two shotgun blasts later it weren't no joke

7/31/2019 Two Shotgun Blasts Later It Weren't No Joke

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TWO SHOTGUN BLASTSLATER

IT WEREN'T NO JOKE


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Lucey Olney Thought He Was Jokin'. Two

Shotgun Blasts Later It Weren't No Joke.

Witness: Chaudoin 'Would Get Rid Of' Doyles - Orlando Sentinel

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1996-08-13/news/9608120799_1_pat-doyle-alligators-olney

articles.orlandosentinel.com/.../9608120799_1_pat-doyle-alligators-o...

Aug 13, 1996 Jurors heard the testimony Monday fromLucey Olney, a movie location manager whostruck up a friendship with Chaudoin in 1994 at Seminole ...

Witness: Chaudoin 'Would Get Rid Of' Doyles

Chaudoin Often Talked Of His Anger At Pat Doyle And His Fear

That He Would Be Kicked Off The Ranch, A Friend Testified

By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel StaffAugust 13, 1996

TAVARES Spectators packed in a Lake County courtroom gasped in horror Monday upon hearing thatRussell ''Junior'' Chaudoin talked of feeding the bodies of his bosses to alligators.

Chaudoin, 71, made statements that ''alligators don't eat fresh meat,'' and that bodies would have to beburied for a time to turn them into ''alligator bait.''

A year later, his bosses were gunned down and their bodies dumped into a shallow grave beneath a haybale 300 yards from the doorstep of his home on Seminole Woods ranch, where he had been a caretakerfor 20 years.

Now, Chaudoin is facing charges of first-degree murder and grand theft auto.

Jurors heard the testimony Monday from Lucey Olney, a movie location manager who struck up afriendship with Chaudoin in 1994 at Seminole Woods ranch.

Chaudoin talked openly about his deteriorating relationship with his bosses, Jack Doyle, 62, and his wife,Patricia Doyle, 59, daughter of elderly ranch owners Ted and Althea Strawn. The Doyles left their homein California to run the ranch for her aging parents.

''He said Pat (Doyle) was angry with him, and he was angry with Pat,'' Olney testified.

The Doyles were angry about a 68-acre parcel deeded to Chaudoin by the Strawns for $10 and other''valuable considerations'' listed on the deed. Chaudoin has maintained that the property was given for 20years of loyal service for little pay.

Olney said Chaudoin felt threatened, and frequently grilled her to see whether Pat Doyle had said


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anything about kicking him off the ranch and taking the 68 acres.

''If they know what's good for them, they would go back to California,'' she quoted him as saying.

She said he had no money, no Social Security - ''nothing to lose'' if he were booted out of his mobile homeon the 5,600-acre ranch and had his 68-acre parcel taken away.

''He said that he would get rid of them.

''I would say, 'Russell, you don't want to do that. It would ruin your life.'

''He said he wouldn't get caught.''

In the presence of two other people filming a movie at the ranch, Chaudoin said, ''There's a lot of swamps.You can hide a lot of bodies in a swamp.''

Then, with just Olney in the cab of his pickup truck, the avid hunter asked her whether she knew how tomake alligator bait.

She guessed that the ''bait'' would have to be below the water.

''He said, 'You're partially right.' ''

He then went on to say it had to be buried first.

''Alligators don't eat fresh meat. You have to make it rotten.''

Olney said he got a ''glint in his eye'' and said something she thought sounded like a line in a ClintEastwood movie: ''Pat doesn't realize who she's dealing with. I'm a dangerous man.''

Defense attorney Michael Hatfield, trying to diffuse the damaging testimony, asked her whether Chaudoinliked to tease her because she is so much younger than he is.

''Yes,'' she replied.

Olney followed Danny Nichols to the stand. It was Nichols who on July 5, 1995 led investigators to theDoyles' red 1986 Isuzu Trooper, which had been stashed in a wilderness area in Flagler County since thecouple's disappearance June 13, 1995.

The slender 38-year-old, dressed in black jeans and a Western shirt, glanced nervously at Chaudoin at thebeginning of his testimony.

He said Chaudoin asked him to come to the ranch to put up hay or cut brush. Instead, he ended up beingdirected to follow Chaudoin in a red truck to the woods. Later, when detectives broadcast a description ofthe missing vehicle on TV, he realized the vehicle belonged to the Doyles.

He said he and his wife, Shannon, who is the niece of Chaudoin's wife, Holly, spent a miserable JulyFourth holiday until sheriff's investigators knocked on his door on July 5.

''I was relieved,'' he said.

Nichols said he didn't ask questions when asked to follow Chaudoin to the woods with the Trooper, and

Chaudoin didn't say much, except: ''What's happened has happened.''

Chaudoin indicated he didn't want to hear the subject come up again - ever.

''I was afraid,'' Nichols said.


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But a week later, Chaudoin brought up the subject himself, by having Nichols drive him once again to thehiding spot near Bunnell, Nichols said.

Unlike the first time, when Chaudoin emerged from the woods with a license plate and tools in his hand,this time he brought nothing but a smile and a chuckle, Nichols testified.

Again, there were no questions asked. Nichols said he had learned from his friends and family membersthat ''Junior's not the kind of person you ask questions. You just do what he says.''

Also taking the stand Monday was Roy Gillespie, a former Lake County jail inmate who befriendedChaudoin.

Gillespie said he was to do a ''big favor'' for his poker-playing pal in the jail - he was to find Nichols in aUmatilla bar, then plant drugs in his car and call the cops.

Instead, Gillespie said he ran right to the police.

Plans called for Chaudoin's son, Jimmy, to deliver $500 in an envelope to the elder Chaudoin's favoritehangout, the Oasis Lounge in Sorrento. Gillespie met bar owner George Baker at the bar and picked up

the envelope marked ''Jr.'' Inside were five $100 bills, he said.

Massive Search Is Mounted For Missing Couple

By Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffJune 30, 1995

MOUNT PLYMOUTH Deputies on horseback, in helicopters and paddling canoes scoured the5,600-acre environmentally sensitive ranch of a prominent Central Florida landowner Thursday for cluesto the whereabouts of his daughter and her husband.

Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, disappeared on June 13 after they left the DeLeon Springshome of some friends and headed for the ranch.

The property, which is off State Road 46A in Lake County, is owned by Theodore and Althea Strawn,who live in DeLand. Volusia investigators don't know whether the couple met with foul play, but theycalled in more than 100 officers to look for them.

''They don't know what to think. It would be strange to think they'd leave her parents unattended for twoweeks,'' said Gary Davidson, a spokesman for the Volusia sheriff.

Jack Doyle, a retired attorney, and his wife moved to Volusia County about a year ago from La Jolla,Calif., because the Strawns needed medical care and constant attention, Davidson said.

The Doyles were running the Strawn ranch, said Bruce Crump, whose wife, Sylvia, is Patricia Doyle'scousin. ''All of a sudden they just disappeared off the face of the earth,'' Crump said.

The Doyles' daughter, Kristan Britain, flew from Seattle to be nearby while searchers try to find herparents. Davidson did not know why relatives waited until Tuesday to notify police that the couple weremissing.

The Doyles still own a home in La Jolla but have been living with the Strawns for about a year, Davidsonsaid. Deputies from Lake, Volusia and Marion counties, and officers from the Daytona Beach Police


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Department and the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday combed the ranch and adjacent state-ownedproperty.

The search has been painstakingly slow because of the terrain. ''It's tough,'' said Lake County Sheriff'sChief Deputy Dave Hall. ''A lot of it is swamp. Horses and the little ATVs are the best way to search.''

Deputies aren't sure who last saw the Doyles or whether they made it to the Strawn ranch, called SeminoleWoods. A caretaker saw them driving their red Isuzu trooper, but he is unsure whether it was June 12 or

13.

Bodies Of Couple Found On Ranch

The Bodies Were Near The Trailer Of A Caretaker Who Had

Been Feuding With Them.By Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffJuly 7, 1995

SORRENTO Investigators unearthed two bodies Thursday night near the trailer of a 70-year-old ranchworker charged hours earlier with stealing a missing couple's truck.

The bodies were believed to be Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband Jack, 62, who disappeared June 13.Lake County deputy sheriffs found a grave about 6 p.m after moving 200 bales of hay at a ranch ownedby the couple's family.

Deputies were questioning Russell Sage ''Junior'' Chaudoin, the ranch caretaker.

The bodies were buried 300 yards from his home.

Earlier Thursday, investigators found the couple's red 1986 Isuzu Trooper off a country road in FlaglerCounty, cementing suspicions that the couple had been killed.

Friends and detectives said there was friction between Chaudoin and the Doyles, whose family ownsthousands of acres in Central Florida.

Lake deputy sheriffs impounded the truck and planned to search after dark Thursday, using a high-techlighting device to hunt for blood and other evidence invisible to the naked eye.

Detectives had few clues in the case until John Nichols told them his story late Wednesday night.

Nichols, a friend of Chaudoin's, led detectives to the truck off State Road 305, near Seville.

Nichols told them that Chaudoin called him June 13 and asked for his help with hay on the farm, an arrestwarrant shows. The next day, Chaudoin told Nichols, whose address wasn't immediately known, that hehad sold a Trooper and was going to deliver it, the report shows.

The caretaker drove the truck into woods, removed the license plate, then climbed into the car withNichols, who drove him back to the 5,600-acre ranch, called Seminole Woods, the warrant shows.

''At this time, it appears that Nichols was a somewhat unwitting participant,'' said Volusia County sheriff's


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spokesman Gary Davidson.

Detectives were expected Thursday night to question Chaudoin, who was being held without bond at theLake County Jail.

They want to know about the bad blood between him and the Doyles, caused by a 1993 real estatetransaction.

Chaudoin bought 68 acres of land from the elderly owners of the ranch, Ted and Althea Strawn, who arethe parents of Patricia Doyle. The sale took place four days after Christmas, property records show. Theprice: $10.

The land, between State Road 44 and Huff Road just east of Seminole Springs Elementary School, wasvalued at $178,878 by the Lake County property appraiser this year.

The Doyles were unhappy with the transaction, police said.

''I understand that Patricia wanted to get him off the property,'' said John Strawn, a cousin from DeLand.''He had been there for a long time, so he may not have wanted to go.''

Chaudoin had called Seminole Woods home for more than 30 years, police said.

Strawn's ranch - bought in 1950 for $155,100 - has been one of the most sought after tracts of wildernessin Florida. More than 50 springs dotting the property feed a pair creeks that, in turn, flow into the WekivaRiver.

Through the late 1980s, Strawn often said he was interested in selling his ranch for conservation. But herejected several offers by state officials, leaving them baffled over what Strawn really intended to do withhis ranch.

In 1989, state officials asked Strawn whether he would accept $12 million for the property.

Shortly afterward, Central Florida developer Sid Roche announced plans to purchase Strawn's propertyfor as much as $16 million. However, the deal fell through when new development restrictions for theWekiva River took effect.

Strawn's ranch has remained in the top 10 most important properties to purchase for conservation.

The Doyles, who were living in La Jolla, Calif., returned to the DeLand area last year to run the ranch andcare for her father, who is 92, and her mother, 83, when their health began to fail.

Doyle, a retired attorney and certified public accountant, and his marine-biologist wife ran Strawn's ranchnear Sorrento until they vanished.

She and her husband relished the physical work on the ranch, according to Sylvia Crump, a cousin fromDeLeon Springs. The couple rose early most mornings to bale hay, build fences and care for livestock.

''They did hard physical work, and it was a change from their lifestyle,'' Crump said. ''She had done a lot ofwork looking through a microscope, and she told me she was just glad to be out in the fresh air.''

For the past week, more than 100 Lake, Volusia and Marion deputies have been searching SeminoleWoods for the couple.

The first break came with Chaudoin's arrest, and deputies hope it prompts someone else with informationto come forward.


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Chaudoin was being held without bond because of his ''violent past,'' Lake sheriff's Lt. Chris Daniels said.

In March 1980, the caretaker was charged with aggravated assault and battery after a woman said he beather over the head with a .38-caliber revolver. He was sentenced to three years' probation but wasn'tconvicted.

He also was charged with two counts of battery in 1993 and was found not guilty on both.

Shotgun Blasts Killed Lake Couple

Caretaker questioned

The Unidentified Bodies Are Thought To Be Those Of Jack And

Patricia Doyle.

By Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffJuly 8, 1995

SORRENTO The killer of a couple whose bodies were exhumed Thursday night at an isolated LakeCounty ranch blasted the victims at close range with a shotgun, authorities said Friday.

The bodies, thought to be those of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, were found buried underfour feet of dirt, which was covered with bales of hay.

They likely will be positively identified in a few days, when dental records arrive from California, LakeCounty Sheriff George Knupp said.

A preliminary autopsy Friday morning showed that the man died after shotgun pellets tore through hisright rib cage. The woman was shot once in the left breast.

On Friday afternoon, deputies with a search warrant combed the trailer where the caretaker of the5,600-acre ranch lived. Russell Sage ''Junior'' Chaudoin's home is about 300 yards from where the bodieswere found on the ranch called Seminole Woods.

''We're looking for any evidence that may link him to the Doyles or to any criminal activity,'' Knupp said.

They found a number of shotguns that could have been used in the killings, along with other evidence, atthe mobile home where Chaudoin has lived for more than 30 years, Sheriff's Lt. Chris Daniels said.

Chaudoin, 70, is being held without bail at the Lake County Jail. He is charged with taking the red 1986Isuzu Trooper that belonged to the Doyles.

The Doyles vanished from DeLeon Springs on June 13 in their truck. Deputies discovered the bodies aftera week of searching the ranch the Doyles were running for Patricia Doyle's ailing parents, Ted and AltheaStrawn.

On Friday, the Strawns notified Chaudoin that he was being evicted from the ranch and that he had beenfired from his job.

There was friction between the Doyles and the caretaker after a December 1993 real estate transaction.


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Chaudoin paid the Strawns $10 for a 68-acre spread of land between State Road 44 and Huff Road,property records show.

That land was valued at $178,878 this year by the Lake County property appraiser's office. Police said theDoyles were not happy about the deal.

Patricia Doyle, a marine biologist, and her husband, a retired certified public accountant and attorney, hadmoved to Volusia County from La Jolla, Calif., to care for the elderly Strawns.

Police had no clues to their whereabouts until Wednesday night, when a friend of Chaudoin's led them tothe truck in woods off State Road 305 in Flagler County.

Deputies plan to search the truck with a high-tech lighting device for traces of blood or evidence invisibleto the naked eye.

This is not Chaudoin's first brush with the law.

In 1976, he appeared before a coroner's jury in the December 1975 shooting death of Alfred Erny, 32, of

Sarasota. The caretaker testified that he and his wife, Holly, were ambushed while they were deer huntingnear Cassia.

He said he fired his .270 Remington hunting rifle at Erny, who was aiming a gun at him. The coroner's juryruled the death justifiable.

In 1980, he was charged with aggravated assault and battery after a woman said he beat her over the headwith a .38-caliber revolver. He was not convicted but was sentenced to three years' probation.

The caretaker also was charged but found not guilty of battery in 1993.

Officers Take Weapons From Suspect's Trailer

By Robert Perez of The Sentinel StaffJuly 14, 1995

TAVARES Investigators looking for clues in the shotgun slayings of a Volusia County coupleconfiscated weapons and ammunition from a trailer near where the bodies were found, court documentsreleased Thursday show.

Lake County deputy sheriffs took 10 weapons - including a 12-gauge shotgun - from the home of RussellSage ''Junior'' Chaudoin, caretaker of the 5,600-acre ranch owned by the couple's family, the documentsshow.

Chaudoin was served with search warrants on July 6 and 7. The first warrant was related to his arrest inthe theft of the dead couple's 1986 Isuzu Trooper.

The second warrant was issued after the bodies of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, werefound about 300 yards from Chaudoin's trailer - buried under four feet of dirt and dozens of hay bales.

The warrant, served on Chaudoin as he sat in the Lake County Jail, states the later search was necessarybecause ''the laws against first degree premeditated murder have been violated on the . . . premises.''

No one has been charged in the killings of the Doyles, who were shot at close range with a shotgun.


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In addition to the 12-gauge shotgun, which was found in Chaudoin's living room, investigators recoveredseven spent buckshot shells on the home's kitchen floor.

Sheriff's officials have refused to name any suspects in the killings. Chaudoin is being held without bondin the Lake County Jail on the stolen-truck charge.

''In this particular case, we have declined to release certain information to the public that could hamperour investigation,'' Lake County sheriff's Lt. Chris Daniels said. ''We hope the public will trust our

judgment.''

Among the other items taken from the trailer were a machete, a .44-caliber Magnum revolver, severalrifles, several boxes of ammunition, a pair of handcuffs, three pairs of boots, electrical tape and agold-colored money clip found under a couch behind a hog pen.

The Doyles vanished from DeLeon Springs on June 13 in their truck. Deputies discovered the bodies aftera week of searching the ranch the Doyles were running for Patricia Doyle's ailing parents, Ted and AltheaStrawn.

Detectives had few clues in the case until a friend of Chaudoin's spoke with them late on July 5.

John Nichols led detectives to the Doyle's missing truck off State Road 305, near Seville, Chaudoin'sarrest warrant shows.

Nichols told them that Chaudoin called him June 13 and asked for his help with hay on the farm. The nextday, Chaudoin told Nichols that he had sold a truck and was going to deliver it, the warrant shows.

The caretaker drove the truck into the woods, removed the license plate, then climbed into the car withNichols, who drove him back to the Doyles' ranch in Seminole Woods.

Affidavits on both search warrants include Nichols' testimony.

The July 7 search warrant, sworn out by Detective Ken Adams, also states that Chaudoin's wife toldinvestigators that her husband told her on July 5 that Nichols had killed the Doyles.

Daniels of the sheriff's office said Nichols has been interviewed by investigators but declined to saywhether Nichols is a suspect in the slayings.

Nichols, whose address was not in court documents, could not be reached for comment.

Chaudoin Involved In 2 Deaths In 1970s

Russell Sage Chaudoin, Indicted In A Recent Double Slaying, Was

In The Middle Of A Feud In Lake County.

By Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffJuly 30, 1995

SORRENTO The caretaker charged in the slaying of a retired couple at a Lake County ranch has areputation among residents as a man most people were reluctant to cross.

Russell Sage ''Junior'' Chaudoin is sturdy, graying, a hard drinker with a short fuse. Few ventured onto theranch known as Seminole Woods, where Chaudoin has lived for 23 years.


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Chaudoin has crossed paths sev eral times with police. He served two years in state prison for drivingthrough a fence to hunt deer on someone else's land at night. He also spent three years on probation on abattery charge for which he was not convicted.

And he was at the center of a bitter feud that left two men dead 20 years ago.

Residents of the tiny citrus and ranching town said he was known to patrol the sprawling 5,600-acre ranch

during the day in a run-down jeep with a pistol in his waistband.

''You didn't go on the property,'' said one nearby resident who didn't want his name used.

Four or five nights a week he could be found occupying a bar stool at the Oasis bar on State Road 46 inSorrento.

''He's been out on Seminole Woods for a long time,'' said longtime resident Charles Ross. ''He thought heowned it.''

Chaudoin, 70, the caretaker at the ranch off State Road 46A near Sorrento, is being held without bond at

the Lake County Jail, indicted Friday on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of grand theft.

The bodies of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, were found buried 300 yards fromChaudoin's doorstep.

For the past year the couple had been running the ranch for Pat Doyle's elderly parents, prominentlandowners Ted and Althea Strawn of DeLeon Springs.

Friends of the victims said Chaudoin ran afoul of the Doyles after a recent real estate transaction betweenChaudoin and Ted Strawn.

The caretaker had paid Strawn $10 for 68 acres valued in 1995 by the Lake County property appraiser'soffice at $176,878.

Chaudoin declined requests for an interview. His lawyer, Mike Hatfield, did not return phone calls. Hiswife, Holly, declined to comment and referred all questions to Hatfield.

His sister, Pearl Boyd, said her brother is a ''tender-hearted man'' who always tried to help people.

1 fight led to 2 deaths

Twenty years ago, Chaudoin shot a man to death. Some wonder if it was because the man - a Sarasota

auto mechanic - looked like someone with whom Chaudoin had been feuding.

Chaudoin said it was self-defense: The man had been shooting at him. A coroner's inquest ruled the deathjustifiable.

Here is how it happened: Alfred Erny, 32, of Sarasota, was hunting near Seminole Woods in December1975 when he was killed by a single shot from Chaudoin's caliber-.270 Remington rifle.

Chaudoin told investigators that a group of men had come out of the woods and fired rifles at him and hiswife. He said he fired back to protect himself. The couple's Volkswagen had bullet holes in it.

Officials believed Chaudoin. Erny's friends did not.

Erny had been killed at the height of a feud between Chaudoin and another man, Kenny Bagwell, a wiry32-year-old Vietnam veteran with deep roots in Sorrento.


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Chaudoin's wife, the former Holly Shannon, had been married before, to Bagwell's brother.

Shortly before Erny was killed, Bagwell had run into Chaudoin's wife at a Sorrento bar.

''Junior Chaudoin is a very jealous, well, insanely jealous man,'' Ross said.

The men fought in the parking lot of the lounge, said Paul Huff, Chaudoin's friend and former co-worker.Bagwell lost badly.

Later, Erny went hunting on land adjoining Seminole Woods. Rupert Tuten, 65, remembered seeing Ernythat winter day.

''He looked like Kenneth (Bagwell),'' Tuten said. ''And he was wearing the same kind of hat Kenneth usedto wear. In the woods it would be hard to tell them apart.''

Chaudoin sons join fight

Less than a year later, in the tavern where Kenny Bagwell had fought with Chaudoin, Bagwell got intoanother argument, this time with Chaudoin's sons, Clark, 22, and Russell, 30.

One witness recalled Russell Chaudoin telling Bagwell, ''If anything happens to my daddy, you're going toanswer to me.''

When the argument turned physical, Tuten, who did not know the Chaudoins but was acquainted withBagwell, broke it up. Tuten and his brother-in-law, Ross, then escorted the Chaudoins out, witnesses andcourt documents say.

Minutes later, a rifle barrel poked through the door. At least eight shots rang out. Tuten lay bleeding froma gunshot wound to the head. Bagwell, mortally wounded, lay nearby.

He died the next day at an Orlando hospital. Tuten recovered.

The Chaudoin sons were charged. Clark Chaudoin's conviction was overturned. Russell Chaudoin wassentenced to life and 15 years.

The elder Chaudoin was a suspect in the death of the Doyles for some time before he was charged. It isbelieved that he feared the couple would contest his real estate deal by saying Ted Strawn wasincompetent.

Pearl Boyd, Chaudoin's sister, said he is a good man, and media accounts are ''making it look too hard onmy brother.'' It distresses her that he has been jailed.

''He's always been a person to help everybody he could.''

Chaudoin Indicted Again In Shootings

A Second Grand Jury Has Indicted The Sorrento Ranch Hand In

The Deaths Of Jack And Patricia Doyle.

By Lesley Clark of The Sentinel StaffOctober 18, 1995


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TAVARES A Sorrento man accused in the shotgun slaying of a prominent Volusia County couple wasindicted by a second Lake County grand jury Tuesday in connection with the deaths.

Russell Sage ''Junior'' Chaudoin, 70, was again charged with two counts of first-degree murder in theshooting deaths of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62.

A grand jury in July indicted Chaudoin on the murder charges, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges in

August.

Although prosecutors said the reindictment was because they added two charges, the proceedings of thefirst grand jury have come under fire from Chaudoin's defense attorney.

Prosecutors said they asked a second grand jury to indict Chaudoin because they added two charges ofgrand theft, accusing Chaudoin of stealing 43 cattle from the ranch where the bodies were found.Prosecutors said the jury must reindict on all charges if additional charges are filed.

However, Chaudoin's attorney Michael Hatfield of Umatilla has filed two motions with the court attackingthe first grand jury process. In the motions, Hatfield said prosecutors unlawfully dismissed one grand juror

and unlawfully placed another juror on the panel.

No hearing has been set on those motions.

The jurors also reindicted Chaudoin on a charge of stealing the Doyles' 1986 Isuzu Trooper.

The Doyles' bodies were found July 6 in a grave under a heap of hay bales about 300 yards fromChaudoin's mobile home on the Seminole Woods Ranch, where he worked.

The Doyles had returned to their native DeLand last year to help Patricia Doyle's ailing parents, Ted andAlthea Strawn, run the 5,600-acre ranch.

The Doyles disagreed with a 1993 real estate transaction in which Chaudoin bought 68 acres of ranchproperty from the Strawns for $10, investigators have said. Family members have said Patricia Doylewanted Chaudoin off the property.

Ranch Hand's Hearing Is Web Of Legal Motions

By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel Staff

March 14, 1996

TAVARES Lawyers began firing off legal motions and laying the groundwork Wednesday for themurder trial of Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, charged with slaying a DeLand couple on a sprawling SeminoleWoods ranch.

''It's a crack in the egg,'' defense attorney Mike Hatfield said of the pretrial arguments.

As it was, it was a big egg, with Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett and Assistant State Attorney Bill Grossunscrambling 53 motions, including several constitutional challenges to the state's death penalty statutes.

Those motions were denied by the judge. They will be filed for future appeals if the 70-year-old ranchhand is convicted in the slayings of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband Jack, 62, longtime DeLandresidents who were running the 5,600-acre ranch for her parents, Ted and Althea Strawn.


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One thing lawyers did agree upon, however, was the setting aside, for now, of two cattle rustling chargesthat reportedly occurred up to two years before the Doyles were slain with a shotgun. The judge willdecide later if the alleged theft can be mentioned during the murder trial.

Hatfield had wanted to go to trial on the rustling charges first.

''I would like to wash that,'' he said. ''I don't want the cow stealing to come up in a murder trial.''

If Chaudoin is convicted of murder, the cattle theft charges probably will never go to trial.

But the theft of the couple's 1986 Isuzu Trooper was not set aside. Chaudoin is charged with stealing thevehicle and then ditching it later in the woods.

The slaying shocked the rural community near Sorrento. More than 100 Volusia and Lake County deputysheriffs searched for the couple until their bodies were found July 13, buried beneath a huge haystack 300yards from Chaudoin's trailer.

Investigators believe the Doyles were killed after quarreling with Chaudoin over the purchase of 68 acresof ranch land for $10.

Hatfield also argued for, and lost, a bid to have jurors sequestered during the trial, and even during juryselection.

He cited news coverage and his concern that jurors could be tainted by news accounts of the slayings.

Jury selection could be a cumbersome two-day affair, even with the use of questionnaires that could weedout hundreds of people who know something about the case.

The trial is set for April 29, about the same time as the trial of Keith Johnson, a Tavares Middle Schoolstudent charged with the shooting death of another student on campus.

The lawyers will air more motions over evidence and witnesses on April 16.

2 Tell Of Plot To Kill Trial Witnesses

Ex-cellmates Of Russell Chaudoin Say The Murder Suspect Tried

To Hire Them To Kill Two People.

By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel StaffApril 4, 1996

TAVARES Investigators are looking into reports that a suspect charged in the June slayings of a coupleat an east Lake County ranch tried to hire two prisoners to kill witnesses in the case.

Two jailhouse roommates of Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin have said the 70-year-old suspect wanted them tokill people who are to testify in his first-degree murder trial April 29. The two inmates are seeking breaksin their sentences in return for testifying against Chaudoin.

Chaudoin is charged with killing DeLand resident Jack Doyle and his wife, Patricia, whose parents ownthe 5,600-acre Seminole Woods Ranch.


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''The witnesses have been notified and precautions taken,'' said Lake County sheriff's Investigator JackMcDonald.

Contacted at the Lake County Jail, Chaudoin would not talk about the allegations. His lawyer could notbe reached.

However, Daniel Davis, 40, a prisoner at the jail, told The Orlando Sentinel in an interview that Chaudoinrecruited him to kill two witnesses plus the wife of one if ''she got in the way.''

He was to get $55,000, property and a car for running over one witness with a vehicle and poisoning theother with a product to unclog drains. Davis said he refused.

The Sentinel has also learned that the State Attorney's Office is investigating whether Chaudoin recruitedanother inmate - who also declined the job - before approaching Davis.

Officials with the State Attorney's Office would not discuss the case.

However, Davis, who is awaiting sentencing on a weapons charge, said in an interview on Wednesdaythat Chaudoin asked him while they shared a cell in January and February to kill the witnesses.

One target was to be Roy D. Gillespie, another former cellmate of Chaudoin's, Davis said. He saidChaudoin told him that Gillespie went to authorities after Chaudoin asked him to kill John D. Nichols.

Nichols, who is related to Chaudoin by marriage, last summer told authorities that he helped Chaudoindispose of the Doyles' sport truck after the killings.

He said in a statement to police that Chaudoin told him he had sold the red 1986 Isuzu Trooper.

Gillespie, jailed in June on domestic violence charges, has been released from jail and could not be locatedto talk about the matter. Nichols, who no longer lives in Florida, also wasn't available.

Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, were found buried beneath a giant hay bale about 300yards from Chaudoin's home at the ranch, where he was the caretaker.

They had been blasted by shotgun pellets during what investigators have said was a dispute over the saleof property to Chaudoin. Authorities have said Patricia Doyle was upset that her elderly parents, Ted andAlthea Strawn, sold Chaudoin 68 acres of the ranch for $10.

Davis said Chaudoin offered him $5,000 and a pickup truck up front to kill Gillespie, Nichols and Nichols'wife ''if she got in the way.''

Later, Chaudoin would pay an additional $50,000 and give him five acres, Davis said.

''I was just going to take the $5,000 and the vehicle and leave,'' Davis said.

According to the deal, however, Gillespie was to get especially rough treatment.

''I was to hit him with a bat and say, 'This is from Junior.' Then I was to run over him with a vehicle on acountry road,'' Davis said.

Davis said he was to kill Nichols by mixing cocaine with Drano.

''I said, 'Even if he doesn't die, his brain will melt down and he'll be a vegetable,' '' Davis said.

Davis, a convicted felon, was found guilty by a jury last month of possessing a shotgun. Sheriff'sinvestigators said he was trying to break into his former wife's house in Bassville Park.


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Davis said it became apparent after his conviction that he wasn't going to be free to carry out Chaudoin'splan, and his relationship with the former caretaker soured.

Davis has since been moved to an isolation cell for his protection.

Both Davis and the other inmate who says he was approached by Chaudoin - who authorities would notidentify - want reduced prison sentences in return for testifying against Chaudoin.

Davis, for example, could face 30 years in prison if sentenced under the state's guidelines for habitualoffenders. He has been in and out of Lake County courtrooms since the 1980s on such charges as criminalmischief, aggravated battery and resisting arrest without violence.

Defense Seeks To Delay Trial In Double Murder


April 6, 1996

TAVARES The attorney for a man accused last summer of killing a couple and burying their bodiesbeneath a giant hay bale has asked for a delay in the murder trial that is scheduled to begin April 29.

Michael Hatfield, who is defending Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, has asked that the trial be moved back toJuly, one year after Chaudoin's arrest.

The lawyer asked for more time to prepare Russell Chaudoin's case in the deaths of Jack and Pat Doyle.

Chaudoin, 70, is charged in the shotgun slayings of Jack and Patricia Doyle. The prominent DeLandcouple were running the family's 5,600-acre Seminole Woods ranch for Patricia Doyle's parents, Ted andAlthea Strawn.

Hatfield, in his motion to Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett, said he needs more time to investigate.

The Umatilla lawyer also said he needs more time to prepare motions, review jury questionnaires andhandle other time-consuming tasks. Last month, Hatfield, Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross and Lockettbegan sifting through more than 50 pretrial motions in the case, including many challenging theconstitutionality of the state's death penalty statutes.

Hatfield said another lawyer who was to help him during the penalty phase of the trial has backed out.

He said the State Attorney's Office has no ''strenuous objection to a continuance.''

The motion was filed in the Lake County clerk of court's office on Wednesday, one day before the casetook a strange twist for the defense.

On Thursday, The Sentinel reported that a Lake County jail inmate, Daniel Davis, was telling authoritiesthat Chaudoin tried to recruit him to kill two witnesses who are supposed to testify in the murder case.

Authorities are investigating and have warned the witnesses - Roy Gillespie, a former cellmate ofChaudoin's, and John D. Nichols, who told authorities he helped park the Doyles' sport truck in the woods

after their disappearance.

Hatfield, who is out of the state, could not be reached for comment. Chaudoin has declined interviews.


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Testimony In Double-murder Trial May Point To

Rustling As A Motive

By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel StaffApril 17, 1996

TAVARES Was cattle rustling the motive for the slaying of Patricia and Jack Doyle at SeminoleWoods ranch last summer?

The question could become a major point in the state's case against Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, a70-year-old ranch caretaker who goes on trial on murder charges Aug. 5.

Defense attorney Mike Hatfield argued Tuesday that allegations of rustling, with its ''sensational'' and''romantic aura'' would obscure the real issues and block Chaudoin's chances for a fair trial.

Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett has already ruled that livestock theft charges will not be added to the murdercharges in the trial. But the judge said he will decide by Friday whether Chaudoin to allow testimonyabout rustling as a possible motive for the slayings.

The most damaging testimony in a court hearing Tuesday came from a friend of Chaudoin's, CharlesSimmons, who said Chaudoin sold cattle in his name, then called him and told him to cash the check andbring the money to him.

''I was somewhat surprised,'' Simmons said. ''I told him, this is a pretty good chunk of money.''

''He said his wife needed surgery,'' Simmons said. He also said that Chaudoin talked of promises that ranchowner Ted Strawn made to him but failed to deliver.

Strawn and his wife Althea, the owners of the ranch, are the elderly parents of Patricia Doyle. The Doyleshad returned to Florida to work the 5,600-acre Wekiva River spread for her parents.

Chaudoin also is charged with stealing the Doyles' red Isuzu Trooper. The couple stored cattle inventoryrecords in the sport truck, records that were not found after the couple and the truck disappeared in June,said sheriff's investigator Jack McDonald.

The truck turned up in Flagler County woods. The Doyles were found buried beneath a huge hay balenear Chaudoin's house on the ranch.

Some of the most damning statements by witnesses may never be heard, the lawyers agreed, because theyare hearsay or inadmissible by law, including statements that the Doyles reportedly made to others thatthey were afraid of Chaudoin.

Investigators believe the Doyles were upset over the Strawns' selling 68 acres of the ranch to Chaudoin foronly $10. The Doyles were ready to fire the longtime caretaker from the ranch, authorities believe.

Lake County jail inmate Daniel Davis, who once shared a jail cell with Chaudoin, said the caretakertalked about Patricia Doyle demanding he produce a bill of sale to prove ownership of some cattle. Andhe mentioned selling cattle through a friend of his.

But Hatfield accused Davis of trying to get out of jail so he could kill his ex-wife, a detective and JudgeLockett.

''That's crazy,'' said Davis, who was convicted a few weeks ago on charges of being a convicted felon in


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the possession of a firearm. He also faces aggravated stalking charges in the attempted break-in of hisex-wife's home.

Prosecutors were seeking to classify him as a habitual offender when he told prosecutors that Chaudoinwanted him to kill witnesses including former jail inmate Roy Gillespie.

Gillespie, Davis says, was approached by Chaudoin first to strike out at a witness. Instead, Gillespie toldhis story to authorities, who have released him from jail.

2 From Ohio To Testify In Ranch Hand's Trial

By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel StaffJuly 13, 1996

TAVARES Attorneys for Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin will be able to call two witnesses from Ohio to

help the 70-year-old ranch hand defend himself against charges that he murdered the daughter of awell-known rancher and her husband last year.

Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett approved defense attorney Michael Graves' request to compel SherryGray-Marks and Jim Gilchrist to come to Lake County for Chaudoin's trial, set to begin Aug. 5.

Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross didn't object but said he couldn't see how their testimony would makea difference.

Chaudoin was arrested in July 1995 following a massive search for the bodies of Patricia Doyle, 59, andher husband, Jack, 62, on the sprawling Seminole Woods ranch near Sorrento.

Deputy sheriffs finally got a break in the case when John D. Nichols told authorities he helped Chaudoinhide the Doyles' car several miles away in the woods. The Doyles' bodies were found hidden beneath gianthaystacks near Chaudoin's mobile home on the ranch.

Testimony from Gray-Marks may become important, Graves said, because she is a good friend ofShannon Nichols, the wife of John D. Nichols, and the two talked about the Doyles' disappearance.

Gray-Marks became alarmed at what she was hearing and reported the conversations to the GeaugaCounty, Ohio, Sheriff's Department.

Jim Gilchrist, a detective with that sheriff's office, taped two conversations, said Graves, who did not wantto disclose any more details.

The murders shocked the normally quiet, rural community surrounding the 5,600-acre ranch.

The Doyles had recently left their jobs in California to come back to Florida to take care of the ranch forPatricia Doyle's aging parents, Ted and Althea Strawn.

In earlier pretrial sessions, Lockett agreed to shelve, for the time being, rustling charges against Chaudoin.But he will allow testimony about cattle thefts to be heard by the jury.

Rustling may be one motive for the shotgun slaying of the couple. Witnesses have testified in pretrialhearings that the Doyles were checking up on livestock records and reportedly were angry that thelongtime ranch hand was able to buy 68 acres of valuable ranch land for only $10.

About 100 prospective jurors will be brought in on the first day of the trial.


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Lawyer Wants To See Letter On Killing

The Judge Is To Rule Today On Whether To Let The Prosecutor

See Defendant Russell Chaudoin's Letter To His Son.By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel StaffJuly 31, 1996

TAVARES The prosecutor in the murder trial of Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, 70, is demanding to see aletter that Chaudoin has written to his son, Jimmy, about the disappearance and murder of a prominentcouple at the massive Seminole Woods ranch last summer.

''It is the defendant's version of what happened to Pat and Jack Doyle,'' Assistant State Attorney Bill Grosstold Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett on Tuesday.

Lockett, after hearing both sides' arguments, gave the attorneys until noon today to do research on caselaw that might affect his ruling on whether the letter should be shared with prosecutors. He said he wouldrule by this afternoon.

The letter, if it is a confession or is incriminating, would be a blow to the defense at the murder trial,which begins Monday.

Gross argued that he was entitled to the materials by court discovery rules, which give defense andprosecuting attorneys the right to look at each other's evidence before the trial. Gross argued, and defense

attorneys Michael Graves and Michael Hatfield agreed, that the letter did not fall under the attorney-clientprivilege rules, which keeps communications between attorneys and defendants secret.

But the defense attorneys didn't agree that they should have to give up the letter. ''We don't have anyintention to use the letter at the trial,'' Graves said.

Lockett said he would read the 12-page letter to determine if it should be considered as evidence.

Gross said he just learned of the letter during depositions with Jimmy Chaudoin.

Patricia Doyle, daughter of Ted and Althea Strawn, had moved from California with her husband, Jack, to

take care of the 5,600-acre ranch for her ailing parents.

The Doyles disappeared in mid-June, sparking a massive manhunt for the couple. Their bodies were foundin early July in a shallow grave hidden beneath a haystack.

Investigators say the Doyles were upset with Chaudoin, the ranch's longtime caretaker, when they learnedthat the Strawns had sold nearly 70 acres of the prime-land ranch to Chaudoin for $10.

Pat Doyle's diary, seized by investigators after she disappeared, includes a reference to the family'sturning down a purchase offer by the state for $12.5 million.

Ranch Slaying Trial To Start


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Caretaker Is Accused Of Killing 2

By Frank Stanfield and Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffAugust 4, 1996

TAVARES Two well-heeled Californians at first thought of the grizzled caretaker as their teacher inrunning their family's 5,600-acre ranch near Sorrento.

Gradually, the pupils began learning things they didn't want to know: Cattle were disappearing. Land wasbeing deeded away from the ranch owners.

Then the relationship between caretaker Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin and the Californians - grown childrenof the ranch owners - exploded.

On Monday morning, a prosecutor will begin trying to convince a jury that the 71-year-old caretakerblasted Patricia and Jack Doyle point-blank with a shotgun and buried them within sight of his front door.

The bodies of the Doyles were found last July under a hay bale on the Seminole Springs Ranch, regardedas the environmental jewel of Lake County.

Attorneys are expected to pick a jury today, but the trial may last two weeks or more. Chaudoin, who hasa history of violence, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of grand theft ofthe Doyle's truck. He is being held in the Lake County Jail without bond. If convicted, Chaudoin couldface the death penalty.

Potential buyers have offered up to $16 million for Seminole Woods, a spring-filled paradise that standsbetween the urban sprawl of Orlando and the Ocala National Forest, but to owners Ted and AltheaStrawn, the land is priceless.

Increasingly, though, the elderly Volusia County couple couldn't take care of the ranch. That's whendaughter Pat came home with her husband.

For Pat Doyle, 59, returning to Florida after working more than three decades as an oceanographer was ajourney back to her roots. The same went for her husband, Jack, 62, a retired aerospace engineer andattorney, who has deep family ties to Volusia County.

''She and Jack were always the intellectuals,'' said Danny Gainin of DeLand, a longtime friend of thecouple.

Not long after the Doyles began running the ranch, they began to suspect Chaudoin of cattle rustling andswindling her father out of 68 acres of valuable ranch land.

Chaudoin had worked on the Seminole Woods ranch for 22 years running the day-to-day operation.

At first Chaudoin, a lifelong hunter and outdoorsman, shared his ranching knowledge with the Doyles.

''They were anything but ranchers,'' said Chaudoin's 62-year-old brother, Rube. ''When I first met them,they told me how fortunate they were to have Junior out there. They depended totally on Junior to teachthem how to run the machinery.''

The Doyles found a measure of satisfaction in learning how to mend fences, bale hay and raise cattle inthose early days of 1993.

But it was stressful, too, according to Sylvia Krump, a relative, whose account is part of the massive court


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file on the case.

''She had to learn about the trees and the fertilizer and the cows, and her dad was unable to really help her,and he was not willing really to turn it over to her, to let her go with it. He was second-guessing, really,what she was doing, which made it doubly hard.''

Then, within months, Pat Doyle was butting heads with the strong-willed Chaudoin.

''He was wanting more power,'' said a ranch worker who did not want to be identified for fear of losing hisjob. ''He felt like he was sort of entitled to it. It was sort of a power-control deal.''

Chaudoin sometimes got what he wanted without a fight after people realized who he was.

He had shot and killed a man in a well-publicized incident in 1975. He was cleared by a coroner's jury,which ruled that the shooting was in self-defense.

Strawn used the caretaker's reputation to keep people off the ranch, said Chaudoin's brother, Rube. Inreturn, the frugal landowner paid him little but gave him a mobile home and free rein to hunt.

At first, Pat Doyle had no problem with the arrangement.

During the three-week search for the Doyles, a longtime business associate, Robert Gonzales, told sheriff'sdeputies: ''Her feeling toward Junior, up until the last year, was that he was a loyal employee and had putup with her dad for 20 years. Anybody that could put up with him deserved to stay out there - he couldlive out there as long as he wanted to.''

But later entries in her diary began to reflect her growing irritation.

''What have we done to have to put up with Russell?'' she wrote.

The diary also detailed what prosecutors later would say was a motive for murder.

''For some reason we've been getting only 50 percent calves. Should be getting 75 percent,'' she wrote.

She would also jot down references to missing cattle, and finally, to devising accounting systems,including numbered ear tags for livestock.

The couple also suspected that supplies were being stolen from the ranch, according to court records.

But it was a dispute over a land deal that led to the Doyles' desire to kick Chaudoin off the ranch.

The Doyles' daughter, Kristin Brittain, 40, told police that Chaudoin had ''somehow gotten mygrandparents to sign a deed transferring 68 acres to Russell and his wife.''

The property was sold for $10 and ''other valuable considerations,'' according to public records.

The Lake County property appraiser's office valued the land along State Road 44 at $176,878 - for taxpurposes.

Chaudoin said Strawn had promised him the land in return for his years of loyal service.

Paul Huff, a longtime friend of Chaudoin's and a former co-worker at Seminole Woods, said the Doyleshad threatened to take the caretaker to court over the land.

''The daughter Patricia was protesting it,'' Huff said. ''She said he (Strawn) was incompetent.''

Chaudoin, he said, was angry and was waving the deed around at a local bar as he told the story one night.


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Brittain told investigators that her parents were not going to fight it.

''I guess . . . in order to fight it, my mom would have to declare Ted incompetent, and she did not want todo that, so they were not going to do anything. They were not going to let Russell know that they evenknew.''

There was another reason, too: Her parents were afraid, she said.

Ten months before the Doyles were slain, a friend of Chaudoin's witnessed an angry confrontationbetween the caretaker and Patricia Doyle.

''You can live here the rest of your life, but you're not going to get any property!'' she said.

On June 12, 1995 - the day before the couple disappeared - a visibly upset Patricia Doyle met a timbercompany supervisor and his wife at the gate of the ranch. She was worked up about Chaudoin.

''She said she wanted him off her property immediately,'' said Altha Davis, the supervisor's wife.

The next day, Pat and Jack Doyle vanished.

Deputies conducted a massive search but found no trace of the pair until July 5 when a relative ofChaudoin's led them to the Doyles' 1986 red Isuzu Trooper, ditched in the woods of rural Flagler County.

Not long after that, they discovered freshly disturbed soil beneath a giant hay bale - 300 yards fromChaudoin's doorstep.

The bodies of the Doyles were found four feet below the surface. They had been shot point-blank with12-gauge, double-00 buckshot.

Chaudoin, who helped with the search for the missing couple, has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. Now it

will be up to a jury to decide.

But jury members won't have a letter characterized as Chaudoin's side of the story to help them. StateCircuit Judge Jerry Lockett ruled last week that the 12-page letter Chaudoin wrote to his son Jimmyshouldn't be admitted as evidence.

Chaudoin has his allies. His brother, Rube, and other family members believe in his innocence. The landwas already his, Rube Chaudoin said, so the caretaker did not need to fight for it.

''Junior never was a bully,'' Rube Chaudoin said. ''What advantage would Junior have to do this? What

would it have profited him to do this? There's no profit to it.''

Deland Family Ties Led Couple To Ranch

Trial Begins Today For Ranch Caretaker In

Shotgun Slayings

Russell Chaudoin Charged With Blasting His Bosses With AShotgun And Hiding Their Bodies In The Middle Of A Massive,

Beautiful Lake County Ranch.


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TAVARES A jury this week will hear tales of cattle rustling, a scheme to grab valuable land and,finally, murder.

Jury selection begins today to decide the guilt or innocence of a ranch caretaker is charged with murderingPatricia and Jack Doyle and hiding their bodies on the Lake County spread.

The plot sounds more like a movie than real life.

But it is real life - or death in the electric chair - for Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, 71, charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, and theft of their sportvehicle last June.

The couple had come home from a good life in California to help run the 5,600-acre Seminole Woodsranch for Patricia Doyle's elderly parents, Ted and Althea Strawn.

Last summer the skies were filled with the sound of whirling helicopter blades, and the grass below wastrampled by deputy sheriffs searching for the Doyles, who disappeared June 13. Also missing was thecouple's red 1986 Isuzu Trooper.

On July 5, Danny Nichols, 37, whose wife, Shannon, is the niece of Chaudoin's wife, Holly, led authoritiesto the missing vehicle, according to court records.

Within hours, deputies discovered a shallow grave beneath huge mounds of hay near Chaudoin's mobilehome.

According to court records, Nichols said he thought he was going to earn some extra cash by putting up

some hay on the ranch on June 14.

But when he returned that night, he told Shannon: ''Something's weird.''

Chaudoin had asked him to follow him as he drove the Isuzu off the ranch to a remote wilderness inFlagler County. Chaudoin disappeared into the woods, emerging a few minutes later with a license plateand tools.

''Don't ask no questions,'' Chaudoin said. ''What's happened has happened.''

One week later, Nichols said, Chaudoin asked him to again drive him to the Flagler County spot.

Chaudoin disappeared into the woods and came out a few minutes later, this time empty-handed.

''Whenever he set down in the car, he laughed and took a deep breath and that was it,'' Nichols said.

Danny and Shannon Nichols were nervous. When news reports described the missing Isuzu, she said,''This is just too close of a coincidence.''

Frightened, Shannon Nichols confided in a friend in Ohio who passed along the information to police.

Besides Danny Nichols' testimony, prosecutors are expected to detail Chaudoin's involvement in cattlerustling and theft of ranch supplies.

But the biggest falling out came when Patricia Doyle's father sold a valuable 68-acre parcel to Chaudoinfor $10.


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The caretaker said Strawn deeded the property to him in return for years of loyal service.

Chaudoin's friends and family say he had no reason to kill the Doyles. He already had a deed to theproperty.

Others say he feared Patricia Doyle would fight the transaction.

On June, 8, five days before she disappeared, she talked to a fertilizer company representative, Charles

Lucroy.

''She said that usually when an employee worked for one person for a certain amount of years, they couldsee giving them a gold watch, but nothing else,'' Lucroy said. ''She said most people don't get a $500,000to $600,000 piece of property for working for you for 25 years.''

Deland Family Ties Led Couple To Ranch

The Caretaker Taught Patricia And Jack Doyle About The Spread.

Now He's Charged With Murdering Them.

By Frank Stanfield and Mary Murphy of The Sentinel StaffAugust 6, 1996

TAVARES Two well-heeled Californians at first thought the grizzled caretaker would be their teacherin running the DeLand family's 5,600-acre ranch in Lake County.

Gradually, the students began learning things they didn't want to know: Cattle were disappearing. Landwas being deeded away from the ranch owners.

Then the relationship between caretaker Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin and the transplanted Californians - theranch owners' daughter and her husband - exploded.

This week, prosecutors begin trying to convince a jury that the 71-year-old caretaker blasted Patricia andJack Doyle point-blank with a shotgun and buried them within sight of his front door.

The bodies of the Doyles were found in July 1995 under a hay bale on the Seminole Springs Ranch,

regarded as the environmental jewel of Lake County.

Attorneys began picking a jury Monday. The trial may last two weeks or more.

Chaudoin, who has a history of violence, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one countof grand theft of the Doyles' truck. He is being held in the Lake County Jail without bail. If convicted,Chaudoin could face the death penalty.

Potential buyers have offered up to $16 million for Seminole Woods, a spring-filled paradise nearSorrento.

Owners Ted and Althea Strawn consider the land priceless.

Increasingly, though, the elderly Volusia County couple couldn't take care of their ranch. That's whendaughter Pat came home to DeLand with her husband.


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For Pat Doyle, 59, returning to Florida after working more than three decades as an oceanographer was ajourney back to her roots. The same went for her husband, Jack, 62, a retired aerospace engineer andattorney, who has deep family ties to Volusia County.

''She and Jack were always the intellectuals,'' said Danny Gainin of DeLand, a longtime friend of thecouple.

Not long after the Doyles began running the ranch, they began to suspect Chaudoin of cattle rustling and

of swindling Pat Doyle's father out of 68 acres of valuable ranch land.

Chaudoin had worked on the Seminole Woods ranch for 22 years running the day-to-day operation.

At first Chaudoin, a lifelong hunter and outdoorsman, shared his knowledge with the Doyles.

''They were anything but ranchers,'' said Chaudoin's 62-year-old brother, Rube. ''When I first met them,they told me how fortunate they were to have Junior out there. They depended totally on Junior to teachthem how to run the machinery.''

The Doyles found a measure of satisfaction in learning how to mend fences, bale hay and raise cattle in

those early days of 1993.

But it was stressful, too, according to Sylvia Krump, a relative whose account is part of the massive courtfile on the case.

''She had to learn about the trees and the fertilizer and the cows, and her dad was unable to really help her,and he was not willing really to turn it over to her, to let her go with it. He was second-guessing, really,what she was doing, which made it doubly hard.''

Then, within months, Pat Doyle was butting heads with the strong-willed Chaudoin.

At first, Pat Doyle had no problem with the arrangement.

But later, entries in her diary began to reflect her growing irritation.

''What have we done to have to put up with Russell?'' she wrote.

The diary also detailed what prosecutors later would say was a motive for murder.

''For some reason we've been getting only 50 percent calves. Should be getting 75 percent,'' she wrote.

She would also jot down references to missing cattle and, finally, to devising accounting systems,including numbered ear tags for livestock.

The couple also suspected that supplies were being stolen from the ranch, according to court records.

But it was a dispute over a land deal that led to the Doyles' desire to kick Chaudoin off the ranch.

The Doyles' daughter, Kristin Brittain, 40, told police that Chaudoin had ''somehow gotten mygrandparents to sign a deed transferring 68 acres to Russell and his wife.''

The property was sold for $10 and ''other valuable considerations,'' according to public records.

The Lake County property appraiser's office valued the land along State Road 44 at $176,878 - for taxpurposes.

Chaudoin said Strawn had promised him the land in return for his years of loyal service.


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Paul Huff, a longtime friend of Chaudoin's and a former co-worker at Seminole Woods, said the Doyleshad threatened to take the caretaker to court over the land.

Chaudoin, he said, was angry and was waving the deed around at a local bar as he told the story one night.

Brittain told investigators that her parents were not going to fight it.

''I guess . . . in order to fight it, my mom would have to declare Ted incompetent, and she did not want to

do that, so they were not going to do anything. They were not going to let Russell know that they evenknew.''

There was another reason, too: Her parents were afraid, she said.

Ten months before the Doyles were slain, a friend of Chaudoin's witnessed an angry confrontationbetween the caretaker and Pat Doyle.

''You can live here the rest of your life, but you're not going to get any property!'' she said.

On June 12, 1995 - the day before the couple disappeared - a visibly upset Pat Doyle met a timber

company supervisor and his wife at the gate of the ranch. She was worked up about Chaudoin.

''She said she wanted him off her property immediately,'' said Altha Davis, the supervisor's wife.

The next day, Pat and Jack Doyle vanished.

Deputies conducted a massive search but found no trace of the pair until July 5 when a relative ofChaudoin's led them to the Doyles' 1986 red Isuzu Trooper, ditched in the woods of rural Flagler County.

Not long after that, they discovered freshly disturbed soil beneath a giant hay bale - 300 yards fromChaudoin's doorstep.

The bodies of the Doyles were found 4 feet below the surface.

Chaudoin, who helped with the search for the missing couple, has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. Now itis up to a jury to decide.

Conflicting Stories Describe Slayings

The State Told The Jury Of Revenge Factors, And The DefenseSaid Evidence Will Point To A Witness.


TAVARES Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin killed Patricia and Jack Doyle last summer for ''two of the oldestand most basic reasons - revenge and greed,'' Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross told jurors Tuesday.

The California couple's disappearance last summer from the Seminole Woods ranch in Lake County

sparked a massive search that ended when their bodies were found July 6 in a shallow grave beneath haybales.

Chaudoin, 71, caretaker for the ranch, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shotgun


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slayings. He also is charged with stealing the couple's car.

In his opening statement to the jury, Gross said the key to the slayings is 68 acres of valuable land thatPatricia Doyle's elderly parents, Ted and Althea Strawn, signed over to Chaudoin.

Not so, retorted defense lawyer Michael Hatfield in his opening remarks. The land dispute has beengreatly exaggerated, he said.

Chaudoin worked hard on the 5,600-acre ranch, mostly by himself, Hatfield said. Sometimes Chaudointhreatened to quit, but Strawn promised him a piece of land ''on a handshake'' if he would stay on the job,Hatfield said.

Strawn signed a warranty deed over to Chaudoin for the 68-acre outparcel on State Road 44 for $10 ''andother valuable consideration.''

''That 'valuable consideration' was 20 years of hard work on that ranch,'' Hatfield said.

But the Strawns, who owned 65 percent of the ranch, had put their land in a revocable trust. Such salesrequire the signatures of all family members, including the Doyles, according to reports in court records.

Hatfield says, however, that there is no question, legally, that Chaudoin owned the land.

Gross said both the Doyles and Chaudoin had contacted lawyers to fight the land deal.

Hatfield also attacked the credibility of the prosecution's key witness Tuesday.

Court records show that Danny Nichols told investigators he helped Chaudoin hide the Doyles' 1986 IsuzuTrooper on June 14, the day after the couple disappeared.

Nichols said he thought he was going to the ranch to put up hay. He said he thought hiding the vehicle was

''weird'' but suspected the car belonged to poachers.

He said he had never met the Doyles, didn't know they were missing and didn't know their vehicle.

Until the weekend of July 4, that is, when TV news reports described the Doyles' Trooper. That is whenNichols said he realized it was probably their car he had helped hide.

Hatfield told jurors - selected earlier Tuesday - that they would would hear a different story.

''I believe the evidence will show Danny Nichols killed the Doyles, very likely assisted by his wife,Shannon,'' Hatfield said.

The investigation was botched, he said. Investigators did not search Nichols' 1982 Ford pickup or hishouse for evidence, he said.

Danny Nichols told investigators he thought he was going to the ranch to help move hay. Instead, he wasordered to follow Chaudoin in the Trooper to a remote area in Flagler County. Chaudoin drove into thewoods and then emerged a few minutes later with a license plate and tools in his hands.

''Don't ask no questions,'' Nichols quoted Chaudoin as saying. ''What's happened has happened.''

He said Chaudoin had him drive him back to the spot a week later.

Shannon Nichols confided in her friend, Sherry Marks, in Ohio.

''I was scared for her,'' Marks told the Sentinel. So scared, she said, that she contacted the police in Ohio.


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On July 5 last year, Lake County deputy sheriffs, armed with the information Marks had provided Ohioauthorities, had Nichols drive them to the Doyles' Isuzu.

The next day, investigators unearthed the couple's bodies, riddled with double-00 buckshot from a12-gauge shotgun.

Witness's Tale Under Fire

Russell Chaudoin's Lawyers Are Trying To Cast Doubt On The

State's Key Witness In The Double-slaying Trial.


TAVARES Defense attorneys for Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin are tearing into the credibility of thestate's key witness in the double-murder of a wealthy ranch couple - even before the witness takes thestand.

Jurors Wednesday heard from the investigators and crime scene technicians who unearthed the buckshot-riddled bodies of Patricia Doyle, 59, and her husband, Jack, 62, in a shallow grave hidden beneath haybales in July 1995 at Seminole Woods ranch.

After searching the 5,600-acre ranch for days with hundreds of deputy sheriffs, things started happeningfast on July 5, 1995, when investigators said a ''relieved'' Danny Nichols led them to the Doyles' 1986

Isuzu Trooper, investigators testified.

Nichols, whose wife is related to Chaudoin's wife, Holly, said he thought he was going to the ranch onJune 14, 1995, to put up hay. Instead, Nichols was asked to follow Chaudoin, 71, in the Isuzu to a remotewilderness area near Bunnell in Flagler County, he said.

Technicians Wednesday explained how they searched for clues, including hair and fibers in the Isuzu.

''You didn't want to leave a stone unturned?'' defense attorney Michael Graves asked crime technicianJake Caudill, who replied that he did not.

But Caudill and others conceded that that they did not search Nichols' 1982 Ford sedan or his house fortraces of blood, the never-found murder weapon or the license plate that was removed from the Isuzu.

Nor did investigators check to see whether Nichols had an arrest record, they testified.

When Nichols, 38, was 19 years old, he was convicted of aggravated robbery in a Texas savings and loanrobbery in which he was the driver. He got 10 years probation for turning state's evidence against others,according to court records.

''I guess you can't find these things if you don't look,'' Graves said as he ended his cross-examination ofCaudill.

Others who took the stand Wednesday included the Doyles' daughter, Kristin Brittain, 40, who looked atChaudoin from across the courtroom. Brittain shook her head and fought back tears as she identified hermother's diary.


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The Doyles, after enjoying successful professional careers in California, returned to Florida in March 1994to the run the massive Lake County ranch for her aging parents, Ted and Althea Strawn, who live innearby DeLeon Springs.

The Doyles' relationship with Chaudoin, who had been ranch caretaker for more than 20 years, wasunraveling rapidly by late May last year, according to painting contractor and longtime Doyle familyacquaintance Arthur M. Tollman.

Tollman said he witnessed Patricia Doyle telling Chaudoin there would be no more uninvited swimmers inthe ranch's springs, including him.

Tollman said Chaudoin started to reply, ''Well, your daddy said . . .'' but she snapped, ''Daddy doesn't runthis place anymore.''

Prosecutors cite the deteriorating relationship and a controversial land transaction between the Strawnsand Chaudoin as motive for Chaudoin to ambush the Doyles sometime in mid-June.

Also on the third day of the trial, an irritated Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett rebuffed State Attorney Brad

King's request for defense attorneys to turn over a letter that Chaudoin wrote to his son, Jimmy. The letterdetails Chaudoin's version of the disappearance and slaying of the Doyles.

Under state law, attorneys from both sides must share evidence before a trial begins in a process known as''discovery.'' The one exception, Lockett ruled last week, were statements made by a defendant.

Wednesday, prosecutors again asked for the letter, even suggesting a search warrant be issued for thecourt.

''There's not going to be a search warrant until a higher court says I have to,'' Lockett said.

Lockett chided the prosecutor for continuing to protest the issue.

Doyles' Son Testifies About Land Dispute

The Slain Couple Were Furious At Russell Chaudoin's Claim To A

Slice Of The Family Ranch, Their Son Testified.


TAVARES Multimillion-dollar real-estate offers. Deeds and trusts. Technical, even arcane subjects forjurors - except when they are described as motives for murder.

Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, 71, has claimed a piece of the rich 5,600-acre Seminole Woods ranch, wherehe labored for more than 20 years as ranch caretaker.

He claimed he had been promised the land by ranch owner Ted Strawn, witnesses said.

But when Strawn's daughter Patricia Doyle and her husband, Jack, heard about Chaudoin's claim to 68acres, they vowed he would never get his hands on the property, said Steven Craig Doyle, their son.


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A little over a year later, in June 1995, the Doyles were dead - hidden in a shallow grave beneath a haybale.

Steven Doyle set the stage for jurors Thursday in Chaudoin's murder trial, quoting his mother in what hesaid was an angry exchange in October 1993.

''Ted has promised a lot of things to a lot of people,'' Patricia Doyle said, then added that her father wouldnever intend so valuable a piece of property to be passed on.

The entire ranch, dubbed ''the jewel of Lake County,'' has been the subject of $12 million real-estateoffers. The Doyles planned to hold on to the 68-acre out parcel on State Road 44 until the Strawns diedand they had to sell the property to pay inheritance taxes.

Chaudoin said he would fight them in court, if he had to, said Steven Doyle.

''Save your money,'' said Jack Doyle, who was becoming more and more angry over the exchange.

The elder Doyle, a California engineer and lawyer, said it would take other family members' signatures forthe deal to be legal. He told Chaudoin it would never happen, his son testified.

But by December 1993, Chaudoin would get his deed anyway - a warranty deed signed by Ted Strawnand his wife, Althea.

Not legal, testified Frank Royce, Lake County's deputy property appraiser. He would not give ownershipto Chaudoin on the county's record books after meeting with Chaudoin in 1994.

Not legal, testified Strawn's attorney, Alex Ford of DeLand.

Chaudoin's defense attorney, Michael Hatfield, produced a 1988 document that he said was a power ofattorney giving Strawn the right to transfer title.

After looking at the 1988 document, Ford said it was a ''power of authority'' - giving Strawn certain rights,dating back 40 years or more when Strawn shared the land with his brothers - but not power of attorney totransfer title.

The right to transfer property belonged to a trust, Ford said. Strawn could have revoked the trust, but onlyafter giving 30 days written notice to the trustee - Patricia Doyle, he said.

Hatfield tried again, getting Ford to concede that not until this year has Chaudoin's claim to the 68 acresbeen contested in a lawsuit.

''They (Patricia and Jack Doyle) were afraid to (fight it),'' Ford said.

The Doyles were concerned for the Strawns' safety if they fought Chaudoin's attempt to get the land, Fordsaid.

In testimony with the jury out of the courtroom, Steven Doyle said his mother was angry with his fatherfor losing his temper with Chaudoin.

''Never confront Russell,'' she said. ''You don't know what he's going to do.''

Victims' Son Recounts Bizarre Phone Call From


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Slaying Suspect

Steven Doyle Received The Rambling Call Two Days Before His

Parents Were Found In A Makeshift Grave.


TAVARES Steven Craig Doyle was reeling with the news that his parents, Patricia and Jack Doyle,were missing but he quickly gathered his thoughts - and a pencil and paper - when his family's ranchcaretaker called on July 4, 1995, with a rambling, out-of-character tale about his parents.

Jurors, along with Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin, listened carefully to the tale Friday. Caretaker Chaudoin, 71,has been charged with murder and grand theft auto in the elder Doyles' shotgun slayings.

According to Steven Doyle:

Chaudoin told him that he had last seen the senior Doyles near the barn, and that they were arguing. Hesaid Patricia Doyle was ''standing, shaking her fists; she was very mad.''

''Jack won't talk to me!'' Chaudoin quoted Patricia Doyle as saying.

''I've got to get away from Ted and Althea,'' she supposedly told Chaudoin, referring to her parents, ranchowners Ted and Althea Strawn of DeLeon Springs.

''They were discussing something very heavy,'' Chaudoin told Steven Doyle.

Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross asked Doyle if his parents used strong language.

''No.''

Was his mother in the habit of confiding in Chaudoin?

''No.''

Had he ever seen his mother that angry?

''I've never seen her that angry,'' he said.

Much of Chaudoin's commentary was rambling and impossible to follow, Doyle said, including somethingabout Patricia Doyle asking him to take her ''to higher ground.''

Chaudoin also said that ''he was sorry,'' and that he had tried to help Doyle's parents, but they increasinglydid not want his help.

Doyle said Chaudoin ''panicked'' when he brought up a different subject: a bitter land dispute betweenDoyle's parents and the caretaker over 68 acres deeded to Chaudoin by Doyle's grandparents.

Chaudoin has maintained that he was promised the valuable parcel of land by the Strawns for 20-plus

years of hard work on the ranch.

Patricia and Jack Doyle said the deed, signed by the Strawns, was not legal. Transfer of property had to beapproved by other family members, too. It would never happen, they vowed.


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''Chaudoin said he would get the property one way or the other,'' ranch fertilizer salesman Charles Lucroytestified Friday.

Steven Doyle, who is his grandparents' guardian, had gone to their home to help search for his parents.

The day after Doyle's bizarre conversation with Chaudoin, Danny Nichols led investigators to the Doyles'missing red 1986 Isuzu Trooper. Nichols' wife, Shannon, is related to Chaudoin's wife, Holly.

Chaudoin's Wife: Nichols Told Lies On Witness Stand

The Witness Said He Had Never Seen The Slain Couple - But Holly

Chaudoin Recalled Pointing Them Out At A Party.


TAVARES The wife of ranch caretaker Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin on Tuesday contradicted thetestimony of the state's star witness.

Holly Chaudoin testified that Danny Nichols - who said under oath Monday that he had never seenmurder victims Jack and Patricia Doyle or their distinctive sport vehicle before they were killed - had infact been within 20 feet of the couple before they disappeared.

On July 5, 1995, Nichols told investigators that Russell Chaudoin, 71, tricked him into helping hide thecouple's vehicle June 14, 1995.

Three weeks later, the bodies of the Doyles were found beneath a hay bale on the Seminole Woods ranchafter a massive search by Lake and Volusia County deputy sheriffs.

Russell Chaudoin wept when his wife entered the courtroom, where he is on trial on two first-degreemurder charges and a charge of grand theft auto.

Holly Chaudoin, who was trembling, wearing hospital identification bracelets and looking frail, took thestand to try to discredit Nichols, 38. She also aimed to offset the damning testimony of Nichols' wife,Shannon, who is her niece.

Danny Nichols led authorities to the Doyles' 1986 Isuzu Trooper on July 5, 1995 - three weeks after theDoyles disappeared. He said he had never laid eyes on the Doyles or their vehicle when Russell Chaudoinasked him to follow him to a remote spot in Flagler County where they hid the couple's Trooper.

Danny Nichols said he thought he was going to bale hay on the Seminole Woods ranch where RussellChaudoin was caretaker.

But Holly Chaudoin said she had pointed out the daughter of ranch owners Ted and Althea Strawn andher Isuzu at a party on the ranch a few weeks before the Doyles disappeared on June 13, 1995.

''I said, 'There's Mr. and Mrs. Strawn's daughter and son-in-law,' '' Holly Chaudoin said.

Also testifying about Danny Nichols' presence at the party were Russell Chaudoin's friends George Bakerand Roland ''Hap'' Goble.

When his wife testified, Russell Chaudoin tried to blink back tears and then buried his head in his hands.


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Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross, speaking in soft tones, asked her about the stress of seeing herhusband arrested on murder charges.

''You're seeking professional help now?'' he asked.

''I understand you believe you can foretell the future?''

And he got her to talk about seeing an attorney about book and movie rights to the story of the slayings.

Holly Chaudoin also testified that Shannon Nichols made a chilling remark months before the couple wereblasted at point-blank range with 12-gauge shotgun pellets.

Russell Chaudoin was drinking beer one night and grumbling about the Doyles' efforts to block thetransfer of 68 acres of valuable ranch land to him and his wife.

''She (Shannon) said she'd kill 'em,'' Holly Chaudoin said.

Shannon Nichols also asked Russell Chaudoin about the Doyles' schedule and whether they carried large

amounts of cash, Holly Chaudoin testified.

One defense witness Tuesday testified about Russell Chaudoin's relationship to Patricia Doyle's father,Ted Strawn, who owns the 5,600-acre ranch, saying Chaudoin was more than a caretaker.

''It was a partnership,'' said Robert Taft of Orlando, a friend of the Strawns.

Taft, who once had an option to buy the ranch, said Russell Chaudoin was to be given the 68 acres in casesomething happened to Ted Strawn.

Russell Chaudoin was to be allowed to live on the ranch as long as he lived, provided he carried out his

work routine, Taft said.

''But if he (Strawn) sold the property, he (Chaudoin) was to get $500,000 for his services in bonus, or 5percent of whatever the ranch sold for,'' Taft said.

Even at 5 percent, it could come to a hefty sum. One offer for the ranch, in 1985, was for $24 million,Taft said.

Jurors also heard from a real estate developer, Sid Roche, who testified that Strawn had promised the68-acre tract to Russell Chaudoin.

Monday, a prosecution witness said Russell Chaudoin felt threatened by the Doyles, fearing he was goingto lose his home on the ranch and the security of the 68-acre tract, valued on Lake County tax rolls atmore than $176,000.

Russell Chaudoin might take the stand today, defense attorneys said.

State Attorney Brad King said he will seek the death penalty if Russell Chaudoin is convicted.

Jury Considers Evidence Minus Chaudoin

Testimony



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August 15, 1996

TAVARES Did Russell ''Junior'' Chaudoin kill his ranch bosses with two blasts of a shotgun and hidetheir bodies beneath a hay bale? Or is the former, longtime caretaker of the sprawling Seminole Woodsranch innocent?

Jurors in Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett's courtroom are expected to answer the question today. Deliberationsare set to begin this morning. But jurors will do so without hearing testimony from the one man who might

know what happened to Patricia and Jack Doyle on June 13, 1995.

Chaudoin, 71, had to make one of the biggest decisions in his life Wednesday, when he decided not facetough cross-examination if he took the stand to defend himself against two first-degree murder chargesand a charge of stealing the Doyles' red 1986 Isuzu Trooper.

''The decision was being made as late as this morning,'' defense attorney Michael Graves said Wednesday.

''It was definitely my client's decision.''

Most of the day was devoted to giving the lawyers a chance to make their final arguments.

For defense lawyer Michael Hatfield, it boiled down to this: Chaudoin didn't do it and the prosecution'schief witness Danny Nichols was lying.

Nichols led police to the Isuzu on July 6, 1995. It was hidden in woods near Bunnell. Nichols' wife,Shannon, is the niece of Chaudoin's wife, Holly.

Nichols said he followed Chaudoin, who was driving a red sport vehicle on June 14. After stashing thevehicle in the woods, Nichols said, Chaudoin emerged from the brush carrying a license plate and a fewtools.

About a week later, Chaudoin had Nichols take him out to the site again, Nichols said. Later, theNicholses said they would come to realize that the red vehicle was the Doyles' Isuzu.

No fingerprints were found on the Isuzu, no hairs or fibers and no blood, Hatfield said. Nor did authoritiesfind the murder weapon, or a pair of boots that Chaudoin supposedly taped up to hide his sole tread,Hatfield said. But authorities didn't check Nichols' home or his car, Hatfield said.

Hatfield also said that crime scene technicians could only find six of 24 shotgun pellets that were fired atthe Doyles, and suggested that the couple had been killed elsewhere. Two of the pellets didn't even havethe same chemical composition as the others, he said.

Prosecutors fought back in their closing statements.

''Why would Danny and Shannon Nichols want to kill two total strangers?'' said Assistant State AttorneyBill Gross.

He said the Doyles were killed in the hay lot of the 5,600-acre ranch. Near their bodies were a glassescase, a straw hat and two spent shotgun shells. One of those shells, found in the grave, was too corrodedto evaluate, but one had tool markings identical to an unfired shell found in Chaudoin's home, a crime labexpert said.

And then, there was a deed for 68 acres of valuable land that Chaudoin said was promised him by PatriciaDoyle's father, longtime ranch owner Ted Strawn.

The Doyles were angry over the transaction, and their son, Steven Craig Doyle, witnessed an angry


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exchange between his parents and Chaudoin over the property in October 1993.

''At that point, Pat and Jack Doyle set themselves on a collision course with R

two shotgun blasts later it weren't no joke

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