BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled today that the State will be able to pursue a harsher sentence for a man convicted of killing a college student in 1992. He was 17 at the time of the crime. According to the court’s 6-1 ruling, the First Circuit Court of Appeal was in error to dismiss the State’s appeal to resentence Dale Craig to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
According to the ruling, the Supreme Court was to decide “whether the court of appeal erred in
dismissing the State’s appeal of the trial court’s ruling on the retroactive parole eligibility determination and resentencing of the defendant.”
“Finding the State has a right to appeal in this limited context, we reverse the court of appeal’s dismissal
and remand the matter to it for consideration on the merits,” wrote Justice Piper Griffin in the court’s opinion.
The State will now be able to make its case to the First Circuit that Craig, convicted of murdering 18-year-old Kipp E. Gullet, should never receive the opportunity for parole.
Earlier this year, the State filed a motion to reinstate the death sentence for Craig, who was considered a juvenile at the time he killed an LSU freshman student.
Because of the current U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v Simmons, however, that sentence cannot be reinstated. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced in September that she will seek to overturn Roper v Simmons at the U.S. Supreme Court by moving to reinstate the death sentence for Craig.
On Sept. 22, the defense filed a motion to cancel the October contradictory hearing and quash the State’s motion to reinstate the death penalty.
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v. Simmons is egregiously wrong,” stated Murrill. “It prohibits states like Louisiana from executing criminals like Dale Craig – who carjacked, kidnapped, terrorized, pistol-whipped and then shot to death Kip Earl Gullett, an unsuspecting LSU freshman – just because he was a week away from his 18th birthday when he committed this heinous crime. There is no basis in law or logic for that absurd result.”
After Friday’s Louisiana Supreme Court ruling, Murrill added, “Our next step will be making that case to the First Circuit to guarantee that murderer Dale Craig never sets foot on Louisiana streets again.”
The murder of Kipp Gullet
Kipp E. Gullet, a student at LSU, was murdered on Sept. 19, 1992, after he was kidnapped by four young men who were looking to steal a vehicle, according to court records. Dale Craig, who was 17 at the time, struck Gullet in the head with a pistol as Gullet was getting out of his truck before holding him at gunpoint while the three others got into the truck.
In the truck, Gullet reportedly pleaded for mercy and told his captors to keep the truck and take his money. The men were worried about the 18-year-old victim identifying them later, according to the State. The other three men wanted to beat Gullet into unconsciousness instead of killing him, but Craig initially wanted to shoot and kill Gullet, according to arrest records.
The men traveled to a construction site near the Kenilworth Apartments, where they let Gullet out of the vehicle, still at gunpoint. One of the other men struck him in the head with a gun and started to walk away when Craig got down on the ground next to Gullet and shot him three times.
Craig also ripped the stereo out of the stolen truck before setting fire to it the next morning, where sheriff’s deputies found the burning vehicle at the bottom of the Mississippi River levee. In addition, Gullet’s body was found that day and identified soon after.
Craig initially pleaded not guilty, but later attempted to change his plea to guilty, according to court documents.
He was 17 at the time of the murder, just eight days shy of turning 18. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
In March 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Roper v. Simmons that those who were under 18 (juveniles) at the time of their crimes could not be given the death penalty. Judge Bonnie Jackson resentenced Craig to life without parole just two months after that decision. According to the defense team’s Sept. 22, 2025 motion to quash the State’s motion to reinstate the death penalty, the State did not seek review of Judge Jackson’s sentence in 2005, making the sentence of life without parole final.
In addition, Craig’s defense team cites that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling that it is unconstitutional for juveniles to be given a sentence of life without parole (in Miller v. Alabama) and the 2016 ruling in Montgomery v. Louisiana that the Miller decision applies retroactively, means that Craig’s sentence of life without parole is unconstitutional.
Timeline of events & court decisions
After LSU student Kipp E. Gullet was kidnapped and murdered, Craig and three others (Zebbie Berthelot, James Lavigne, and Roy Maurer) were indicted in 1992 on the charge of first-degree murder. Craig was tried by jury, who found him guilty of first-degree murder.
• Oct. 1994: Craig was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
• April 1995: A motion was filed to reconsider Craig’s death sentence.
• March 2005: The U.S. Supreme Court decides in Roper v Simmons that capital punishment (the death penalty) is unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
• May 6, 2005: Craig was resentenced to life at hard labor, with credit for time served, and without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
• June 2012: The U.S. Supreme Court decides in Miller v Alabama that mandatory life sentences without parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
• January 2016: In Montgomery v Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that under its previous ruling in Miller v. Alabama, could be applied retroactively.
• March 16, 2023: Craig’s re-sentencing is fixed for May 25, 2023.
• May 25, 2023: The Court vacated the previous sentence of life without parole and resentenced Craig to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
• June 23, 2023: The State files motion to appeal amended sentence.
• Aug. 11, 2025: The Attorney General (Liz Murrill) files a motion to reinstate Craig’s death sentence.
• Aug. 22, 2025: The State’s motion to reinstate the death sentence is set for Contradictory Hearing on Oct. 15, 2025.
• Sept. 22, 2025: Craig’s defense team filed a motion to cancel the hearing and quash the State’s motion to reinstate the death penalty, citing that the State’s motion to reconsider the sentence was untimely and not constitutional.
• Oct. 24, 2025: The Louisiana Supreme Court reverses the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion. The State can now pursue a sentence of life without the opportunity for parole.
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