Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of death. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC looks into Southern Illinois University student Pravin Varughese‘s death in 2014. The upcoming episode will also look into the case against Varughese’s accused killer, Gaege Bethune, who was released before his sentencing. The episode “At the Edge of Town” will air on the network this Sunday, April 28, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
The synopsis reads, “When a college student is found dead after a party, his mother is determined to try to find out what happened. Dennis Murphy reports on the unexpected twist that no one saw coming.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, college student Pravin Varughese, 19, attended a party on February 12, 2014. The night ended tragically after he got into a fight with Gaege Bethune, also 19 at the time. Bethune was driving Varughese home that night. However, the latter went missing, and his body was found five days later. A coroner claimed he died of accidental hypothermia, but a second autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Bethune went to trial in 2018 on first-degree murder charges, which resulted in a conviction. However, a judge tossed out the guilty verdict based on a “syntax problem” and ordered a fresh trial. The family of Pravin Varughese’s accused killer called the ruling a “blessing.” Meanwhile, special prosecutor David Robinson said the judge’s decision “blindsided” him. The victim’s mother, Lovely, said they hope to “come back” and added, “We will be back.”
Why did Pravin Varughese’s accused killer, Gaege Bethune, attack him?
During Pravin Varughese’s accused killer Gaege Bethune’s trial, prosecutors alleged he attacked the former for money. They claimed that the drunk teenagers fought after Bethune tried to rob the victim. The defendant was driving Varughese home that night, and while they drove around Carbondale, the fight occurred.
According to CBS News, CBS Chicago stated that Varughese tweeted about the said fight at 11:17 p.m. on the night he went missing. The tweet said, “Bloody knuckles… guess I was in a fight #backdown.” Prosecutors stated that Bethune’s assault wounded the 19-year-old severely. Distractify said the victim’s mother, Lovely Varughese, told the outlet that Bethune even admitted to hitting him.
NDTV World further reported that Gaege Bethune punched Pravin Varughese in the head and the face several times. The latter then left the accused’s car and fled into the woods, where he died. The temperatures had dipped that night, and the victim was only wearing jeans and a shirt. The second autopsy, conducted independently, revealed that he died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Per the Chicago Tribune, Bethune took the stand in his trial and admitted to fighting with Varughese. The defendant alleged that the latter then fled into the woods, claiming it was freezing cold that night. Defense attorney Michael Wepsiec further described Varughese as “superficial,” maintaining that the victim did not die because of the fight.
On June 14, 2018, the jury found Pravin Varughese’s accused killer, Gaege Bethune, guilty of first-degree murder. However, Judge Mark Clarke, who presided over the trial, vacated Bethune’s conviction in September of that year. The judge reportedly found a “syntax problem.”
In the Distractify interview, Lovely Varughese recalled the day trial Judge Mark Clarke set her son’s accused killer free. She said, “He [Judge Clarke] started to say that the prosecution put out a perfect trial.” The judge also mentioned that “there was no misconduct, no prosecutorial errors, and there was enough evidence for the jury to find Gaege Bethune guilty, from his own admission.”
Lovely added, “But there was a syntax error.” Judge Clarke reportedly “wasn’t sure” if the said error had “confused” the jurors. The problem was that a comma was out of place. So, the judge vacated “the jury verdict” and ordered “a new trial” before letting the defendant “go free.”
The case against Pravin Varughese‘s accused killer, Gaege Bethune, will air on Dateline NBC’s episode this Sunday, April 28, 2024.
