‘Finally got letter’ as killer’s parole denied
A Farragut woman’s prayers were answered Christmas Eve when one of her parents’ killers was officially ordered to remain jailed for his crimes.
Jeanne Dotts Brykalski, along with her husband, Robert “Bry” Brykalski, had been fighting for the last several months against David Leon Scarbrough’s most recent bid for parole for his role in the Feb. 3, 1995, murders of Les and Carol Dotts, who were shot and killed in their Village Green home after surprising Scarbrough and Thomas Paul Gagne, who were in the process of robbing the Dotts’ home that night.
Gagne, who received consecutive sentences of life with the possibility of parole along with burglary and robbery charges, will eventually be up for parole, but Dec. 9 was the second time Scarbrough had been up for parole.
“We finally got the letter today from the Tennessee parole board that David Leon Scarbrough’s parole was denied,” Brykalski said Friday, Dec. 24, which, she noted, ironically, was her late mother’s birthday.
Brykalski had authored an online petition opposing Scarbrough’s request for parole, which garnered more than 2,400 signatures.
Then she, her husband and Cat Posey, Jeanne’s friend since high school, attended the hearing at Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility, where Scarbrough is incarcerated, and each spoke against granting the requested parole.
Scarbrough, his girlfriend, a family member and fellow inmates either spoke or wrote letters on his behalf.
“Scarbrough once again tried to rewrite history and flagrantly ignored the facts and the truth,” Jeanne said. “Proving, of course, he has not changed.
“I ended up not using my victims impact statement that I worked on really, really hard for days in order to give a rebuttal to all the false information Scarbrough was spewing,” she added.
“My husband … did a great job with his victim impact statement. It was not easy for him to recount the day he found my parents’ bodies.”
Jeanne also praised the support and efforts of Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen, who “also stood with us (Dec. 9) at the parole protest. Charme was phenomenal during her statement. She balanced the legal and human aspects so eloquently.”
Only one parole board member attended Dec. 9, but Jeanne said he “asked a lot of questions about the murder investigation and plea bargain. He made the decision (at that time) the double murderer is not ready to be paroled and go back into society yet.
“However, he (felt) that a parole hearing in three years might be appropriate,” which was three years less than what the Brykaskis had requested.
Ultimately, after the remainder of the parole board examined the video and petitions, they agreed with both denying parole and calling for the next hearing to take place in three years.
“I just want to thank everyone who has supported us, by signing and supporting us (with) the petition,” Jeanne said. “Each one of you made this happen.”
(See Letters to Editor)
