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Thread: Five Sentenced in 2012 LA Murders of Robert Irwin Marchand, Shirley Marchand and Douglas Dooley

  1. #1
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    Five Sentenced in 2012 LA Murders of Robert Irwin Marchand, Shirley Marchand and Douglas Dooley


    Irwin Marchand, 74, and Shirley Marchand, 72


    Doug Dooley, 50


    Travis Moore


    Bernard James


    Rolando Stewart



    Prosecutors seek death penalty for triple-murder suspects

    By Sheila V. Kumar
    The Times-Picayune

    Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for four of five people accused of slashing the throats of a Gonzales family during a robbery that went awry.

    WBRZ reported Tuesday officials are seeking the death penalty for Michael Aikens, Travis Moore, Bernard James and Rolondo Stewart.

    Authorities say Robert Irwin Marchand, his wife Shirley Marchand, and her son Douglas Dooley were killed while the five men attempted to rob them of gold and silver coins and cash. They say Aikens knew Marchand was a coin collector.

    All five were charged with first-degree murder and all have pleaded not guilty.

    Robert Marchand and Dooley were found dead in their home Feb. 18. Shirley Marchand died March 2.

    Prosecutors are not requesting the death penalty for Devon James, who allegedly allowed the other four men to open the stolen cache of coins at his home.

    http://www.nola.com/news/baton-rouge...h_penalty.html
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  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Man pleads guilty in brutal 2012 triple slaying

    One of five suspects in a brutal February 2012 triple homicide in Gonzales pleaded guilty Tuesday to the slaying and avoided a potential death penalty sentence, Ascension Parish’s top prosecutor said.

    Michael Aikens, 37, 16460 La. 930, Prairieville, pleaded guilty to the three counts of first-degree murder that he was facing in exchange for three life sentences, the district attorney said.

    A formal sentencing date has not be set yet.

    DA Ricky Babin said Aikens entered the plea Tuesday during jury selection, which began Monday at the federal courthouse in Lafayette, and recited his role in the slayings.

    Judge Alvin Turner Jr. of the 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension had moved jury selection to Lafayette because of the pretrial publicity over the slayings of Robert Irwin Marchand, 74; his wife, Shirley Marchand, 72; and his stepson, Douglas Dooley, 50, of Cross Plains, Tenn.

    The Marchands and Dooley were found on Feb. 18, 2012, with their throats slashed and with signs of being beaten in apparent bid by Aikens and four others to steal gold and other valuable coins from a safe in Marchand’s house near Gonzales.

    Aikens had worked for Marchand more than a decade earlier and knew about his employer’s coin collection, authorities have said.

    Robert Marchand and Dooley were found dead. Shirley Marchand died March 2, 2012.

    Turner planned to hold the trial, however, in Ascension Parish once a Lafayette jury was selected.

    Babin said Aikens made the plea offer and did not agree to testify in the trials of his co-defendants.

    No jurors had been selected yet in Aikens trial, Babin said.

    He said the family of the Marchands and Dooley wanted the case over and were emotionally exhausted after hearing the recitation of the facts during Aikens’ plea.

    Babin said no trial dates had been set against the other defendants.

    “Bernard James will be next,” Babin said, adding he would like to see the trial for James, 26, 36344 Lorena Drive, Prairieville, by the end of the year.

    Prosecutors had informed the court they intended to seek the death penalty against Aikens if he were found guilty.

    But Aikens had argued he was mentally retarded and would raise that claim during the penalty phase if he were convicted on the first-degree counts.

    Execution of mentally retarded persons is unconstitutional.

    Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty against three of the four other suspects in the slayings, including Bernard James.

    http://theadvocate.com/news/7208243-...ilty-in-brutal
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  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    October 31, 2013

    Aikens sentenced to three consecutive life terms in triple homicide

    By David J. Mitchell
    The Advocate

    GONZALES — A tearful Laureida Dooley told Michael Aikens — the man who helped beat and slash the throats of her husband and in-laws nearly two years ago in a rural corner of Ascension Parish — that she prays daily not to hate Aikens and wish he would “go straight to hell.”

    Dooley delivered one of the more emotionally raw and powerful victim-impact statements Tuesday at Aikens’ sentencing hearing.

    State District Judge Alvin Turner Jr. gave Aikens three consecutive life terms without probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He was convicted in the 2012 murders of Robert Irwin Marchand, 74; his wife, Shirley Marchand, 72; and his stepson, Douglas Dooley, 50, of Cross Plains, Tenn., who was Laureida’s husband.

    The Marchands and Dooley were found with their throats slashed and signs of having been beaten. Robert Marchand and Dooley were dead. Shirley Marchand died March 2, 2012.

    The murders shocked the community. Robert Marchand was a lifelong resident of Gonzales, the owner of a then-defunct house-moving business and a regional figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Louisiana.

    Shirley Marchand had worked in an area funeral home.

    Aikens, 37, had worked for Robert Marchand for more than a decade in his house-moving business, investigators have said.

    Aikens pleaded guilty to participating in the murders that arose from a home-invasion robbery about 10:20 p.m. Feb. 17, 2012.

    He and three others stole gold and other valuable coins worth thousands of dollars from a safe in Robert Marchand’s house, investigators have said.

    A fifth man later helped open the safe at another location.

    Aikens, 16460 La. 930, Prairieville, pleaded guilty on Oct. 1 to three counts of first-degree murder in their slayings in exchange for three automatic life sentences without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

    Assistant District Attorney Robin O’Bannon said prosecutors have made no deals for testimony from Aikens in the four other pending cases.

    On Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies maintained an armed presence during the sentencing hearing at the Ascension Parish Courthouse Annex in Gonzales with as many as nine deputies in the courtroom at one point.

    Emotions ran high during testimony and from the audience, particularly when Aikens’ grandmother and later his mother had to be escorted out by family briefly to regain composure.

    The mother, Leola Aikens, broke down while she and family waited for Turner’s sentence during a recess following the impact statements.

    Leola Aikens could be heard making high-pitched sounds of grief and shouting “That’s my baby” in the courtroom and later as she was being led out and even later saying, “Oh, God, God, God.”

    The grief was equally shared as Laureida Dooley and three relatives of the Marchands shared their pain.

    Dooley recounted the depression and the days in bed she has suffered since her husband, whom she reconnected with in her mid-40s and married late in life, was murdered.

    “I cannot tell you that I honestly can forgive you, and I cannot tell you that I don’t honestly hate you,” Dooley said before Turner handed down the sentence.

    “I can tell you that I wake up every day and I pray about it. I have to search my God to help me have strength to not hate you and to not wish that you would die and just go straight to hell.”

    Two of Robert Marchand’s long-estranged seven natural children told of his good works later in life to help the needy after bad choices earlier in life and how his death took away any chance of their reconnecting with an older, wiser father that they were proud to learn about in death.

    Lorna Marchand Weber, 56, of Houston, recalled how Marchand’s bishop told her during the funeral that Marchand was being counseled to reconnect with his children and was hopeful he had been close to doing that.

    “The greatest personal impact to me is that by murdering Irwin, Shirley and Doug, you have permanently removed the opportunity for reconciliation and a renewed relationship between Irwin and me, as well as with all of his children,” said Weber, Robert Marchand’s oldest child.

    Aikens would have faced the death penalty if found guilty at trial and if he could not convince the court to rule on his claim he is mentally retarded and not eligible for the death penalty.

    Turner had the option Tuesday to decide whether to order the mandatory life sentences to run concurrently or consecutively under the plea deal.

    In a motion filed Monday, Aikens’ attorneys argued their client’s three life sentences should be concurrent because the murders arose out of the same plan.

    Turner did not buy the argument.

    “Three lives were taken as result of Mr. Aikens action, and the court cannot ignore that fact. To run these sentences concurrent would be an insult for taking the lives of these individuals,” Turner said.

    After the hearing, District Attorney Ricky Babin said he was pleased with the ruling.

    “You can’t serve but one, but it’s a huge victory as far as the judge recognized that fact that three people lost their lives, and not one, so it was sentenced accordingly,” Babin said.

    During the hearing, Aikens, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and bound with shackles on his hand and legs, read a brief statement.

    “I am truly sorry for what everyone is going through in this courtroom. Everyone has taken a loss, the Marchands, the Dooleys and also my family,” Aikens said, appearing to choke up.

    Aikens’ attorneys declined to comment Tuesday after the hearing but told Turner they were planning an appeal.

    As for the remaining four defendants, O’Bannon, the assistant district attorney, said prosecutors plan to bring Bernard James, 26, 36344 Lorena Drive, Prairieville, to trial on April 22 on three counts of first-degree murder.

    Trial dates have not yet been set for Travis Moore, 21, 4950 Wilot St., Baton Rouge; Devon James, 25, 40140 S. Autumnwood, Prairieville, and Rolando Durrell Stewart, 23, 15379 Roy Rogers Road, Prairieville, all charged on three counts of first-degree murder.

    http://theadvocate.com/home/7440609-...-to-three-life

  4. #4
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    New details revealed in Marchand slayings

    By David J. Mitchell
    The Advocate

    GONZALES — Bernard James, one of five men accused in the February 2012 slayings of Robert Irwin Marchand, his wife and stepson, told investigators he saw a bloodied Michael Aikens standing near the entrance of the Marchands’ home with a box cutter in his hand and three dead bodies lying on the floor behind him.

    James, 27, then of 36344 Lorena Drive, Prairieville, had turned back toward the Marchand home after he and two other men loaded Marchand’s house safe into a Chevrolet Suburban.

    Aikens had stayed behind in the Marchand home off Babin Road north of Gonzales, James told Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Capt. Michael Toney.

    Aikens, James and the other men wanted to steal the safe, which they thought contained thousands of dollars in valuable coins, though investigators have said far less money was inside.

    In a hearing Tuesday, Toney went over the statement as prosecutors and defense attorneys argued before Chief Judge Alvin Turner Jr., of the 23rd Judicial District, whether James understood his Miranda rights when he surrendered to investigators without a lawyer present in early March 2012.

    James’ defense attorneys argued his statement should be suppressed because it was not voluntarily given.

    Turner has not yet ruled on that request.

    Aikens, formerly of Prairieville, pleaded guilty Oct. 1 to three counts of first-degree murder in the home invasion robbery on Feb. 17, 2012.

    Aikens, who was facing the death penalty before the plea, was sentenced Oct. 29 to three life terms.

    James is the next of the four remaining defendants headed to trial. Turner set James’ capital murder trial for Aug. 19 in Ascension Parish. He also faces three counts of first-degree murder. Turner rejected a defense motion Tuesday seeking to preclude the death penalty.

    Toney’s recounting of James’ statement Tuesday provides new details about what may have happened the night Robert Marchand, 74; his wife, Shirley Marchand, 72; and her son, Douglas Dooley, 50, of Cross Plains, Tenn., had their throats slashed.

    Aikens’ plea agreement and other documents remain under seal to limit pre-trial publicity.

    Assistant District Attorney Robin O’Bannon cautioned some defendants gave initial statements to deputies that tended to downplay their own roles in the slayings and point toward the culpability of other men.

    Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Dupaty, Capt. Toney described how James, during the March 7, 2012, interview, portrayed Aikens as having a lead role in planning and committing the robbery and slayings.

    Toney also described how James had himself and others involved in the lead-up to the robbery, the robbery itself and attempts to dispose of the safe in rural Livingston Parish.

    Toney told Dupaty how James claimed Aikens, who once worked for Robert Marchand when he had a house-moving business, knocked on his door but James and another man rushed in and James knocked Marchand down.

    James also said Shirley Marchand was hit after she heard the scuffle and appeared, telling the men to take the money once she was struck, Toney testified.

    Soon, Dooley showed up. He and Aikens fought and Dooley briefly had Aikens in a headlock before another man got him off, James reportedly told Toney.

    Toney testified James signed a standard waiver form, was read his rights and was talkative during his March 2012 interview. But Toney also said James smelled of alcohol, though he did not appear to be impaired.

    http://theadvocate.com/home/8973453-...ed-in-marchand

  5. #5
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    August 19, 2014

    In deal, triple murderer gets three life sentences

    GONZALES - A man tied to a home invasion where three people were murdered in February 2012 pleaded guilty and will serve three life terms, District Attorney Ricky Babin told WBRZ News 2 Tuesday.

    Bernard James pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Irwin Marchand, his wife Shirley and her son Douglas Dooley. The group was attacked inside the Marchand's home where Dooley was visiting. Dooley and Robert Marchand died in the home, Shirley Marchand died from her injuries a few weeks later.

    James and four others- Michael Aikens, Devon James, Rolondo Stewart and Travis Moore - were implicated in the crime. Investigators said the group slit the throats of the victims in a robbery where a safe containing rare gold coins was stolen from the home.

    Aikens pleaded guilty in October 2013. He worked for the family.

    The safe was found but the coins are still missing.

    http://www.wbrz.com/news/in-deal-tri...ife-sentences/

  6. #6
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    April 22, 2015

    Last three defendants sentenced in Ascension Parish triple homicide

    By David J. Mitchell
    The Advocate

    GONZALES — One by one, the last three men convicted in the home invasion triple homicide committed over a safe of valuable coins stood before state Judge Alvin Turner Jr. more than three years after the fact Wednesday evening.

    One by one, each received sentences from Turner, of the 23rd Judicial District, bringing an end to a long, painful judicial process for the families damaged in that February 2012 night. Robert Irwin Marchand; his wife, Shirley Marchand; and her son, Douglas Dooley, were beaten and had their throats slashed in the couple’s home in a quiet corner of Ascension just north of Gonzales.

    “The family can finally have some closure,” Charlotte Guedry, spokeswoman for District Attorney Ricky Babin, said after the sentences.

    “You know, they’re on the way to that now.”

    Robert Marchand, 74, and Dooley, 50, of Cross Plains, Tennessee, were found dead at the scene on Feb. 18, 2012. Shirley Marchand, 72, died on March 2, 2012.

    The defendants, who had faced three counts of first-degree murder, reached plea bargains with prosecutors after the two central figures in the Feb. 17 slayings, Michael Aikens and Bernard James, had previously been convicted on three murder counts and sentenced to life in prison.

    Rolando Durrell Stewart, 25, 15379 Roy Rogers Road, Prairieville, who also had been convicted on unrelated charges, including an attempted second-degree murder count, received the longest sentence Wednesday, 63 years at hard labor.

    Travis “Buddah” Moore, 22, 4950 Wilot St., Baton Rouge, who had agreed along with co-defendant Devon James, to testify for prosecutors, received 26 years in prison.

    James, 27, 40140 S. Autumnwood, Prairieville, who received 15 years, did not participate in the robbery and murders. But he lent Bernard James, his cousin, his Suburban for the robbery, helped open the safe later, clean it of fingerprints with bleach and dispose of it in Livingston Parish, according to the plea read in court Wednesday.

    Turner gave his reasons for each man’s sentence, spelled out the prison time and then handed over each man to the state Department of Corrections.

    Each time, emotional family and friends of the defendant walked out of the rear of the courtroom as sheriff’s deputies quietly led the defendant in the opposite direction.

    At one point, the moans of sorrow from a woman could be heard after she left a courtroom.

    The sadness was no less intense minutes earlier when the daughter of Robert Marchand and the widow of Dooley told the three defendants sitting together with their attorneys how the murders had cut short the lives of people they loved.

    “These past three years have been the most difficult times in all of my life,” said Laureida “Lolo” Dooley, widow of Douglas Dooley.

    Laureida Dooley said she has suffered with depression and needed counseling but told the men their families had probably suffered no less.

    “I’m sure today is just as difficult for them as it is for us,” Dooley said, adding the men made the decisions that led them to court Wednesday.

    All three men, Stewart, Moore and James, had pleaded guilty to three counts of being accessories after the fact to first-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

    Stewart and Moore, who entered their pleas Dec. 17, also pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.

    James, who entered his plea Wednesday, also pleaded guilty to compounding a felony.

    Turner has sealed key parts of the court record, but the factual descriptions in the two of the five plea agreements — for Devon and Bernard James — portray Aikens, 38, 16460 La. 930, Prairieville, as the mastermind of the robbery.

    Aikens had worked for Robert Marchand, an avoid coin collector, in his house-moving business and suggested the men could get quick money by burglarizing the safe.

    Four of the men, Aikens, Bernard James, Moore and Stewart, showed up at the Marchand home at 10:20 p.m. Feb. 17, 2012, after Bernard James borrowed the sport utility vehicle from Devon James, a college graduate with a business degree.

    Aikens went to the door and spoke with Marchand briefly until signaling the others.

    Bernard James rushed the door and knocked down Marchand. Moore followed behind, stepped over an unconscious Marchand, who had been beaten by Aikens, and looked for the safe.

    Shirley Marchand and Dooley happened upon the men and were beaten primarily by Aikens. Bernard James also hit Dooley with part of a two-by-four to get Dooley off Aikens’ back at one point.

    But it was Aikens who beat him and was left alone with the Marchands and Dooley while the other three rolled the safe out the house.

    As in Bernard James’ plea agreement, Devon James reported that Aikens later said: “Look at my knife; I still got skin in my knife.”

    Devon James’ plea also says that Aikens added, “They had to go because they knew me.”

    Devon James’ plea goes on to describe how the four men broke into the safe at his house and later disposed of it but noted that Devon James did not know of the slayings until days later.

    Once he found out, Devon James painted his SUV with primer and removed his back seat to get rid of any DNA from Aikens.

    But deputies ended up finding the safe and found Bernard James’ DNA inside it and on cigarette butts in Devon James’ Suburban.

    Aikens pleaded guilty in October 2013 to three counts of first-degree murder.

    In August, Bernard James pleaded guilty to first-degree murder counts in Robert Marchand’s and Dooley’s deaths and to a second-degree murder charge in Shirley Marchand’s death.

    Once the proceedings were over Wednesday and Turner left the courtroom, prosecutors and family and friends of the Marchands and Dooley spoke quietly and hugged one another one last time.

    http://theadvocate.com/news/12178799...s-sentenced-in

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