On this date, January 7, 2010,
Gerald Bordelon was executed by lethal injection in Louisiana for the November
15, 2002 murder of 12 year old Courtney LeBlanc.
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Gerald Bordelon
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The victim, Courtney Leblanc
(June 5, 1990 to November 15, 2002)
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/bordelon1191.htm
Summary: Bordelon was sentenced to 10 years in
prison after pleading guilty in 1982 to sexual battery, and he was sentenced to
20 years in prison for his 1990 conviction for forcible rape and two counts of
aggravated crime against nature. While on parole, he met Jennifer Kocke over
the Internet and married her a year later. They separated after 12 year old
Courtney LeBlanc and her sister told their mother that Bordelon touched them
inappropriately. Bordelon abducted LeBlanc in 2002 from his estranged wife's
trailer with a knife from the kitchen, took her to Mississippi where he forced
her to perform oral sex on him, then drove back to Louisiana and strangled her.
When LeBlanc's body was found 11 days later, she was wearing only a pair of
shorts and one tennis shoe. Bordelon led police to her body in a wooded area by
the Amite River in Livingston Parish, about 20 miles from Baton Rouge. A state
Supreme Court opinion upholding Bordelon’s right to waive all appeals says
Bordelon had a “diagnostic profile of sexual sadism” and he told psychiatrists
his crimes involved an escalating pattern of violence.
Kocke
was later convicted of child abuse by a Mississippi jury for failing to keep
Bordelon away from her children. Kocke received a suspended five-year sentence,
with five years of probation.
State v. Bordelon, 2009 WL 3321481 (La. October 16, 2009) (Direct Appeal).
Final Meal:
Fried sac-a-lait, crawfish étouffée, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cookies.
Final Words:
Just
before his execution, Bordelon apologized to LeBlanc's mother, uncle and
sister, who witnessed the execution, and he asked for their forgiveness. "I'm sorry. I don't know if that brings any closure or
peace. It should have never happened, but it did, and I'm sorry," he said,
choking up and halting to collect himself. His eyes red-rimmed from crying,
Bordelon added, "I'd like to apologize to my family and tell them that I
love them."
Internet Sources:
"Murderer
apologizes before his execution at Louisiana State Penitentiary." (AP
January 07, 2010
A
convicted sex offender who confessed to strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter
and leaving her partially clothed body in a wooded area of Livingston Parish in
2002 was executed Thursday night.
Gerald
Bordelon, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. at the Louisiana State
Penitentiary, after receiving lethal drug injections. He was sentenced to death
for the murder of Courtney LeBlanc, whom he kidnapped at knifepoint from her
home seven years ago.
Just
before his execution, Bordelon apologized to LeBlanc's mother, uncle and
sister, who witnessed the execution, and he asked for their forgiveness.
"I'm sorry. I don't know if that brings any closure or peace. It should
have never happened, but it did, and I'm sorry," he said, choking up and
halting to collect himself. His eyes red-rimmed from crying, Bordelon added,
"I'd like to apologize to my family and tell them that I love them."
Against
his white T-shirt Bordelon wore a gold cross given to him by his 19-year-old
daughter, with whom he exchanged necklaces earlier in the day. He had given her
a cross made by his fellow inmates.
It
was Louisiana's first execution since 2002. Bordelon's lawyer Jill Craft said
Bordelon became the first person in Louisiana to successfully refuse a death
sentence appeal since the death penalty was reinstated more than three decades
ago. When Bordelon asked to waive his appeal, he said he would "commit the
same crime again if ever given the chance," according to court documents.
On
parole following a rape conviction, Bordelon abducted LeBlanc on Nov. 15, 2002,
from his estranged wife's trailer with a knife from the kitchen, took her to
Mississippi where he forced her to perform oral sex on him, then drove back to
Louisiana and strangled her. When LeBlanc's body was found 11 days later, she
was wearing only a pair of shorts and one tennis shoe.
Bordelon
led police to her body in a wooded area by the Amite River in Livingston
Parish, about 20 miles from Baton Rouge. "I took Courtney and told her if
she screamed or hollered or tried to get away, I was going to kill her,"
Bordelon said in a videotaped confession that was played at his 2006 trial.
Bordelon
met with his family at the Angola prison Thursday in the hours before his
execution. For his last meal he ate fried sac-a-lait fish, topped with crawfish
etouffee, a peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich and chocolate chip cookies,
said Pam Laborde, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections.
Three
of LeBlanc's relatives watched the execution, including LeBlanc's uncle Damian
Kocke, her sister Brittany Boudreaux and her mother Jennifer Kocke, who was
convicted of child abuse for allowing Bordelon near her children after they
accused him of molestation. Sniffling could be heard from the separate room
where they watched Bordelon die. The family didn't speak to reporters after his
death.
After
Bordelon made his final statement, seven men strapped him to the black padded
gurney and removed his shackles. Wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans, he stared at
the ceiling as prison officials closed the curtains for the insertion of the
intravenous tubes. The curtains were reopened after he was connected to the
IVs. Bordelon spoke to warden Burl Cain, and he took several deep breaths as
the drugs took hold. Cain said the convicted killer again repeated his remorse
and asked Cain to tell his daughter that he wasn't afraid. At 6:32 p.m., Cain
said, "We now pronounce Gerald Bordelon dead. We've sent his soul for final
judgment."
Death
penalty opponents with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana held a
vigil in New Orleans at the time of the execution. Bordelon's mother, daughter
and two sisters released a statement, calling LeBlanc's death a "horribly
tragic loss for our family. Courtney became very close with our family, and we
all loved her dearly." They also said Bordelon "fought an
insurmountable problem in his psyche his entire life."
Bordelon
had two prior felony convictions for sexual assault and was sent to psychiatric
treatment in 1979 after being accused of rape and kidnapping. He pleaded guilty
to sexual battery in 1982 and was convicted of rape and crimes against nature
in 1990, court records show. He was on parole when he met Kocke over the Internet
and married her a year later. They separated after LeBlanc and her sister told
their mother that Bordelon touched them inappropriately, but Kocke remained in
contact with Bordelon after the split, according to court documents.
Louisiana
Parole Board officials said an officer spoke with Kocke before the marriage,
notifying her that Bordelon was a convicted sex offender. Kocke was convicted
of child abuse in Mississippi in October 2003 for failing to keep Bordelon away
from her children. She received a suspended five-year sentence, with five years
of probation.
Bordelon
also was part of a failed jail escape attempt in October 2003. Eighty-three
other people remain on death row in Louisiana. The last person executed in
Louisiana was Leslie Dale Martin in May 2002 for raping and killing a
19-year-old college student in 1991. No other executions have been scheduled.
"Child killer voices remorse, executed," by James Minton. (Jan 8, 2010 - Page: 1A
ANGOLA Convicted child rapist and murderer Gerald J. Bordelon died Thursday night by lethal injection after expressing remorse for his crimes and apologizing profusely to the victim s family, Louisiana State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain and media witnesses said.
Bordelon, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m., a few minutes after being administered three drugs to put him to sleep, stop his breathing and stop his heart, Cain said.
A Livingston Parish jury convicted Bordelon of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death in 2006 for kidnapping, molesting and killing his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Courtney LeBlanc, in November 2002.
Bordelon was a two-time sex offender on parole when he kidnapped LeBlanc from his estranged wife s home on Linder Road north of Denham Springs on Nov. 15, 2002. He said in a taped confession to authorities that he took the girl to Mississippi, where he said he forced her to perform oral sex on him. Investigators found LeBlanc s body 11 days later when Bordelon led them to a wooded area on the East Baton Rouge side of the Amite River near Denham Springs. She had been strangled.
Associated Press reporter and execution witness Melinda Deslatte said Bordelon specifically addressed LeBlanc s mother, sister and uncle before they witnessed the execution. I m sorry. I don t know if that brings any closure or peace. It should have never happened, but it did and I m sorry, Deslatte quoted Bordelon.
Livingston Parish News Managing Editor Mike Dowty, another execution witness, said Bordelon seemed more focused about the things between the family and his family than on his death.
Bordelon was the 28th person executed for murder in Louisiana since executions resumed in 1983 following a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision that threw out all existing death penalty laws in the nation. Bordelon was the eighth executed by lethal injection and the first in modern times to die without exercising his constitutional rights to appeal his conviction and sentence. Before Bordelon s death, Louisiana s last execution occurred in May 2002.
Angola spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot said 81 prisoners remain on Death Row at Angola, and two women condemned to die are housed at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel. Television reporter Chris Nakamoto, who also witnessed the execution, said Bordelon wore a gold cross on a chain that his daughter had given him. Bordelon gave his daughter a necklace with a cross made by an Angola inmate.
Bordelon spent the earlier part of his last day at Angola visiting with family members until 3 p.m., and then ate his last meal of fried sac-a-lait, crawfish touff e, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cookies, sharing the meal with Cain, his attorney and spiritual adviser and several other Angola officials.
Cain described Bordelon as very upbeat, cheerful and very remorseful during the meal. He ate. Most other (prisoners facing execution) just play with their food. He ate heartily, the warden said. Bordelon watched out a window as his family left the area to stay at a chapel at another part of the prison, Cain said. Cain said Bordelon talked about LeBlanc during his meeting with him near the death chamber. All he said about Courtney is, I did it, I m guilty and nobody else had anything to do with it, Cain said.
The Associated Press reported that after Bordelon made his final statement, seven men strapped him to the black padded gurney and removed his shackles. Wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans, he stared at the ceiling as prison officials closed the curtains for the insertion of the intravenous tubes. The curtains were reopened after he was connected to the IVs. Bordelon spoke to Cain, and he took several deep breaths as the drugs took hold. The warden said the convicted killer again repeated his remorse and asked Cain to tell his daughter that he wasn t afraid.
At 6:32 p.m., Cain said, We now pronounce Gerald Bordelon dead. We ve sent his soul for final judgment.
Death penalty opponents with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana held a vigil in New Orleans at the time of the execution.
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in October that Bordelon was competent to waive his appeals in state and federal courts, saying testimony from psychiatrists who examined him excludes the possibility that his waiver was influenced by brain damage, mental retardation or personality disorders that impair cognitive function.
The testimony also excludes the possibility that Bordelon s decision was the product of despair and suicidal ideation, the high court s opinion says. At the same time, the Supreme Court reviewed the death sentence, finding that it was not excessive because the jury found that the girl was killed during the commission of aggravated rape and second-degree kidnapping.
When he married Jennifer Kocke, the victim s mother, in 2001, Bordelon s parole terms prohibited him from having contact with minors. The state Parole Board, however, modified the terms of his parole to allow unsupervised contact with minors as long as the parent or guardian knew of his sex crime history.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in 1982 to sexual battery, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his 1990 conviction for forcible rape and two counts of aggravated crime against nature. Bordelon and Kocke soon separated after LeBlanc and her sister told their mother that Bordelon touched them inappropriately, but Kocke remained in contact with Bordelon after the split, the state Supreme Court s opinion says.
Kocke was convicted of child abuse by a Mississippi jury for failing to keep Bordelon away from her children. Kocke received a suspended five-year sentence, with five years of probation.
"Lawyer:
Bordelon admitted crimes," by James Minton. (Jan 9, 2010 - Page: 1B)
While
at Louisiana State Penitentiary awaiting execution, Gerald J. Bordelon was
interviewed by FBI criminal profile experts and gave information about other
crimes he committed, his attorney said Friday. Bordelon, 47, was executed by
lethal injection Thursday night for the November 2002 kidnapping, rape and
murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Courtney LeBlanc,
Jill
Craft, of Baton Rouge, represented Bordelon for about three years as he sought
to avoid having his 2006 conviction and sentence in Livingston Parish appealed
to higher courts. Craft said she cannot discuss the specifics of the crimes her
client discussed with the FBI. “I can say that he really did the right thing to
cleanse his soul,” Craft said.
A
state Supreme Court opinion upholding Bordelon’s right to waive all appeals
says Bordelon had a “diagnostic profile of sexual sadism” and he told
psychiatrists his crimes involved an escalating pattern of violence. Bordelon
pleaded guilty to sexual battery in 1982 and received a 10-year sentence, and
was on parole after serving 10 years of a 20-year sentence for forcible rape
and two counts of aggravated crime against nature.
On
Thursday, Louisiana State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain gave additional
information about a telephone call Cain allowed Bordelon to make to two women
Tuesday night. One of the women was a friend of the girl’s mother, Jennifer
Kocke. She dropped the girl at Kocke’s Linder Road home near Denham Springs the
day before she was abducted.
Cain,
who said he listened to the conversation on a telephone extension because the
women were not on Bordelon’s approved visitor list, said Bordelon absolved the
mother‘s friend of any blame for dropping the girl off to stay alone at the
trailer. “He said if it hadn’t happened that day, when the lady dropped
Courtney off, and nobody was at home because her mother was at the hospital, it
would have been another day. It would have happened,” Cain said. “That was
really important, I think, for the lady who dropped Courtney off,” the warden
added. Without elaborating, Cain said Bordelon also “did the right thing to
give one of those ladies a lot of peace about her own child.”
The
Supreme Court opinion says the defense theory of the case was that Kocke killed
her own daughter and Bordelon took the blame to spare his estranged wife.
Bordelon, in a written statement composed just before the execution, dismissed
that idea. “To anybody that thinks Jennifer (Kocke) was involved in any way:
she wasn’t.” “I can’t take back anything I did, and at this point in time, all
I can do is accept responsibility,” his statement concluded.
Craft
also released a written statement from Bordelon’s family saying LeBlanc’s death
was a “horribly tragic loss for our family.”
“Courtney became very close with our family, and we all loved her dearly. She
was an exceptional child that we all became very attached to. She spent a lot
of time with Gerald’s family, and we miss her terribly, just as we will miss
Gerald terribly,” the statement says.
"La. man executed for 2002 killing," by Melinda Deslatte. (AP January 8, 2010)
ANGOLA — A convicted sex offender who confessed to strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter and leaving her partially clothed body in a wooded area of Livingston Parish in 2002 was executed Thursday night. Gerald Bordelon, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, after receiving lethal drug injections. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Courtney LeBlanc, whom he kidnapped at knifepoint from her home seven years ago.
Just before his execution, Bordelon apologized to LeBlanc's mother, uncle and sister, who witnessed the execution, and he asked for their forgiveness. "I'm sorry. I don't know if that brings any closure or peace. It should have never happened, but it did, and I'm sorry," he said, choking up and halting to collect himself. His eyes red-rimmed from crying, Bordelon added, "I'd like to apologize to my family and tell them that I love them."
Against his white T-shirt Bordelon wore a gold cross given to him by his 19-year-old daughter, with whom he exchanged necklaces earlier in the day. He had given her a cross made by his fellow inmates.
It was Louisiana's first execution since 2002. Bordelon's lawyer Jill Craft said Bordelon became the first person in Louisiana to successfully refuse a death sentence appeal since the death penalty was reinstated more than three decades ago. When Bordelon asked to waive his appeal, he said he would "commit the same crime again if ever given the chance," according to court documents.
On parole following a rape conviction, Bordelon abducted LeBlanc on Nov. 15, 2002, from his estranged wife's trailer with a knife from the kitchen, took her to Mississippi where he forced her to perform oral sex on him, then drove back to Louisiana and strangled her. When LeBlanc's body was found 11 days later, she was wearing only a pair of shorts and one tennis shoe. Bordelon led police to her body in a wooded area by the Amite River in Livingston Parish, about 20 miles from Baton Rouge. "I took Courtney and told her if she screamed or hollered or tried to get away, I was going to kill her," Bordelon said in a videotaped confession that was played at his 2006 trial.
Bordelon met with his family at the Angola prison Thursday in the hours before his execution. For his last meal he ate fried sac-a-lait fish, topped with crawfish etouffee, a peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich and chocolate chip cookies, said Pam Laborde, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections.
Three of LeBlanc's relatives watched the execution, including LeBlanc's uncle Damian Kocke, her sister Brittany Boudreaux and her mother Jennifer Kocke, who was convicted of child abuse for allowing Bordelon near her children after they accused him of molestation. Sniffling could be heard from the separate room where they watched Bordelon die.The family didn't speak to reporters after his death.
After Bordelon made his final statement, seven men strapped him to the black padded gurney and removed his shackles. Wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans, he stared at the ceiling as prison officials closed the curtains for the insertion of the intravenous tubes. The curtains were reopened after he was connected to the IVs. Bordelon spoke to warden Burl Cain, and he took several deep breaths as the drugs took hold. Cain said the convicted killer again repeated his remorse and asked Cain to tell his daughter that he wasn't afraid. At 6:32 p.m., Cain said, "We now pronounce Gerald Bordelon dead. We've sent his soul for final judgment."
Death penalty opponents with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana held a vigil in New Orleans at the time of the execution. Bordelon's mother, daughter and two sisters released a statement, calling LeBlanc's death a "horribly tragic loss for our family. Courtney became very close with our family, and we all loved her dearly." They also said Bordelon "fought an insurmountable problem in his psyche his entire life."
Bordelon had two prior felony convictions for sexual assault and was sent to psychiatric treatment in 1979 after being accused of rape and kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to sexual battery in 1982 and was convicted of rape and crimes against nature in 1990, court records show.
He was on parole when he met Kocke over the Internet and married her a year later. They separated after LeBlanc and her sister told their mother that Bordelon touched them inappropriately, but Kocke remained in contact with Bordelon after the split, according to court documents.
Louisiana Parole Board officials said an officer spoke with Kocke before the marriage, notifying her that Bordelon was a convicted sex offender. Kocke was convicted of child abuse in Mississippi in October 2003 for failing to keep Bordelon away from her children. She received a suspended five-year sentence, with five years of probation. Bordelon also was part of a failed jail escape attempt in October 2003.
Eighty-three other people remain on death row in Louisiana. The last person executed in Louisiana was Leslie Dale Martin in May 2002 for raping and killing a 19-year-old college student in 1991. No other executions have been scheduled.
ProDeathPenalty.Com
Gerald
Bordelon, a previously convicted sex offender, was sentenced to death for the
rape and murder of his 12-year-old step-daughter, Courtney LeBlanc. Bordelon
had prior convictions for forcible rape and aggravated crime against nature. He
had been paroled after serving 10 years of a 20-year sentence. Courtney's
mother Jennifer Kocke had met Bordelon on the internet and married him in 2001.
They moved from Louisiana to Mississippi and lived in a trailer owned by
Bordelon's parents outside of Gloster, Mississippi. However, during the
Christmas holidays in 2001, Courtney's mother learned from Courtney and one of
her sisters that Bordelon had molested them.
She
notified the police and Bordelon was ordered to leave the residence. Kocke and
her children moved back to Louisiana, however she maintained contact with her
husband. She moved into a rented trailer Denham Springs in October 2002.
Bordelon began working on various repairs to the trailer.
On
November 15, 2002, Bordelon kidnapped Courtney from her home at knifepoint.
Courtney was alone at the trailer because her uncle had been admitted to a
local hospital in critical condition following a car accident and Kocke stayed
at the hospital overnight with her brother. Local residents volunteered to
search for the missing girl, and 11 days after she disappeared, on November 26,
2002, Bordelon confessed to her murder and led authorities to Courtney's
partially nude body. In his videotaped confession, Bordelon admitted that he
had taken Courtney to a wooded area near Baton Rouge on the banks of the Amite
River where he strangled her. He said he parked his car in a wooded area early
that morning and found Courtney sleeping on the couch. He shook her arm and
told her to come with him. In his confession, Bordelon said, "I took
Courtney and told her if she screamed or hollered or tried to get away, I was
going to kill her." He said that during the drive to Mississippi, he
forced Courtney to remove her underwear so he could fondle her. He drove down a
gravel road and made the girl perform oral sex on him.
They
left Mississippi around 9 am and returned to Baton Rouge. He made Courtney walk
down a dirt path near the Amite River, and Courtney asked, "Where are we
going?" He told her they were going "to the river." When asked
what Courtney's last words were, Bordelon said, "Why do you like the
river?" After reaching the banks of the river, Bordelon said he pushed
Courtney down and she fell on her face, then rolled over. He straddled her and
choked her with his hands. Courtney was able to bite Bordelon's left thumb hard
enough to cause bleeding. After choking Courtney to death, Bordelon said he
moved her body into a wooded area and concealed her with heavy underbrush, then
returned to his car and threw out Courtney's panties. He then called his sister
and went to her home so he could wash his clothing. Bordelon's semen and
Courtney's DNA were found in Bordelon's car.
While
awaiting trial, Bordelon and another inmate escaped from the Livingston Parish
jail in 2003, but were recaptured the same weekend. A passing motorist reported
seeing Bordelon near a highway. Bordelon has said, "I would commit the
crime again if ever given the chance." The jury took only 38 minutes to
deliberate before sentencing Bordelon to death. In October 2003, an Amite
County jury deliberated for less than half an hour before finding Courtney’s
mother, Jennifer Kocke, guilty of felony child abuse for allowing her daughter
to have contact with her husband, who was a four-time convicted sex offender.
Circuit Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson ordered that Jennifer could never have any
contact with Gerald Bordelon. And Johnson ordered that on every June 5, which
was Courtney’s birthday, Jennifer must write at least a 200-word letter to her
daughter and have it filed in the Amite County Circuit Court no later than each
June 10.
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