Hit men hired by accused rapist killed suspect's sister and her neighbor by mistake, Louisiana sheriff says
A Louisiana man facing rape charges tried to have his accuser killed, but two hit men instead ended up killing his sister and her neighbor, authorities said Monday. Neither Hope Nettleton, 37, nor Brittany Cormier, 34, was the person that the hit men had been hired to kill on January 13, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office said.
"To have a double homicide of this nature is very unusual," Sheriff Tim Soignet said.
On Friday, authorities arrested Andrew Eskine, 25, of Carencro; Dalvin Wilson, 22, of Rayne; and Beaux Cormier, 35, of Kaplan on charges of first-degree murder.
Cormier was previously arrested in Vermillion Parish for third-degree rape and, according to Soginet, hired Eskine and Wilson to kill his accuser so she could not testify against him.
When Eskine and Wilson went to a Montegut home and asked for her, investigators said that Cormier's sister claimed to be the woman they requested and was shot and killed.
"The shooter asking for the rape victim by name and Brittany Cormier tells the shooter she's the rape victim, accepting her fate to save the life of an actual victim," Soignet said.
Nettleton, a neighbor, tried to fight off the men but was also shot to death, according to authorities.
The woman who had accused Cormier of rape was not at the home, investigators said.
District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said that $2 million bond had been set for the suspects, and it wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys.
"The death penalty is definitely on the table," Waitz said.
Neighbor Tom Hopton told CBS affiliate WWL-TV he knew both women well and spent the holidays with them.
"The whole story is bizarre and so unnecessary and so tragic," Hopton said.