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Thread: Tina Marie Vanmoerkerque Sentenced to LWOP in 2010 LA Murder for Hire Plot

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    Tina Marie Vanmoerkerque Sentenced to LWOP in 2010 LA Murder for Hire Plot

    Article dated 07/30/10

    Caddo sheriff's detectives now believe Sunday's slaying in Keithville was orchestrated by the victim's wife who is alleged to have hired a hitman through a family friend.
    Bobbie Loretta Luttrell, wife of 50 years to Ernest Lutrell, was arrested Thursday for first-degree murder, following her husband's funeral. Detectives said she'd been in Arkansas with family since the killing.
    Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said detectives discovered over the course of a four-day investigation Luttrell plotted with family friend and housekeeper Tina VanMoerkerque, arrested Wednesday, to kill her husband.
    Luttrell asked VanMoerkerque to find a hitman to kill her husband and said she'd pay that person $1,000. VanMoerkerque found Erick Crain, who was arrested Tuesday, and he accepted the contract, according to Cindy Chadwick, Caddo sheriff's office spokesperson. Chadwick said Luttrell and VanMoerkerque planned Sunday's murder and robbery together.
    Prator said the murder was pre-planned and financially motivated, but said the details of the motivation would come out during trial.
    "It's something like a Lifetime movie would be about," Prator said.

    http://ohlouisiana.blogspot.com/2010...e-channel.html

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    Crain pleads guilty in murder-for-hire plot

    Erick Crain has pleaded guilty for his part in the July 2010 murder-for-hire plot in the death of Ernest Luttrell, accepting life without parole in exchange for testimony against two others charged in the case.

    Crain and Tina Marie Vanmoerkerque are both charged with first degree murder in the case. Vanmoerkeque is also in Caddo District Court today and prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against her. KSLA News 12 will update the results of her hearing.

    73-year-old Ernest Luttrell was found shot to death in his home in the 12200 block of Greenwood Springridge Rd. in Kiethville. Investigators say the killing was a murder for hire, ordered by Luttrell's wife, 70-year-old Loretta "Bobbie" Moore Luttrell, who is also facing one count of first degree murder. Loretta Luttrell's next court date is scheduled for July 27 for arguments and hearings.

    http://www.ksla.com/story/14833987/c...-for-hire-plot

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    Woman Calls Widow, Looking For Money To Pay Hitman

    Three days after her husband was murdered at her behest, 70-year-old Loretta Luttrell was on the phone with the housekeeper who recruited the hitman -- discussing the difficulties of getting cash and then offering to pay with a credit card, Caddo prosecutors say in court filings.

    The filings are among several developments in the sensational case. On Friday, accused hitman Erick Crain pleaded guilty, received a life prison term and agreed to tell prosecutors everything he knows about the July 2010 murder. His plea agreement requires him to testify against "any defendants, whether indicted or not."

    Authorities have reopened the investigation into the Luttrell murder. District Attorney Charles Scott would not say what direction it is going, nor identify any target.

    Among the evidence prosecutors have filed is a recording of a phone call Luttrell received from her housekeeper, Tina Van Moerkerque, who had already been arrested on suspicion she found a hitman to murder 73-year-old Ernest Luttrell at his home southwest of Shreveport. Van Moerkerque had begun cooperating with sheriff's detectives and the call was recorded.

    Van Moerkerque was looking for money to pay Crain, the recording said.

    "Erick, the man, you know, that shot Ernest for you, he managed to get out on bond about an hour ago," Van Moerkerque said of Crain, who actually was still in jail. "And he called me and (was) looking for $1,000 so he can get out of town. When do you think I can get some money?"

    "I don't have no way of getting it to you because everybody's done told me that they was arresting you for it," the woman on the other end replied. "And, you know, I don't know how to get it to you. I don't even have it now."

    The conversation continued as Van Moerkerque repeatedly pushed for money. Luttrell told of being "a nervous wreck about everything" and said she had none to give her.

    "I can't let them know I'm talking to you," Luttrell said at one point on the recording.

    She offered her credit card to buy the bus ticket but Van Moerkerque wanted cash, the recording shows.

    Toward the end of the conversation, Van Moerkerque said: "I feel sad about Ernest. How do you feel about it?"

    "Oh, I wish we'd never... I wish it'd never been done, don't you?" the other woman replied.

    Luttrell, now 71, has pleaded not guilty. Her family said she was in the moderate stages of Alzheimer's -- "My mother's mind is half gone," her daughter, Katey Passaniti said after the arrest -- and could not have hatched a plot to kill her husband.

    Luttrell's attorney, Michael Vergis, said his client was taken advantage of by others who stood to profit from the murder. He deferred comment on the recorded phone conversation.

    Vergis said Luttrell's mental state continues to deteriorate in jail.

    "She's gotten progressively worse," Vergis said.

    But prosecutors in court filings portray Luttrell as calculating, wanting her husband of 50 years dead so she could get hold of his land, sell it and give the money to a family member.

    Van Moerkerque lived in a mobile home on the Luttrell property and was a housekeeper and cook for the couple. Prosecutors said Luttrell asked Van Moerkerque if she knew someone who would kill her husband for $1,000. Van Moerkerque and Crain were "old acquaintances" who had run into each other days earlier, prosecutors said.

    On the morning of the murder, Luttrell went to church as usual. The pastor said she arrived an hour before services, which was unusual, prosecutors said.

    Prosecutors said Mr. Luttrell was killed while his wife was gone. A side door to the house was left unlocked, the burglar alarm was off and a key to the gun cabinet was left in the lock, Assistant District Attorney Laura Fulco said.

    Van Moerkerque spent the two days following the murder trying to get money from Luttrell, prosecutors said. The taped phone call was made on the third day. Luttrell was arrested the next day, right after her husband's funeral.

    Van Moerkerque has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors filed noticed Friday they will seek the death penalty if the case goes to trial. She is scheduled to be back in court in late August.

    Luttrell, who like Van Moerkerque is under indictment for first-degree murder, is scheduled to be back in court in late July for discussion of pre-trial matters.

    http://www.ktbs.com/news/28137664/detail.html

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    Sanity Hearing Set For Loretta Luttrell

    A sanity hearing will be held to determine if a Caddo Parish woman accused of hiring someone to kill her husband is competent to stand trial.

    Loretta Luttrell, 72, appeared before Caddo District Judge John Moseley today.

    She's accused of first-degree murder in connection with the July, 2010 shooting death of her husband, Ernest Luttrell at their home in Keithville.

    Prosecutors say Luttrell got her housekeeper, Tina Van Moerkerque, to hire Erick Crain to commit the crime.

    Crain admitted in court that he was offered one thousand dollars to kill Ernest Luttrell.

    He was sentenced to life in prison, but avoided the death penalty with his plea deal.

    Crain agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their cases against Luttrell and Tina Van Moerkerque.

    Prosecutors say Mrs. Luttrell wanted her husband dead so that she could sell property that he owned.

    She's pleaded not guilty.

    The sanity hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2012.

    http://www.ktbs.com/news/30007603/detail.html

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    CADDO PARISH, LA (KSLA) -
    Instead of facing a jury or a bench trial, 45-year-old Tina Marie Vanmoerkerque entered a guilty plea Thursday in Caddo Parish District Court to second-degree murder for her role in the July, 2010 shooting death of Ernest Luttrell.

    Judge John Mosely sentenced Vanmoerkerque to life in prison at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

    Vanmoerkerque is the second of three persons charged in the murder to enter a guilty plea rather than face trial. 28-year-old Erick Dewayne Crain, the admitted trigger man, pled guilty in June of last year to first-degree murder. Crain is serving a life sentence.

    Ernest Luttrell was found shot to death inside his residence in the 12200 block of Greenwood-Springridge Rd. in Keithville.

    http://www.ksla.com/story/16510852/t...ilty-gets-life

  6. #6
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    Loretta Moore Luttrell has been ruled incompetent to stand trial for first degree murder in the July, 2010 murder for hire of Ernest Luttrell.

    Ernest Luttrell was found shot to death inside his residence in the 12200 block of Greenwood-Springridge Rd. in Keithville.

    The 71-year-old is accused of hiring a Caddo Parish couple to kill her husband. Her family claims she has Alzheimers and that she did not have the mental capacity to commit the crime.

    Tina Vanmoerkerque entered a guilty plea rather than face trial in January. 28-year-old Erick Dewayne Crain, the admitted trigger man, pled guilty in June of last year to first-degree murder. Crain is serving a life sentence.

    Judge John Mosely issued the ruling Tuesday following a sanity hearing in Caddo Parish District Court.

    http://www.wfsb.com/story/16695639/l...to-stand-trial

  7. #7
    Senior Member Member Jeffects's Avatar
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    tina.jpg
    Tina VanMoerkerque
    If I looked like this, I would have held out for the death penalty.


    Loretta-Moore-Luttrell_mugshot_400x800.jpg
    Loretta Moore Luttrell
    Last edited by Jeffects; 06-12-2012 at 05:04 PM.

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