Slain deputy remembered 27 years later for ‘sacrifice’

Members of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, along with local law enforcement and public safety officials, gathered on Whipples Crossing Road on Sunday to remember the sacrifice made by sheriff’s deputy Kyle Dinkheller on Jan. 12, 1998. 

“This is the 27th year,” said sheriff’s Capt. Sid Harrison. “We’ve been coming out here every year on this day since it happened. This is a day that every first responder should know.” 

It is a day that many in law enforcement have never forgotten. 

“It has been 27 years, but it seems like it just happened yesterday,” said Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum, who worked with the LCSO in 1998. “My heart goes out to Kirk (Dinkheller’s father) and family.” 

  On Sunday, vehicles passed by on Interstate 16. They were more than likely unaware of the group of people converged at Dinkheller’s memorial on Whipples Crossing Road. On Jan. 12, 1998,  Deputy Dinkheller’s radar detected a pickup truck traveling at 98 mph on I-16. He activated his lights and followed the truck as it made its way off the interstate onto Ga. 338 before making a right on to Whipples Crossing Road. Dinkheller pulled up behind the truck and meet the driver – Andrew Brannan, a Vietnam Veteran. What Brannan did not know was that everything was being recorded on a video camera in Dinkheller’s car, beginning from the time his vehicle pulled up behind him around 5:34 p.m. 

What the camera caught would be shown to a jury in Brunswick two years later. That video would also go on to be shown in law enforcement training classes around the world. 

“Kyle said he would be famous,” Mitchum said. “Well, he’s famous. His sacrifice (and the video) have helped save many lives in law enforcement.” 

Brannan shot Dinkheller 10 times. Dinkheller was able to wound Brannan once in the stomach. After shooting the deputy, Brannan returned to his truck with his rifle and drove away. Brannan was arrested a day later not far from the scene. Dinkheller left behind a family which included his wife, a 2-year-old daughter and a future son.

The jury convicted Brannan of murder, and two days later sentenced him to die in the electric chair, which was later changed to lethal injection. Ten years ago, on Jan. 13, 2015, Brannan received his punishment for what he did to Dinkheller on Whipples Crossing Road.

With misty rain falling from the outside of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Brannan was brought into the execution room. On the other side of the window were witnesses there to watch the final moments of his life. 

Two nurses entered the room pushing a cart. They felt for veins in both arms and eventually hooked to lines that came from the wall. These lines would eventually pump in the pentobarbital which would end the man’s life. Law enforcement officers and Dinkheller’s family sat down in the first two pews. Prison Warden Bruce Chatman read the execution order for Brannan. He then asked if he had any final words.

Looking through the window, Brannan’s first words were of his condolences to the Dinkheller family, especially the deputy’s wife and children. He then called the shooting “unfortunate.” He would go on to describe the previous years in prison as “slow torture.”

Brannan allowed the minister to say a prayer. “Amen” was Brannan’s final word he would ever say. He closed his eyes and never opened them again. Two doctors came into the room. They checked Brannan’s eyes. They felt for a pulse and listened for a heartbeat. Feeling or hearing none, the doctors looked at the warden. Stepping to the middle of the room, while looking up to his left at a clock, Chatman told the witnesses that Brannan died at 8:33 p.m. Jan. 13, 2015. It was 17 years to the day that Brannan was taken into custody for Dinkheller’s death.

Out on Whipples Crossing Road, the site of the shooting has become a memorial for Dinkheller with a tombstone, angel, American flags, a wreath and lights.

“I remember coming out here that day,” said Laurens County Sheriff Larry Dean, who worked for another agency at the time. “It’s great to know that we have good support for law enforcement here. I’m proud to live in a place like Laurens County.” 

Kirk Dinkheller returned also. He made a few comments to those, happy to see them every year. 

“On behalf of my family, thank you,” Kirk said. “Kyle is always here.” 

On Sunday, former sheriff’s deputy Gerald Frazier shared some words before praying.

“We thank you for all of those in public service who leave their homes every day to serve their community,” Frazier said. “As we come here in remembrance, use us in a way we may never think about.”

The hard-to-watch video of Dinkheller’s sacrifice is one that keeps being played to help others learn how to stay safe when working their jobs as law enforcement officers. 

“What was bad has turned around and helped all kinds of officers learn from it and helped even the seasoned officers become better,” Kirk said. “In 27 years, you can’t count the number of officers (Dinkheller’s video) has saved.”