Tagged: crime

HOUMA — A man charged with fatally shooting his sister and wounding her boyfriend was a paranoid schizophrenic who was off his medication, his brother says

Joseph Voisin, 44, has been arrested for killing Mary Voisin, 47, and wounding Christopher Smith, 45, Thursday at their home in Gray, La.

Sam Voisin, the suspect's brother, tells The Courier that there were no signs anything was wrong. Family members had finished dinner, and Mary Voisin and Smith went into a bedroom with Joseph Voisin while Sam Voisin watched TV.

A federal appeals court has upheld a former Gretna city councilman's convictions and prison sentence for taking money in exchange for his support of zoning variances. A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Jonathan Bolar's argument that a jury didn't hear enough evidence to support his extortion convictions. 

Prosecutors are urging a judge to reject defense attorneys' claims that a "secret public relations campaign" by federal authorities deprived five former police officers of a fair trial on charges stemming from deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge following Hurricane Katrina.

Authorities say William "Billy" Bretherton, star of the A&E reality TV show "Billy the Exterminator," has been arrested in Bossier City, La., on drug possession charges.

City spokesman Mark Natale says a warrant was issued last week for Bretherton and his wife, Mary, after items recovered from their hotel room tested positive for synthetic marijuana. They surrendered Friday.

Natale says police were called on April 28 to a Bossier City hotel following a 911 hang-up call from the room.

On Tuesday at 5:45 p.m., a 10-year old boy was shot in the face and leg at his birthday party. Bullets sprayed the gathering at Simon Bolivar Avenue and Clio Street, killing a 5-year-old girl and a 33-year-old woman. A few hours earlier, two assailants had robbed and killed a 58-year old man in Mid-City. Police arrested a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old, the latter wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor.