At dawn on a muggy morning in late July 1916, Sheriff Marion L. Swords was in the Mallet Woods in rural St. Landry Parish, watching an old cabin where he thought a murder suspect was hiding.
It would be the last sunrise “one of the best-known politicians in Louisiana” would ever see.
Swords and deputy Charles Chachere left Opelousas late on Sunday, July 17, headed for the Pot Cove section of Bois Mallet near the St. Landry-Acadia border.
On the way, they were joined by Paul Durousseau and Bruno St. Andre, who led the lawmen to a cabin where Hilaire Carriere was ...