Two women were murdered by a pair of hitmen who mistook one of them for their target. Authorities in Lousiana said that Beaux Cormier, 35, hired the two men to kill his niece, who accused him of rape.
Cormier was arrested in March 2020 and charged with third-degree rape. He then hired two men, identified as 25-year-old Andrew Eskine and 22-year-old Dalvin Wilson, to murder his niece so she could not testify against him.
The three men spent months conducting surveillance on a home in Montegut. In November, the two men tried to kill the woman but were unsuccessful. When they tried again on January 13, they found Brittany Cormier, who was Beaux's sister, and her neighbor Hope Nettleton inside.
The shooters asked where their target was by name, but Brittany lied and said she was the woman they were there to kill. The Acadiana Advocate reported that the rape victim was Cormier's daughter and that she and her two brothers were hiding in a closet when their mother was murdered.
"The shooter asked for the rape victim by name, and Brittany Cormier tells the shooter she is the rape victim, accepting her fate to save the life of an actual victim," Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Timothy Soginet said.
The men shot and killed Cormier, and Nettleton was killed while trying to fight off the killers. Investigators used surveillance camera footage to track down the suspects and take them into custody. All three men were charged with two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.
"Once again, I'd like to commend all the officers involved in this investigation. This situation has rocked our community, and it will not be tolerated," Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said. "These guys worked tirelessly around the clock solving this case. They started off with just a smidgen on evidence and took it from there and ultimately ended up with three arrests with confessions."
PHOTO: Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office