EAST LANSING (WWJ) - The plot of a fictional TV series became very real for students at Michigan State University last month after they linked their professor to a meth lab bust in the South.
MSU officials said kinesiology instructor Brendan Doyle was fired from the university after his "Breaking Bad" past -- which somehow eluded background checks from the school -- was uncovered by none other than his students.
Back in March of 2020, a meth lab "under a bridge over a canal" was found by Lafourche Parish sheriff's deputies in Louisiana. In a press release from Sheriff Craig Webre, authorities found a bucket with smoke coming from it.
Their investigation led them to Doyle, who was teaching at Nicholls State University at the time. As reported by The Nicholls Worth, Doyle’s taught classes such as biology 116, which was Human Anatomy and Physiology II, and biology 117 which was a lab class.
Doyle fled the state, eluding capture for months until he was finally arrested while trying to move out of his house, the sheriff's office said.
Doyle was charged with creation or operation of a clandestine laboratory for the unlawful manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance, but the local prosecutor told the State News they did not have any records of Doyle's trial or sentencing.
At the same time, Captain Brennan Matherne of the Lafourche Parish sheriff's office confirmed with the State News that Doyle was found guilty and served a few months in jail before being released.
This could explain why Doyle past did not show up on background checks when he was brought on at Michigan State this fall. MSU Deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen confirmed that they saw nothing incriminating during Doyle's hiring process.
But Doyle's record did not go undetected for long. In the first few sessions of Doyle's class, students became suspicious of his erratic behavior and decided to search him on the web.
Students told the State News that they knew something was off after Doyle had several "outbursts" directed toward students and an MSU IT employee.
He then went on to cancel several classes, stating he was sick.
The State News corroborated the strange incidents with those from students enrolled in Doyle's class at Nicholls State who said Doyle often cancelled class or forgot to post assignments in the months leading to his 2020 arrest.
A group of Spartans discovered Doyle's criminal record while digging around on Google where they pulled up his mug shot from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office and news articles linking him to the lab.
Sophomore Mackenzie Allbee, who was in Doyle's kinesiology class at MSU, told the State News that Doyle had been working under a modified version of his name, but they eventually figured it out.
"Everyone was really shocked, but everyone also already knew he was a little crazy from the first two classes, he had those angry outbursts," Allbee said. "Everyone was in shock and just disappointed with the university."
Students went to officials with the discovery and were notified by email that they class was temporarily canceled, citing health concerns with Doyle.
A second email sent by Kinesiology Department Chair Panteleimon Ekkekakis, informed those in Doyle's class that they were aware of the news articles and said class would resume with a different instructor at the beginning of October.
Two weeks after he was suspended, a university spokesperson said Doyle had been terminated from his position.