovered on May 26.

Lavergne’s burned white truck was recovered May 31 in Texas. He reported it stolen.

A Lafayette grand jury indicted Lavergne July 18 for first-degree murder in connection with Shunick’s disappearance, even though the search for Shunick continues.

In a surprise move, the grand jury also indicted him for the first-degree murder of Pate, a mother of three who went missing in June or July of 1999.

An Acadia Parish grand jury in 2008 failed to indict Lavergne for Pate’s murder. He was in prison at the time, serving more than eight years of a 10-year sentence for aggravated oral sexual battery in another incident that occurred a few months before Pate disappeared.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20120727/NEWS03/120727023/Brandon-Scott-Lavergne-pleads-not-guilty-Mickey-Shunick-Lisa-Pate-cases?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Reports: Mickey Shunick's body found

Posted: Aug 07, 2012 3:58 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 07, 2012 7:10 PM CDT
Posted by WAFB Staff

EVANGELINE PARISH, LA (WAFB) - Officials with the Lafayette Police Department strongly believe they have found the body of missing ULL student Mickey Shunick. Corporal Paul Mouton with the Lafayette Police Department says the body was found in Evangeline Parish.

Mouton says the remains were found buried near a cemetery off Highway 10. LSU forensic specialists are on the scene to help positively identify the body. Officials have been there since mid-morning. Mouton says they will be out there collecting evidence until nightfall.

A statement was released on behalf of the Shunick family:

We appreciate all the efforts of the law enforcement agencies, searchers and volunteers.

We know that the media has reported that Mickey Shunick's body was found in Evangeline Parish, however, as of right now, and until an official press release is made by the proper officials, we cannot report either way, that a body found was that of Mickey.

Also, we ask that you please respect the Shunick family by allowing them the privacy they need at this time. It has been, and still is, a long journey in the search to find Mickey, so we truly feel that they deserve some time alone until they are ready to respond to the current rumor.

Thanks
Margaret L. Bearb
Vol. Headquarters Coordinator

Mickey Shunick disappeared in Lafayette in the early morning hours of May 19, 2012, while riding her bike home. Hundreds of volunteers helped police in the search.

The first big break in the case came eight days after she disappeared; when fishermen found her bike in a swampy area of the Atchafalaya Basin, 25 miles from where she was last seen.

The FBI joined multiple local agencies in the search, including examining waterways near where the bike was found.

As days passed, police knew chances of finding her alive were fading, but her family held out hope as national media picked up the story and police were flooded with thousands of tips.

Then on July 5, 2012, word came that police had a suspect, Brandon Scott Lavergne. After some investigation, he was charged with the murders of two women, including Shunick.

According to a police report out of Jefferson Parish, Lavergne was treated for stab wounds at a hospital around 10 p.m. on May 19. The report stated Lavergne couldn't remember where he was attacked and he got vaguer as he was questioned.

Deputies said Lavergne told them someone at a gas station attacked him with a knife or sharp weapon when he stopped to ask for directions, but was unable to remember where the alleged attack occurred. They said he couldn't give street names, buildings or any details about the area where he claimed he was attacked.

Investigators said Lavergne eventually stopped cooperating and that's where the investigation into the alleged attack stopped. Lavergne was treated at the hospital and released.

Lavergne, 33, is a convicted sex offender. The Louisiana State Police arrested him during a traffic stop on July 5 in Lafayette. He was taken into custody because troopers said he failed to register as a sex offender from a case dating back to 2000. In that case, he was charged with aggravated sexual battery.

Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said after being arrested by state police, Lavergne was brought to the Lafayette Police Department and, during initial questioning, Lavergne requested an attorney and refused to answer any further questions.

Lavergne is an offshore worker. Police said he had been working offshore for the past two weeks just prior to his arrest. Investigators spent several hours searching Lavergne's home on July 5.

Surveillance video from a business showed Shunick riding her bike home on May 19. It also showed a white truck in the area at the time. Craft said a burned truck that was discovered near Houston, TX in June was later found to be registered to Lavergne. He added detectives were able to identify the truck found in Texas as being the same truck shown in that surveillance video.

Police say the bicycle that was found in the Atchafalaya Basin had damage consistent with it being hit by a vehicle. Craft said his detectives have evidence showing Lavergne was around the Whiskey Bay near the time that bike was discovered.

At the time of his arrest, Lavergne was driving a white pickup that is the same model as the one he previously owned. Craft said records show Lavergne purchased another truck, almost identical to the first, after Shunick disappeared.

Lavergne pleaded not guilty to all charges, including counts related to the 1999 death of another woman, Lisa Pate.

http://www.wafb.com/story/19219091/mikey-shunicks-body-found?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7588775#.UCHe61BTOS8.facebook

'Mickey Shunick' Body Is Excavated, Jewelry and Clothing Found

By CHRISTINA NG (@ChristinaNg27)
Aug. 8, 2012

The body that police believe belongs to missing Louisiana student Mickey Shunick was excavated from a remote wooded area along with some clothing and jewelry.

"Right now, the body is in the hands of the coroner's office and forensic experts," Cpl. Paul Mouton of the Lafayette Police Department told ABCNews.com today. "We feel very strongly that this is Mickey Shunick. We just can't say with 100 percent certainty that it is, in fact, hers."

Mouton said it could take "a day or two" before the body can be positively identified. The body was found in a remote wooded area near a cemetary, about 45 miles from where Shunick disappeared.

"There were some things such as clothing and jewelry that were removed from the site," Mouton said. The site has been fully excavated and the crime scene has already been released, he said.

Mouton said that Shunick's family has not seen the remains or the items that were found, but that police are in "constant contact" with the family.

Shunick, 22, was a senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette when she vanished on May 19. She was last seen about 2 a.m. riding her bike from the home of her friend Brettly Wilson.

Brandon Scott Lavergne, a registered sex offender, was arrested and charged with Shunick's murder and aggravated kidnapping last month.

Mouton said authorities were directed to the body on a tip, but did not specify where the very detailed tip came from.

"We received credible information as far as where she could be located, off Route 10 in Evangeline Parish," Mouton said. "It was confirmed there was an area where a body was buried off the roadway and beyond a cemetery."

"It was credible information from a credible source," he said, but could not comment further on the tipster.

Mouton said police followed a private road past a small cemetery of about 30 headstones and into a wooded area to the spot where the body was buried.

Shunick's family released a statement Tuesday night saying it is aware of what the police have found and family members are awaiting positive identification.

"It has been, and still is, a long journey in the search to find Mickey, so we truly feel that they deserve some time alone until they are ready to respond to the current rumor," the family's statement said.

READ MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/US/body-believed-mickey-shunicks-excavated-jewelry-clothing-found/story?id=16957845#.UCKlSvZlRS5

Former fellow inmate speaks out about suspect in Shunick case

Posted: Aug 08, 2012 11:01 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 08, 2012 11:01 PM CDT
By Lee Peck

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - With a body in question believed to be that of missing ULL student Mickey Shunick investigators may be closer to closing the case. While some may be shocked that the finger is pointed at Brandon Scott Lavergne - one of his former fellow inmates is not surprised.

"When I saw his mug shot come on TV I was actually not shocked. I immediately told my wife - I know this guy... We slept several beds apart. I knew what he was there for and he was not incapable of doing this crime when he became a suspect," said former inmate who we will call "John."

John said he met Lavergne while both were serving time at Phelps Correctional Center in DeQuincy. Lavergne was serving a 10 year sentence for aggravated oral sexual battery.

"I wouldn't say we were friends, but he would talk to me. I would talk to him," said John.

According to John while at Phelps Lavergne received a visit from investigators and was questioned in at least three unsolved murders.

"I'm not certain what agency it was but it was somebody very serious. It was a police agency and they came and questioned him for several hours about the murder of two or three women in the same Lafayette area. He came back several hours later and spoke to me and he was scared to death. And we talked. He was telling me all the questions they asked and his answers," said John.

Inmate to inmate John asked the inevitable question: "I said Brandon did you do this - a heads up question. Basically did you do this? And instead of saying yes or no he said I'm not going to tell you that or I can't tell you that. And I immediately knew there's no doubt in my mind... I'm thinking to myself if you didn't do it say no."

John recalled within 24 hours Lavergne was transferred to Avoyelles Correctional Center. According to records that was on September 22, 2005. About a week later Lavergne sent word through a letter.

"He says I'm over here at Cottonport and I'm doing great. I'm pumping iron... I'm doing this, I'm doing that. He said by the way all that bull s*&t about the raping and murdering the three women... I didn't do it. Well, I never heard from him again," said John.

Lavergne would end up spending nearly three more years at Avoyelles Correctional Center before being released on parole two years early. At this point he's only a known suspect in two murders.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/19232785/former-fellow-inmate-speaks-out-about-suspect-in-schunick-case

Witness to testify in Lavergne case Friday

1:31 AM, Aug 15, 2012

Testimony will be given Friday in a hearing related to accused murderer Brandon Scott Lavergne, but court officials have not disclosed the identity of the person to testify.

Fifteenth Judicial District Court Judge Herman Clause granted a request Tuesday by Assistant District Attorney Keith Stutes, lead prosecutor on the case, for an evidentiary hearing. The hearing is set for 10 a.m. Friday.

Stutes cited the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 292, which deals with preliminary examination before and after an indictment, and asked that the hearing be "limited to the perpetuation of testimony."

"Perpetuation is primarily used for a witness who otherwise might not be available for trial," either because of illness, death or they don't have a fixed address, Lafayette attorney Alfred Boustany said.

Kevin Stockstill, a Lafayette defense attorney, said such hearings are uncommon, but he has had a few.

"If you're afraid that one of your witnesses "» is not going to be available to testify at trial, then you can perpetuate their testimony," he said.

The testimony is taken in open court, the witness is subject to cross-examination and the transcript is admissible at trial, Stockstill said.

In one murder case, Stockstill said prosecutors convinced the judge that a witness with a serious drug addiction might not live until the trial, so her testimony was perpetuated, he said.

In another case, a witness was moving to Brazil, Stockstill said.

Chester Cedars, an assistant district attorney with the 16th Judicial District, lauded Stutes for "looking down the road" and preserving what may be critical evidence.

"It indicates to me he's going to do what's necessary to see that justice is done," Cedars said. "He's taking a no-holds-barred apprpoach, which is what prosecutors are sworn to do."

None of the attorneys believe the testimony Friday will come from Lavergne.

"It would be highly unusual that it would be for the defendant's testimony," Boustany he said.

Speculation that Lavergne entered a plea deal has been high during the past week after "a credible source" led police Aug. 7 to the body of Mickey Shunick buried behind an Evangeline Parish cemetery off La. 10.

Lavergne was checked out of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center by police the same day for nearly nine hours, fueling speculation that he led investigators to Shunick's remains as part of a plea deal to remove the death penalty from the table.

But the hearing for the perpetuation of testimony suggests there is no plea deal.

"This is stuff you generally do when you're anticipating a trial," Stockstill said.

A grand jury indicted Lavergne July 18 for the murders of Shunick, who disappeared May 19, and Pate, whose remains were recovered in 1999. Lavergne entered a not guilty plea July 27.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120815/NEWS01/208150328/Witness-testify-Lavergne-case-Friday?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

Lavergne pleads guilty in Shunick, Pate cases

11:38 AM, Aug 17, 2012

Brandon Scott Lavergne pleaded guilty this morning to murdering Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate.

In court allegedly for an evidentiary hearing, Lavergne admitted he killed the two women in exchange for life in prison.

The admission came as part of a plea agreement in which Lavergne directed investigators to Shunick’s body last week. In return, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Lavergne was required to show police where Shunick's body was buried and physically recreate his actions from May 19. Lavergne signed statements that say he followed Shunick down St. Landry Street in his truck. He intentionally hit her bike and persuaded her into his vehicle. She was able to mace him, grab his knife, and stab him several times, giving him what were described as "life-threatening cuts." He grabbed the knife back and stabbed Shunick four times until she fell over. Lavergne assumed Shunick was dead at this point, but when he brought her to a secluded cane field in Acadia Parish, she jumped up and regained control of knife. Shunick stabbed him in the chest. That's when Lavergne grabbed a semi-automatic handgun and shot Shunick in the head, killing her instantly.

Lavergne was arrested July 5 in connection with Shunick’s May 19 disappearance. A Lafayette grand jury on July 18 indicted him on two counts of first-degree murder, for Shunick and Pate, whose remains were found in September 1999. Lavergne was a suspect in that case but a 2008 grand jury failed to indict him.

Shunick’s remains were recovered Aug. 7 behind a small cemetery off La. 10 in Evangeline Parish. Police said at the time that information from a credible source led them to the body, which was identified as Shunick on Aug. 9.

Lavergne was checked out of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center for nine hours on Aug. 7 by members of the multi-agency task force investigating Shunick’s disappearance.

That led to speculation Lavergne had cut a deal with prosecutors in which he directed police to Shunick’s body in exchange for pleading guilty to the murders and not being subject to the death penalty.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120817/NEWS01/120817010/Lavergne-pleads-guilty-Shunick-Pate-cases?nclick_check=1

Statement in Support of Plea: http://www.katc.com/files/lavergne%20statement.pdf

Shunick Remains Back Home

Posted: Aug 20, 2012 5:37 PM CDT

VIDEO REPORT

After months of investigations, Lafayette Police and the district attorney's office were able to capture and put away a murderer and kidnapper.

On Friday, Brandon Scott Lavergne began serving a life sentence in Angola for the murders of Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate.

Monday the remains of Mickey Shunick were released to the Shunick family, three months after her disappearance.

TV10's Caroline Balchunas joins us live in the studio with the latest. Caroline...

After three months, the Shunick family finally knows where their daughter is and what happened the night of May 19th. Now, they're prepared to celebrate Mickey's life, and keep her story alive and since the community has been so supportive and adopted Mickey as their own a public memorial service is in the works. No date has been set just yet for a service. But in the meantime, Mickey's story continues to spread.

The family will hold a private funeral for friends and family. But, the public memorial will be held within the next couple weeks.

Caroline Balchunas.

http://www.klfy.com/story/19324456/shunick-remains-back-home

Lafayette family receives remains of slain daughter

12:16 PM, Aug 22, 2012
Written by Megan Wyatt, The Daily Advertiser

Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, 21, of Lafayette, was abducted and killed May 19. She had been riding her bicycle just before 2 a.m. from a friend's residence to her home about four miles away. Brandon S. Lavergne, 33, of Swords in St. Landry Parish, pleaded guilty Friday to killing Shunick. Lavergne also pleaded guilty to killing Lisa Ann Pate, 34, of Youngsville, in 1999.

LAFAYETTE -- The Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office released the remains of a 21-year-old Lafayette woman to her family Monday night, according to Keith Talamo, chief medicolegal investigator.

The remains of Michaela "Mickey" Shunick were released after the office's normal business hours.

"I made an exception," Talamo said. "Just because I was here for something else."

Shunick didsappeared May 19 while riding her bicycle shortly before 2 a.m. in downtown Lafayette. She had left a friend's residence and was headed home, a four-mile trip.

The Coroner's Office confirmed that Shunick died from a gunshot wound to the head after sustaining multiple stab wounds.

On Friday, Brandon Scott Lavergne, a 33-year-old convicted sex offender, pleaded guilty to abducting and killing Shunick. As part of a plea deal to escape the death penalty, Lavergne directed police to the burial site in Evangeline Parish.

Lavernge also pleaded guilty to killing Lisa Ann Pate, who was 34 when she was abducted in July 1999. Her remains were found in September 1999 in Acadeia Parish.

Mickey's father, Tom Shunick, said this week that a few funeral homes have offered services to the family. After a small private service, a public memorial service may take place.

"We will probably do just a little thing with the immediate family," Tom Shunick said. "Hopefully, we can have some sort of citywide thing."

Delhomme Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

"A celebration of life will be held at a later date for Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, who passed away on May 19, 2012," the funeral home said in a statement. "Details will be released to the public as they are finalized.

"The family would like to thank everyone for their love and support throughout this time and ask that their privacy is respected until the memorial service details are released. Personal condolences may be sent to the Shunick family online at www.delhommefuneralhome.com."

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20120822/NEWS01/208220324/Lafayette-family-receives-remains-slain-daughter?nclick_check=1

She was a fighter. RIP Mickey! Prayers to her family.

Report reveals Brandon Scott Lavergne had history of abuse

4:06 PM, Sep 12, 2012 |
Written by, Claire Taylor, Louisiana Gannett

A psychological evaluation of Brandon Scott Lavergne, the man convicted in August of killing Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate, reveals he was hospitalized at age 15 for treatment of anger and depression and has a history of physical abuse and molestation.

The evaluation was ordered by prosecutors before Lavergne pleaded guilty on Aug. 17 to two charges of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

He is serving that prison term at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

Clinical psychologist Larry Benoit said Lavergne was treated for anger and depression at age 15 and spent 30 days at an inpatient adolescent unit of Central State Hospital in 1995.

“He admits a history of aggressive behavior. Family history is positive for substance abuse and psychiatric treatment,” Benoit wrote.

Lavergne reportedly was chronically physically abused and reported multiple instances of being molested by a babysitter when he was three or four years old, Benoit wrote in the report.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20120912/NEWS03/120912031/Report-reveals-Brandon-Scott-Lavergne-had-history-abuse?nclick_check=1

Brandon Lavergne seeks to void guilty pleas

7:40 PM, Jan 8, 2013
Written by Claire Taylor

Brandon Scott Lavergne, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 17 to the first-degree murder of Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate, wants the court to throw out his guilty pleas in both cases.

Lavergne filed documents in December in 15th Judicial District Court asking Clause to vacate his pleas.

Clause ruled Jan. 2 that Lavergne did not use the proper form for post conviction relief and failed to attach a copy of the judgment of conviction and sentence. Clause returned the documents to Lavergne to re-submit them in compliance with state statutes.

Lavergne is serving a life sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. He agreed to plead guilty to both murders if the prosecutors removed the possibility of a death sentence.

In his hand-written application for post conviction relief, Lavergne asserted that “Shunick was not kidnapped” and no evidence exists to support the kidnapping claim that led to the first-degree murder charge.

Lavergne further stated that he “acted in self-defense believing his life to be in danger.”

He has alleged that Shunick doused him in the face with pepper-spray, then grabbed his own knife and stabbed him several times. Lavergne said they struggled for the knife and, when he got it from Shunick, he stabbed her several times.

Believing Shunick to be dead, he drove to a field in Acadia Parish to dump the body. That’s when Shunick allegedly jumped up with Lavergne’s knife and stabbed him again. Lavergne admitted he shot Shunick in the head, killing her.

Lavergne also asserted in his application for post conviction relief that law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions violated a Freedom of Information Act exemption by “willfully leaking evidence, information and unsupported information about unrelated charges” that proved inaccurate.

The leaks denied him the right to a fair trial and pressured him to take a plea deal because he did not think he could get a fair trial.

Lavergne also alleged prosecutorial misconduct and a flawed grand jury indictment in the Shunick case.

He also listed five reasons for throwing out his plea in the murder of Lisa Pate in Acadia Parish in 1999, including the assertion that her death was not a homicide, she was not kidnapped and Lafayette Parish has no jurisdiction in the case.

An Acadia Parish grand jury failed to indict Lavergne in April 2008 for Pate’s murder.

At the time, he was in prison for aggravated sexual battery in Evangeline Parish. He entered a plea deal in that case, too, spending more than eight years in jail for a 10-year sentence.

Lavergne, convicted in that case on Feb. 25, 2000, filed for post-conviction relief then, too.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20130108/NEWS01/130108006/Brandon-Lavergne-seeks-to-void-guilty-pleas?nclick_check=1

Shunick's mother responds to Lafayette killer's request

11:00 PM, Jan 10, 2013

LAFAYETTE -- The mother of a slain university coed has responded via Facebook to a courthouse plea from her daughter's killer's that his case be thrown out of court.

Nancy Ann Rowe has no sympathy for Brandon Scott Lavergne, who said he was coerced into confessing to a crime that he says started as an accident and ended in self-defense with the death of University of Louisiana-Lafayette studenty Mickey Shunick.

"I think a 230-pound man in a custom, extended-cab pickup truck ran down a 100-pound girl on a bicycle," Rowe wrote on her Facebook page in response to questions she had received about Lavergne's petition.

"I think he picked her because she was tiny; he thought she would be easy to control while alive and easy to dispose of when dead."

Shunick's body was found in August after Lavergne led detectives to the site where he said he dumped her body and then returned later to bury her. She fought against him, spraying him with pepper spray and stabbing him repeatedly with his own knife before he shot her in the head, he told authorities.

Lavergne is serving a life sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, and he filed documents in December asking 15th Judicial District Judge Herman Clause to overturn his guilty pleas. Clause rejected the request on a technicality but indicated Lavergne could submit them again.

In the Facebook post, Rowe praised her daughter's effort against her killer.

"Mickey knew it was a fight to the death, and she fought for her life until Brandon Scott Lavergne shot her through the head," she said.

Rowe sharply questioned Lavergne's claim that he shot Shunick because he thought his life was in danger.

"Self-defense? Torture? Pressure? Incompetence?" Rowe wrote. "Poor, poor little man. Life is tough.

"Mickey is the only part of this that has ever been important to us," Rowe said. "She always will be important to us. Always."

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20130111/NEWS01/301110328/Shunick-s-mother-responds-Lafayette-killer-s-request?gcheck=1