Murder of Kyle Dinkheller

The murder of Kyle Dinkheller took place on Monday, January 12, 1998, when Dinkheller, a deputy in the Laurens County, Georgia, sheriff's office, pulled over motorist and Vietnam War veteran Andrew Howard Brannan for speeding.

A verbal confrontation escalated to a shootout resulting in Brannan murdering Dinkheller.

The murder continues to receive national attention because the traffic stop and shootout were captured on a personal video recorder Dinkheller had placed on his patrol car dashboard and activated when he stopped Brannan.

The recording is widely used for training purposes in U.S. police academies.

In the shootout, Dinkheller was armed with his semi-automatic pistol while Brannan was armed with an Iver Johnson M1 Carbine.

Dinkheller shot and wounded Brannan.

Despite this, Brannan fired the rifle, reloaded it, fired a lethal shot into Dinkheller's eye, and fled the scene in his Toyota pickup truck.

The next morning, police found Brannan still in Laurens County, hiding in a sleeping bag beneath a camouflage tarp.

Police arrested him for the murder of Dinkheller.

Brannan pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming in part that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from his military service in Vietnam.

Because Dinkheller's video recorded most of Brannan's actions, the jury found he murdered the deputy in a premeditated, torturous, and cruel manner.

On January 12, 1998, near the end of his shift, Deputy Kyle Wayne Dinkheller of the Laurens County, Georgia, sheriff's office, encountered a speeding Toyota pickup truck near Dudley, Georgia, United States, which he checked at around 98 mph. The deputy pulled the truck over on Whipple Crossing Road, adjacent to Interstate 16.

The traffic stop at first appeared to be routine, with both Dinkheller and the driver, Andrew Brannan, exiting their vehicles and exchanging greetings.

Brannan, however, placed both hands into his pockets, at which point Dinkheller instructed him to remove his hands and keep them in plain view.

At this point, Brannan became belligerent and yelled at the deputy to shoot him.

He then began to dance and wave his arms in the middle of the road.

Dinkheller radioed the dispatcher for assistance and issued commands for Brannan to cease his behavior and approach the cruiser.

When Brannan saw that Dinkheller was calling for other units, he ran toward the deputy in an aggressive manner.

Dinkheller retreated while issuing commands and utilized his baton to keep Brannan at bay.

On Dinkheller's dashcam video, Brannan was heard shouting that he was a "goddamned Vietnam combat veteran."

Despite commands issued by Dinkheller, Brannan walked back to his pickup truck and drew an Iver Johnson M1 Carbine from underneath the driver's seat, taking cover near the driver side door.

Dinkheller positioned himself near the passenger door of his cruiser and gave Brannan commands for approximately forty seconds before Brannan stepped away from his pickup truck, pointed his rifle at Dinkheller and fired several shots.

Dinkheller fired the first shot at Brannan but missed, leading some to speculate that it might have been a warning shot.

Dinkheller did not strike Brannan initially and thus was forced to reload.

At this point, Brannan ran from his truck toward Dinkheller and began to fire again, hitting the deputy in exposed areas such as the arms and legs.

Brannan then began to reload his weapon as the now-injured Dinkheller tried to position himself near the driver side door of his cruiser.

Brannan appeared to go back to his car to retreat before another shot from Dinkheller was heard.

This enraged Brannan, who began advancing and firing at the deputy, hitting him numerous times.

Before being disabled from gunfire, Dinkheller was able to inflict a gunshot wound to Brannan's stomach.

Dinkheller had been shot nine times when Brannan took careful aim, said, "die fucker!"

and fired a final fatal shot into Dinkheller's right eye.

Brannan then retreated into his truck and fled the scene.

Brannan was arrested the next morning without incident; he told the investigating authorities that "they can hang me".

Two years following the murder, on January 28, 2000, the jury convicted Brannan.

On January 30, he was sentenced to death.

He was found guilty on January 28, 2000, for the murder of Dinkheller and was sentenced to death.

Seventeen years and one day after the murder, on January 13, 2015, Brannan was executed by lethal injection.

On January 2, 2015, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced that an execution date of January 13 had been set for Brannan.

On January 6, a clemency hearing was set for January 12, at which the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to deny clemency.

On January 13, Brannan was executed by lethal injection, the first person in the U.S. to be executed in 2015.