The Lafourche Parish Sheriff says the criminal justice system may have contributed to the murder of one of its deputies on Wednesday.

What began as a robbery at a convenience store in the small town of Chackbay, ended in the death of veteran Sheriff's Deputy Martha Woods Shareef.  The man accused of killing her, Bill Daigle, was arrested and detained on Wednesday, after police say he used a stolen pickup truck to run over and kill Woods Shareef. 

"To me, it's devastating," said Joel Williams, the deputy's niece.  "And it's hard to swallow right now."

Also hard to comprehend is Daigle's seemingly never ending wrap sheet. 

"He has an extensive arrest record," said LaFourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre.  Now some are questioning why he wasn't taken into custody earlier.

According to Sheriff deputies, Daigle at the age of 19, was charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting a man in 1986.  The charges were later dropped to negligent homicide, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Then in 1992, Daigle was charged with attempted murder, but Lafourche Parish Sheriff's deputies aren't sure how long he served behind bars, or if he was convicted at all.

"The arrest was in Winfield Parish and we are reaching out to investigators in that area to see if we could find out what the circumstances were," said Webre.

And deputies say Daigle's criminal history goes on.  In 1996, he was charged with simple battery in Houma.  Then in 1997, Daigle was charged with armed robbery in Valdosta, Ga.

Webre says Daigle then skipped out on his Georgia parole and made his way back to Louisiana, where he was later arrested.  But according to Webre, officials in Georgia weren't willing to pull Daigle out of Louisiana.

"The authorities in Georgia made the decision they would not extradite him, that they would only be apprehended if he were in the State of Georgia," said Webre.

Anti-violence advocate Baty Landis says the criminal justice system often can't keep up with criminals, especially when their offenses cross over into different jurisdictions.

"There's a clear differentiation between how people are moving and people are interacting with one another and how our system is acting and trying to protect us," said Landis.  "And it really impedes justice."

Now a deputy, long known for her smile and her voice, has been silenced.

"You can't help but conclude somewhere in the criminal justice system we let a dangerous predator operate, and that something like this was inevitable," said Webre.

Daigle's criminal history also includes other offenses, such as DWI and drug charges.  Two years ago in Lafourche Parish, he was also charged with kidnapping his grandchildren.  Deputies there are still trying to gather information as to why Daigle was a free man when he tried to rob the Chackbay convenience store Wednesday, which led to the death of Deputy Woods Shareef.