Michael Jacques, Vermont Man Who Kidnapped And Killed Niece, Avoids Death Penalty

Michael Jacques, a Vermont man who police say kidnapped and killed his niece in 2008, has accepted a deal and plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.

Instead of having a trial with the death penalty as a sentencing option, Jacques, 47, will go to prison for the rest of his life without the chance of parole according to USA TODAY. He plead guilty to Judge William K. Sessions III on Tuesday to kidnapping resulting in death and four child pornography charges at the U.S. District Court in Burlington.

Twelve-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree, Vt. went missing on June 25, 2008. Just a month later, her body was found buried near Jacques' home in Randolph. According to authorities, Jacques who drugged, raped, and killed the 12-year-old girl and has a long list of sexual assaults against other girls as well.

Brooke's parents, Jim Bennett and Cassandra Adams, are not satisfied with the plea deal after dealing with the case for the past five years.

"I told them that I didn't know that was the way I wanted it to go, but I kind of felt it was out of my hands anyways," Jim Bennett told the Burlington Free Press. "It is what it is. As long as he doesn't have an opportunity to appeal... it is what it is."

Bennett and Adams briefly dated which resulted in their daugther's birth in 1995.

U.S. Attorney Tristam Coffin notified the police that Jacques had accepted a plea deal on Aug. 9. According to Jim Bennett, Coffin mentioned the death penalty might not happen in order to avoid putting a key witness, a minor known in court documents as J-1, on the stand to testify against Jacques.

"A lot of it was around J-1," he said. "I don't like how they've made all this about J-1. I mean, there was this big delay because she was a senior in high school. Well, Brooke didn't get that senior year."

The court papers said J-1 was a relative of Jacques, who sexually assaulted her over a five-year period. The papers also stated Jacques forced her to lure Brooke to his home that day. When Coffin was asked about the trial delay and plea deal, he denied that J-1 had anything to do with changes made in the case and that delays are common in complicated cases.