Kriti Mehrotra
When Southern Illinois University sophomore Pravin Varughese was found dead in a secluded wooded area on February 18, 2014, it honestly left the entire nation shaken to its very core. That’s because, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: At the Edge of Town,’ it was initially believed he died of accidental hypothermia, but an independent autopsy later ordered by his family indicated possible homicide from significant blunt force trauma to the head. It’s thus no surprise that once it came to light, this 19-year-old had had an altercation with fellow student Gaege Bethune on the night he went missing, the latter was arrested for murder.
Who is Gaege Bethune?
Although not much regarding Gaege or his early years is public knowledge as of writing, we do know he was leading a good, happy life back in 2014 as a Southern Illinois University student. However, everything turned upside down on the evening of February 13 as he agreed to give Pravin Varughese (then a stranger) a ride home following a college party on West College Street. After all, the latter never made it home – by all accounts, he’d gotten into the former’s black pickup truck of his own free will, just to be discovered bruised and frostbitten to death 5 days later.
According to Gaege’s own narrative, he saw Parvin’s picture on the local news after his remains were recovered and quickly realized it was the same lanky man he’d given a ride to mere days prior. “I put two and two together real quick, and I just couldn’t [stay silent],” he once said. “I couldn’t look at the screen. Made me sick to my stomach. T hat the boy was… the boy didn’t show up home. “He thus contacted the authorities – yet, it’s imperative to note many records claim it was actually a cousin of his who first approached officials; either way, they were informed of this development.
Hence came Gaege’s interrogation at the Carbondale Police Department, wherein he admitted he’d given a “clearly drunk” Pravin a ride on the fateful evening because that’s just who he was. “I’m a nice guy,” he told the leading detective. “I help just about anybody I see. If I see an old woman standing on the side of the road with a bag full of groceries, I’m gonna help her out.” But then he claimed his brown hitchhiker suddenly became very aggressive after a few miles, resulting in a scuffle that only ended when he pulled over and asked his passenger to get lost.
“The fight maybe lasted thirty seconds. I wouldn’t even call it a fight…” Gaege expressed before conceding he was afraid of Indian-American Pravin because of the color of his skin. “You know, I was scared for my life. I didn’t know what he was capable of. Definitely wasn’t my race, and I ain’t used to being around that type of population.” So, when a state trooper pulled up behind his truck along the side of Highway 13 in Carbondale mere minutes later, since his emergency lights were on, he lied to him as he was also afraid of being caught for driving under the influence.
Gaege said he’d told the trooper he’d picked up a black male walking by the highway, only for him to soon get out of his vehicle and run into the woods following a rather random argument. The then 19-year-old never once denied this particular lie, yet his core story changed when he was called in for another round of questioning merely two days later, indicating added falsehood. This time, he asserted that Pravin had offered to get him some cocaine in exchange for a ride, but his refusal didn’t seem to matter since the hitchhiker was solely focused on securing the drugs.
Per Gaege’s second statement, Pravin was constantly speaking to someone on his phone about getting cocaine and wouldn’t give him any directions until he exclaimed he’d leave him stranded. That’s when he got hit over the head, he said, leading him to pull over and try to get the enraged brown man out of his vehicle for good. “He jumped out. Swung at me aggressively. I defended myself. I missed the punch, and I hit him. That’s when he kind of fell into me dead weight and grabbed me.” They then continued this fight until Pravin took off when the state trooper arrived.
Gaege Bethune is a Free Man At the Moment
In the end, owing to his differing statements, Pravin’s second autopsy, as well as many additional lines of inquiries, Gaege was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder around mid-July 2017. He then stood trial for the same upon pleading not guilty, which is when prosecutors declared this duo had actually left the college party together only in search of cocaine before arguing over money. They believe this resulted in the former going into such a fit of rage he landed several punches to the latter’s head plus face until he had no choice but to run into the woods, where he later died.
On the flip side, Gaege’s defense team contended the bruises on Pravin’s body were all superficial, so his death had to be from hypothermia and hypothermia alone, meaning he’d had no hand in it. Nevertheless, following extensive testimonies as well as deliberations, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with an added aspect of aggravated battery on June 14, 2018. He thus faced 20 to 60 years behind bars, only for the presiding judge to vacate this entire verdict owing to syntax errors during what was supposed to be his sentencing hearing in September.
The judge stated “that the prosecution put out a perfect trial,” Pravin’s mother recently recalled in a candid interview with Distractify. “There was no misconduct, no prosecutorial errors, and there was enough evidence for the jury to find Gaege Bethune guilty, from his own admission. But there was a syntax error and [the judge] wasn’t sure if the jury got confused … So, [he declared], ‘I’m vacating the jury verdict and ordering a new trial.” In other words, Gaege walked out of that courtroom a free man, and he seemingly prefers to lead a quiet life well away from the limelight these days. This is particularly because the DA’s Office has since indicated they do plan on pursuing charges against him once again.
Read More: Where is Pravin Varughese’s Mom Now?
