Labradoodle helped solve the murder of a young Texas woman in at her apartment in San Marcos, Texas 

Derek Joseph Daigneault, 29, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for murdering his cousin, Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26

Daigneault had been living at Reynolds’ apt for about a month while on felony probation with a warrant out for his arrest when he shot her in the head on April 4, 2023

He then stuffed her body in a blue storage container, drove to the town of Robinson, south of Waco, and set the container on fire

However, he left her dog, Titan, at the scene of the incineration

Cops responding to the scene of a brush fire on April 5, found a body, burnt beyond recognition

Officers found a white dog that was barking at them, while resisting efforts by cops to capture it

As the dog was still at the spot where the burning body was found the next day, and a resident called animal control officers

Animal Control when called in a day later, determined the dog which still refused to leave the burn scene, belonged to Reynold with the aid of an embedded microchip

Violent career criminal Derek Joseph Daigneault, [photo], was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for murdering his cousin Mandy Rose Reynolds, in San Marcos, Texas on April 4, 2023

A pet labradoodle helped solve it’s owners murder in Texas, by a family member.
The dog owner, a 26-year-old woman, was transported to a distant location after being killed and the body set ablaze. The loyal dog, for days refused to leave the side of her burnt corpse, until animal control arrived.
The killer, Derek Joseph Daigneault, ultimately was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, for murdering his cousin Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26, last year April.
Prosecutors say Daigneault, a 29-year-old ex-con with nine prior convictions, had been living at her apartment in San Marcos, Texas for about a month while he was on felony probation with a warrant out for his arrest when he shot her in the head on April 4, 2023.
The warrant states that he stuffed the body in a blue storage container, drove to the town of Robinson, just south of Waco, and set the container on fire. However, the victim was a pet parent and her killer left the white labradoodle at the burn site.

Derek Daigneault has been accused of killing his cousin Mandy Rose Reynolds, [photo], Daigneault had been staying with Reynolds for about a month before the murder

Police officers investigating the scene of a brush fire on April 5, found a body, burnt beyond recognition. 
A white dog that was barking at officers and refusing to allow cops to capture it. The next day, with the dog still refusing to leave at the burn site, a local resident called animal control. The officers discovered the dog had a microchip embed which on examination revealed the animal belonged to Reynolds.
This discovery prompted a search of Reynolds’ apartment. All of her belongings had been removed, her Honda Accord missing.
Investigators also uncovered footage of Daigneault leaving a Walmart in Reynolds’ car, her dog’s head sticking out the window.

McLennan County prosecutors credit Reynolds’ dog, Titan, with helping to identify her remains and solving her murder

Officers eventually tracked her car to Wichita, Kansas, where local police spotted the Accord on April 8 and tried to pull it over.
Daigneault, who was found driving the vehicle, then led cops on a high speed chase, traveling over 100mph in the chase that lasted nearly half a hour.
At one point, he swiped a police cruiser and slammed into another car.
Daigneault then fled the wreck and ran into a busy grocery store, sending shoppers scrambling for their cars as police flooded into the store in pursuit.
They then found him hiding behind a shelf of canned goods, and a search of the vehicle uncovered his grandmother’s .380 pistol that was used in the shooting.

On Nov 7, Derek Joseph Daigneault, a felon with nine prior convictions, was found guilty of shooting his cousin in April 2023, stuffing her body in a large storage container, driving to Robinson and setting her body on fire. He was sentenced to life in prison

‘The keys to this case were a heroic and loyal dog named Titan and extraordinary cooperation between law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions and states,’ the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office said.
‘That combination has delivered justice for Mandy and safety from a violent and dangerous criminal.’ 
Daigneault was ultimately sentenced on Thursday, in a court hearing marked by drama as he yelled at the victim’s brother and was escorted out, and a fight broke out between members of Daigneault’s family and Reynold’s family. 
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors showed that Daigneault has previous felony convictions for aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, possession of methamphetamine, attempted interference with law enforcement, criminal discharge of a firearm at a residence, fleeing officers, aggravated battery and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.

In March, a Kansas court sentenced Daigneault to over 9 years in prison for aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, possession of methamphetamine, attempted interference with law enforcement, criminal discharge of a firearm, fleeing officers, aggravated battery and criminal possession of a weapon

In January 2024, Daigneault pled guilty to fleeing or attempting to elude an officers, aggravated battery, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and theft. In March, a judge in Kansas sentenced him to 111 months, or just over nine years, in prison on those charges.
Prosecutors proved was in possession of Reynolds’ Honda Accord; her grandmother’s gun, which proved to be the murder weapon; her dog as well as her phone, which helped investigators tracking his whereabouts.
The jury deliberated for only 40 minutes before the unanimous on a life sentence for the convict. Speaking after sentencing, McLennan County assistant district attorney, Ryan Calvert, said Derek Daigneault is ‘Is just an extremely violent individual, and he cannot be trusted with the safety of this or any other community.
‘So life, we felt, was the only just verdict.’