Dec. 9, 2025

No Escape: The Murder of Brittney Lavoll - Flashback

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Show Notes
Transcript

This week, after talking to Brittney Lavoll's son, we're sharing her case again. We were so moved by how well he's doing and the network of support that he and his brothers have had after the tragic loss of their mother.

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A young mother of three, Brittney Lavoll, did everything right to escape her abuser—but it wasn’t enough. Her tragic murder sparks urgent questions about domestic violence and gun laws. Plus, the mysterious disappearance of Courtney Lynn Townsend raises troubling questions, as her burned-out car and partial remains leave her family searching for answers.

In a 24-hour city like Las Vegas, early morning means many workers are getting their days started while others are clocking out and heading home at the end of a long shift. In the pre-dawn hours of March 25, 2010, a scream broke the silence.

Lee and Wade turned their heads toward the Jack in the Box restaurant across the street. Moments later they heard a gunshot and saw a woman collapse in the parking lot.

They ran to help, but it was too late. A young mother of three—who had done everything right to escape her abuser—had just been murdered. And the man who killed her? He should never have had a gun.

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Every once in a while, a case we've covered comes

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back to us in a way we didn't expect. It

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reminds us that these stories don't end when the headlines

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fade or when the court case closes. The families keep

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living with the aftermath, the questions, and the memories.

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When we started this podcast, we said that if even

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one family felt seen or understood, it would all be

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worth it. We received a message of hope this holiday

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season from an unexpected source, and this week we are

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sharing it with all of you.

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Hi, and Welcome to Sins and Survivors. The Las Vegas

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True crime podcast refocus on cases that deal with domestic violence,

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as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your

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host Sean.

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And I'm your co host John.

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As we mentioned in the intro, we want to share

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something really meaningful that happened recently. A few weeks ago,

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one of Brittany Laval's sons reached out to us we

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mentioned him in the episode. He was only three years

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old when she was murdered. He's an adult now, nineteen

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and doing incredibly well. He told us that he listened

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to the episode we did about his mom and that

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hearing her story laid out so clearly helped him understand

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what she went through in a way that he hadn't before.

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We cover a lot of difficult cases, but we always

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remind ourselves that every person we talk about is someone's family,

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someone's parent, someone's child, and there's always a good chance

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our episode will reach them. To hear from Britney's son,

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now a young man who's building his own life, meant

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a lot to both of us. He shared a little

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bit with us about how he and his brothers are

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doing and how it was really uplifting. They've grown up

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surrounded by family, by people who loved Brittney and kept

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her memory alive for him. And he told us that

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he's a boxer fighting as Golden Boy Laval, which speaks

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to the resilience, strength and discipline he has.

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He also mentioned that the boys received a small settlement

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after their mom died. Nothing replaces a parent, of course,

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but hearing that they had at least some support as

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they grew up given everything they were facing. That was

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good to know. It's one of those small things that

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doesn't fix the lass, but at least offers some support.

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What really stayed with me was that he told us

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that his mom loved Christmas. It was her favorite holiday.

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And as soon as he said that, we realized now

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would be the perfect time to re release her episode.

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The holidays are an incredibly emotional time for families who

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have lost someone to violence, especially someone who should still

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be here celebrating with her kids, watching them grow into adulthood.

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He agreed that re releasing the episode was a great idea.

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It feels right to the three of us, giving people

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another chance to hear her story, to remember her and

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her family, and to honor what she went through. Brittany

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did every thing she was supposed to do. She took

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every step that an advocate would recommend, and still the

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system couldn't protect her. That's why we told her story originally,

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and it's why we tell it today. But now adding

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this update, hearing that her boys have grown into young

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men who are doing well, that gives her story a

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different kind of weight, as her son said, we're still

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heartbroken about our mother, but we all are out here striving.

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All of this highlights the long term impact of domestic violence,

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not just the real lifelong trauma, but also the strength

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that takes for kids to rebuild their lives after losing

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a parent in such a violent way. It shows the

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strength of Britney's family who stepped in and loved those

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boys through the hardest possible thing, and the devotion of

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her mother to become a vocal advocate and continue to

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push for change for survivors. So if you're listening today

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and you heard this episode when it first came out,

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we hope this gives you some new context, especially hearing

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about Britney's sons and how they're doing. And if this

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is your first time hearing her story, we hope you'll

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keep her in mind through the holiday season. She loved

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this time of year and she deserved many more Christmases

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with her boys.

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Before we go into the original episode, we want to

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say thank you again to Britney's son for reaching out

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to us. That takes courage and openness, and it reminds

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us why we keep doing this, why these stories matter

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far beyond downloads and episodes and podcast charts. This re

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releases for Brittany, it's for her children, and it's for

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every survivor who did everything right and still wasn't protected.

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We hope that by sharing her story again, especially at

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a time of year she loved, we can honor her

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memory and remind everyone that domestic violence doesn't end when

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the news cycle moves on. It affects families for generations.

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With that, here is our original episode.

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In a twenty four hour city like Las Vegas, early

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morning means many workers are getting their days started while

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others are clocking out and heading home. At the end

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of a long shift. In the pre dawn hours of

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March twenty fifth, twenty ten, a scream broke the silence.

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Lee and Wade turned their heads towards the Jack in

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the Box restaurant across the street. Moments later, they heard

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a gunshot and saw a woman collapse in the parking lot.

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They ran out to help, but it was too late.

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A young mother of three who had done everything right

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to escape her abuser had just been murdered, and the

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man who killed her he should never have had a gun.

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Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors. A Las Vegas

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True crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal

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with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases.

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I'm your host Sean.

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And I'm your co host John. Our main case this

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week is the story of a domestic violence survivor who

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did everything right but still had her life taken by

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her obsessive, controlling acts. Britney Lavall's story became a focal

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point for activists both locally and nationally in the conversation

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around guns and domestic violence and how we can create

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sensible gun regulations that keep survivors and families safe. Brittany

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was born on September first, nineteen eighty seven and was

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a Las Vegas native. She graduated from Desert Pines High School.

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Her mom's name is Michelle and her father as Charles.

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She had a brother, Brandon and a sister, Shana. She

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worked as a restaurant manager for Jack in the Box

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and was known for being very hard working and also

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a very devoted mother of three boys, whom she adored.

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The father of two of her boys was Kevin Gibson.

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Brittany had a relationship with Kevin that began in high school,

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which was described as being difficult, which is a bit

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of an understatement. Kevin was about three years older than

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she was and also attended Desert Pines High His lawyer

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would later describe Kevin like this, He was well liked

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in high school by his peers and his teachers. He

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was known to be friendly and tried really hard in school.

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He was a talented football player, and he received a

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few offers from colleges to attend and play. However, he

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was not able to make that happen, allegedly because of

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his mental health challenges. According to his lawyer, it's during

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that time between high school and college when Kevin's mental

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health health took a turn. He is said to have

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received treatment for bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia. He

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reportedly did not have a steady work history and had

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difficulty maintaining access to health insurance and of course, his medications.

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We don't share that as an attempt to excuse any

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of Kevin's behaviors. Even his lawyers argued that this did

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not excuse his actions. We want to share this to

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give a complete picture of the events leading up to

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the crime and to highlight another challenge in shortcoming when

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it comes to domestic violence, access to consistent, effective mental

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health care for both perpetrators and survivors.

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The relationship between Kevin and Brittany was plagued by violent incidents,

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while it said they were together on again, off again

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for ten years. During that time, Kevin was involved with

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multiple other women and was arrested several times. In two

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thousand and three, he punched his girlfriend of two years,

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not Brittany, in the face and several times in the

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back of the head. He threw her into a wall

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and strangled her. He threatened her so she wouldn't call

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the police, but several hours later she was able to

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contacked her sister and then the police were called. He

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was convicted of battery in domestic violence. The following year,

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he pled guilty to a domestic violence to misdemeanor after

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he pushed another different girlfriend down the stairs and then

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dragged her back up the stairs by her t shirt

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and into their apartment. He was sentenced to ten days

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in jail and was ordered to attend counseling and perform

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community service. Twice. In two thousand and nine, he strangled

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yet another new girlfriend. He was also charged with threatening

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her and her dad to the effect of you're going

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to come up missing or your father's going to come

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up missing. According to court records, the victim in these

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cases didn't follow up and the charges were eventually dropped.

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For me, this highlights why it's important to not just

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stress a victim, leave their abuser, and build all of

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our policies around that. In the span of seven years,

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Kevin committed several acts of violence against three different women

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other than Brittany without effective punishment or treatment. Kevin continued

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to develop relationships with new women and went on to threaten, beat,

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and strangle them. Port records show a history of other

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charges not related to domestic violence, including felony charges of

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robbery and theft. In two thousand and three, he was

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charged with felony theft, but accepted a plea deal to

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attempted theft, which is a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to

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thirty days. During this timeframe, he also had a few

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citations for other misdemeanors, including one that mentions leaving the

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scene of an accident in a dui and a charge

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of leude conduct in two thousand and five. In two

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thousand and six, Kevin was charged with two counts of

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felony robbery and one count of conspiracy. In that case,

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he shoved a worker who was carrying a bank bag

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to the bank to make a deposit.

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After a shift.

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He slammed that victim into a lamppost, dislodging it from

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the ground. Once the victim was down, he grabbed the

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bank bag and ran away. The victim needed to be

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treated at a hospital for their injuries. He told the

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court that he was depressed and had no money. His

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girlfriend had just had a baby, and he was feeling

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like less of a man because he couldn't provide for

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his kids and he couldn't get a job because he

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had outstanding warrants. He told the court that if he

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was granted probation, he promised he would never be arrested

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for anything again. He was sentenced to three years probation,

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but approximately two years after he was sentenced, he was

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dishonorably discharged from probation for failing to comply with the

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conditions he was ordered to follow. The paperwork says that

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he would no longer be under the court's supervision. This

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feels like a failure of the system again.

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Kevin also committed acts of violence against Brittany and threatened

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to kill her several times. The two of them did

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have two children together, two boys, born approximately in two

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thousand and three and two thousand and five, according to

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both Kevin and her family. The two of them broke

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up around two thousand and eight. Kevin said it was

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because he was cheating on her, but Brittany started disclosing

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to her friends and family the types of abuse Kevin

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had inflicted on her, and the actions Brittany took after

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the breakup indicate that something much more serious was going on.

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Her dad, Charles, would later tell reporters that Kevin was

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jealous and continued to stalk her. After they broke Charles

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helped her move to a new apartment and they did

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not tell Kevin where she was living. He continued to

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call her constantly, to the point where she changed her

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phone number. He would often threaten her and say why

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are you going to let me see the kids, and

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repeatedly said I'm going to kill you. Kevin would go

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to where she was working and demand money from her

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as a way of bribing her to prevent him from

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making a scene at her work. It reached the point

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where she was transferred to a different Jack in the

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Box location, and her coworkers were told that no one

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was to tell anyone where Britney was working. We want

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to take a minute to note that this is the

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right thing to do, and we're glad that Jack in

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the Box took this step to help Britney stay safe

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and avoid further harassment of both her and likely her

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coworkers as well. We all recognize that it is abusive

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behavior like this that can result in victims becoming unemployed, unhoused,

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and even further trapped by domestic violence. This controlling behavior

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in harassment often results in victims quitting or getting fired,

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and were glad her employers allowed her to trend.

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Thanks for going back to the children for a second.

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It's in the record that Kevin repeatedly claimed she wasn't

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letting him see the kids. However, several friends and family

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members gave statements that Brittany did allow him to have

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visitation with the children. Often she would bring the kids

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herself initially, but when that became unsafe, she asked friends

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and family to help her safely transfer the kids to him.

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She would never do it alone. There was an incident

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where Kevin went to Charles's house and broke in, demanding

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to know where Brittany was. From then on, when Brittany

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would go visit her dad, she would park far from

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his place, hoping he wouldn't know she was there. Britney's mother, Michelle,

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reported that he had threatened to shoot Brittany on previous occasions,

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and in February of twenty ten, Kevin's mother contacted Brittany

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and told her that he had a gun and was

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on his way to kill her. He did not follow

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through on that threat at that time. To us, it

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sounds like Brittany was doing everything she could think of

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to stay safe from Kevin, although she still had to

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be in contact with him because of the kids they shared.

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In the early morning hours of March twenty fifth, twenty ten,

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Brittany headed to work for an early shift at the

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Jack in the Box restaurant on Lake Mead Boulevard in Buffalo.

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It was about five forty five am, forty five minutes

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before sunrise. Across the street, two friends, Lee and Wade

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were just leaving the Einstein's Bagels when they heard a

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woman's scream and heard a gunshot coming from the Jack

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in the Box parking lot. Another man named Christian was

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leaving the Starbucks next to Einstein's, and the three of

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them saw a woman on the ground near the Jack

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in the Box drive through and a man in a

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hooded sweatshirt running away. The three of them hurried across

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the street and called nine one one. Wade approached the

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woman and saw her Jack in the Box name tag,

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which read Brittany, and he yelled her name over and

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over to see if she would answer him. He got

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no response, and he thought she was dead. Around that

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same time, a woman named Christina was just leaving work

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at a nearby Vaughn supermarket. She was driving past the

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Jack in the Box and saw a young woman lying

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on the ground and a man in a dark sweatshirt

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standing over her. She hadn't heard the scream or the gunshot,

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so she thought maybe the woman was drunk and the

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man was helping her to her car. But as she

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approached the intersection, she noticed that same man in the

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dark sweatshirt run past her car and onto Lake Mead.

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She must have had an instinct about what had happened,

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because she decided to follow him. He was cutting into

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parking lots and behind buildings and she lost him and

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she was never able to see his face. Police arrived

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and Brittany was transported to UMC. She had been shot

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once in the head, and sadly, she died just a

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short time after arriving at the hospital.

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The police were able to find out that her three

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kids were at home with a babysitter. When they went

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to her apartment, the sitter told them about Kevin and

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his violent threats and behavior. The police, of course wanted

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to speak with Kevin. They went to his mom's apartment

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that same day, and while they were speaking with her,

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Kevin called her on the phone. The officers asked him

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to come in and talk to them about Brittany, and

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he agreed. He met them at the homicide offices around

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three pm that afternoon. Kevin was told he was not

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under arrest and could stop the interview at any time.

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They explained to him that he had the right to

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remain silent and had him explain what that meant back

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to them. They told him that all he would have

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to say is I don't want to talk anymore, and

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they'd be done with the interview. The officers even told

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him that they wouldn't be angry or upset if that happened.

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He said he understood that he didn't have to speak

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with them, and at one point they started recording the

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interview and again they reviewed his rights in detail before

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he agreed to speak. Kevin denied having anything to do

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with the murder. He told the police that the two

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of them had dated for five years, had two boys together,

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and they broke up about a year ago because he

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was cheating. He denied ever being abusive towards her. Kevin

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told the police he was trying to get back together

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with her, but he hadn't seen her in five months.

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He said he tried to contact her at her job,

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but they told him she no longer worked at that location.

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Kevin explained he'd been trying to contact her again recently

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because his son's birthday was two days ago and he

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wanted to see him, but he said he wasn't ever

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able to get in touch with her. As far as

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his alibi, he told police that he was at his

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friend Deniece's house hanging out with her and her boyfriend,

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a man who went by the name Mississippi. Later that night,

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the three of them headed out to a party at

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a mutual friend's house on their way to the party,

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they were pulled over by Las Vegas Metro and Mississippi

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was arrested for having outstanding warrants. Despite this, Kevin and

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Denise went to the party anyway and enjoyed themselves drinking

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and playing cards until two thirty or three in the morning,

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when they went back to Denise's house. Kevin said his

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mom had called him that morning and told him that

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something had happened to Brittany, and his cousin Isaiah let

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him know that everyone was looking for him.

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Kevin comes across as extremely cooperative with the police during

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this whole exchange. He even agreed to give a DNA

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sample and undergo a gunshot residue test. Police asked him

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about taking a polygraph test and reminded him again that

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all he would have to do is say he wanted

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to stop, and they'd stop the interview. Kevin told him

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that he'd seen the shows, presumably referring to police procedural shows,

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and explained that he wasn't sure about doing a polyg test.

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He said he wasn't against doing it, but he said

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he has some questions about it. He asked to speak

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to a lawyer and the officers explained that since he

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wasn't under arrest, they couldn't provide him with a lawyer,

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but they suggested he go home for the night and

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speak to his mom and to an attorney, and they'd

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pick him up the next day for the polygraph. At

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noon the next day, the officers picked him up. He

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wasn't cuffed or placed under arrest, and he agreed to

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go with them. Before they began the test, they reviewed

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his rights again in detail. The police determined that Kevin

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was not on any medication, that he had eaten breakfast,

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and they had gotten a full night's sleep. To me,

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it's clear that they suspected he might talk, and they

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wanted to make sure that if he did confess, there

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would be no question as to whether the confession was coerced,

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and that he was fully aware of what he was doing.

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The exam they gave him was called a Concealed Information

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Test or CIIT. They told him that it wouldn't show

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if he was lying, it would test if he had

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specific knowledge of events. They then asked him questions about

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the murder that only the murderer would know. Oh police

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told Kevin that he had failed the CIT test and

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as they suspected, he just confessed to the crime.

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Kevin said that he walked to the Jack in the

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Box that morning because he heard from a coworker that

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she was working at that location. He hid in the

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bushes until he saw her car pull up. He confronted

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her and shot her. He said that she hadn't allowed

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him to see the children in months, and that he

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had been in and out of the mental hospital. He

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00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.640
said he killed her because she drove him crazy. He

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00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.880
seems to mean this literally. He claimed that he was

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00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.519
seeing and hearing things and that voices were telling him

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to shoot her. After the murder, he ran back to

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his friend Denise's house and got rid of his bloody

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shoes and sweatshirt. As we mentioned earlier, Kevin had been

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found guilty of felony, and under both Nevada and federal law,

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he was prohibited from owning a gun. He told police

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that he bought the gun the day before from a

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friend in exchange for fifty bucks in cash and fifty

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00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:00.200
bucks in weed. This kind of purchase wouldn't require a

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00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.119
background check in the unlikely event Kevin's friend would have

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00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:06.640
thought to ask for one. Later, Kevin returned the gun

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00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.920
without saying it had been used in a crime. Before

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00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.119
we go any further, I want to explain something before

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00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.039
people get too angry at this coworker who told Kevin

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where Britney was working. I don't know if Kevin was

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00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:19.680
telling the truth when he said that, but there were

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00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.880
some facts that made me wonder if he was. Kevin's

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00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.720
stalking of Britney was relentless, and about a week before

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00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.720