The jilted lover switched from platform to platform as he blocked her with her final message, “I warned u,” just minutes before he was struck and sent flying 70 feet by her best friend’s car she’d convinced to help her make him “hurt,” according to state police.
After a shocking collision left one man dead in his own front yard over the summer, police in Connecticut this week arrested the man’s ex and another man she’d allegedly convinced to drive her to her ex’s house.
Kevin Gangell, 24, was found dead in his front yard just before noon on July 28. He’d been hit so hard by a vehicle that he flew approximately 70 feet, according to Connecticut State Police.
His cause of death, per the medical examiner, was listed as blunt force trauma all over his body. Police believe the vehicle was traveling 32 to 38 mph when it struck Gangell.
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“It became apparent very quickly that this was no accident, and it was actually an intentional act,” Sgt. Luke Davis NBC affiliate WVIT.
Abbigale Whipple, 20, has been charged with conspiracy to commit manslaughter and accessory to manslaughter, as police believe she was behind the death of Gangell.
Her longtime platonic friend — who they believe had romantic feelings for her — Logan Diaz-Lopardo, 21, was hit with first-degree manslaughter charges with intent to injure and with grave risk of death, as well as conspiracy to commit manslaughter, as the alleged driver of the vehicle that struck and killed Gangell.
In court documents seen by WVIT, Whipple and Gangell had been involved for about a year, with prosecutors describing a “tumultuous and toxic” relationship.
Diaz-Lopardo was described as Whipple’s best friend, though she admitted to police in her arrest affidavit that he was “obsessed” with her and she’d “kinda led him on a little bit,” telling him there may be hope “one day,” but not meaning it.
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“I warned u”
After she was picked up, Whipple detailed to police what had happened in the hours leading up to Gangell’s death, starting when he reportedly “ditched” her the night before his death because he wanted to go to a car show with his father and a family friend, per her arrest affidavit, which she said made her angry.
She said that by the next morning he’d blocked her phone number, at which point she began to bombard him with messages across various platforms. All told, court documents revealed she sent him approximately 1,600 messages in the hours preceding his death.
According to the arrest warrant seen by Law & Crime, the contents of those messages included her hoping he would die from a drug overdose or by some other means, as well as other threats and verbal assaults.
Gangell finally responded for Whipple to come over, saying he “got somethin’ for you,” per Whipple in court documents, after she revealed that Diaz-Lopardo was at her place. Diaz-Lopardo got on the phone with Gangell and allegedly said, “Oh you mad ’cause I got ya girl now?”
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Uncovered Snapchat messages between Whipple and Diaz-Lopardo during the ordeal saw Whipple messaging Diaz-Lopardo, “Can we beat his ass pleas [sic]” and “I want him hurt.,” according to court documents. His alleged response was, “come to me I’ll hold u down.”
After being confronted with her message history, Whipple admitted to police, according to their arrest affidavit, that she might have threatened Gangell, “but I didn’t mean nothin’ I said. Everything I say is out of ‘impulsivity.'”
While Diaz-Lopardo drove Whipple to Gangell’s home, she was allegedly still sending her boyfriend messages, including a threat to call his parole officer, where she wrote, “ur going to jail,” “ima ruin ur life,” according to the legal filings.
“She wanted to cause harm to Kevin,” Davis told WVIT. “These text messages said ‘I want him hurt’ and that’s definitely concerning and raised a lot of red flags in building this case to show that this was an intentional act.”
Per the affidavit, Whipple’s final message, which reportedly came within minutes of Diaz-Lopardo hitting Gangell with his car, read, “I warned u.” Diaz-Lopardo denied intentionally hitting Gangell, per his arrest warrant.
Both called 911 after Diaz-Lopardo struck Gangell, with his recorded call picking up a female voice, believed to be Whipple, shouting, “Logan what the f–k did you do, why did you do that?” per his arrest affidavit.
Whipple told police Gangell “ran from behind his garage into the road with something in his hand.” Police reported finding a 2-foot metal pipe near his body.
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Whipple also told police that Diaz-Lopardo hit Gangell to hurt him, but didn’t mean to kill him. Diaz-Lopardo told authorities Gangell had smashed his windshield before he was struck, but there was not damage on the vehicle to support this clalim.
The arrest affidavits state that after Gangell was struck, Diaz-Lopardo’s vehicle wound up on a retaining wall in the yard and driveway area. Both Diaz-Lopardo and Whipple were injured in the accident and transported to a local hospital. Diaz-Lopardo suffered a broken sternum, Whipple a broken jaw.
Police got vaguely different stories from both suspects, according to their arrest affidavits, but both conceded that Whipple and Gangell had been fighting and that Diaz-Lopardo was driving the car that struck and killed Gangell.
This was more or less a planned event in causing harm to this individual,” said Davis. “I think it was more than they bargained for, considering that this young man actually ended up losing his life as a result of it.”
Diaz-Lopardo is being held on $500,000 bond with Whipple being held on a $250,000 bond.
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