When Caitlin Mathis started her freshman year at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, she broke up with Bryant. Bryant didn’t take no for an answer. In the weeks leading up to Jackie Vandagriff’s death, he continued to show up on Caitlin’s Denton campus and was arrested three times. Caitlin also filed a restraining order against him.
Ranger Holland believes that Bryant couldn’t handle his ex-girlfriend’s rejection and that he got revenge on the next woman he could find who looked like Caitlin. That woman happened to be Jackie Vandagriff.
“ I wouldn’t be surprised if he had really misunderstood her at first … saw her from behind and thought, ‘Man, my ex is here. “And surprise, it’s not,” said Ranger Holland. “But I think in his head all night, I think he imagined that too.”