Tom Shunick Would “Be Surprised” If Brandon Lavergne Pleads Guilty

After two months, Mickey Shunick has still not been found since she disappeared on May 19th. And there is still no trace of her.

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against Mickey's accused killer, Brandon Scott Lavergne, but would they strike a deal if he could lead them to Mickey? Her father, Tom Shunick, believes Lavergne will get the ultimate sentence.

He's liable to get the death penalty if they try the other case first. If they do, then why wouldn't he come clean, providing he actually did it and has the body somewhere.

"The other case" involves the death of Lisa Pate, for which Lavergne is also charged with first-degree murder.  Shunick says that indictment was only a small surprise.

I had been told that they thought he might have been involved in something back in '98 or '99 or something. That's when they were first arresting him.

Our news partners at KATC TV-3 say Pate went missing in June 1999. Her body was discovered three months later under three large boards in a field northwest of Church Point in Acadia Parish. Anthropologists at LSU were able to positively identify her through dental records. Shunick says it's possible that Lavergne was behind several disappearances in Acadiana over the past several years "but who knows...if there are other missing people it's possible he could be involved in something else. I guess that will all come out later." He believes Lavergne will drag this legal process out.

I don't think he's gonna say anything. It seems like he's the type of guy that is going to try to ride this thing as far as he can...If he pleads guilty I'll be surprised but hopefully I'm wrong on that.

But Shunick is holding out hope that the pressure of the two murder charges against Lavergne will be enough to make him "come clean" if he is the one responsible for Mickey's death. He says based on what he's been told---it'll be hard for Lavergne to avoid it.

I don't know what else they found in his house. Rumors are they found all kinds of drivers licenses and stuff in there. As far as the actual evidence, I'm just guessing like everybody else. They haven't told me anything. But, apparently, it's pretty strong.