Former police chief charged with a crime

Many Louisiana residents are shocked at the news of a former chief of police who has been accused of serious criminal acts. The man was once the police chief in the small town of Evergreen in Avoyelles Parish. He has been arrested under suspicion of the murder of his wife. Whenever a public figure is charged with a crime, news of those accusations travels quickly, and that is certainly the case here.

The man lost his wife when a fire engulfed their shared home earlier this year. It is unclear whether he was also in the home when the fire began, although he did call the emergency in to 911 dispatch services. Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze, and they found his wife’s body inside the remains of the home.

The initial investigation into the fire led authorities to classify the incident as suspicious. As a result, the local Sheriff’s Office and the office of area marshals joined the investigation. There is no word on exactly what led authorities to believe that the former police chief was involved in the fire and resulting death of his wife. He has been charged with aggravated arson and second-degree murder in the case.

As this matter progresses through the legal system, many Louisiana residents will continue to follow the case. In many cases where a death is the result of a fire, suspicion rests on any individual who stands to benefit from that series of events. It is also important to state that not everyone who is charged with a crime is prosecuted, and many such charges are dropped prior to reaching a court of law.

Source: thetowntalk.com, “Former Evergreen chief faces murder, arson, theft charges“, Melissa Gregory, July 8, 2015