Terrebonne sheriff: Two women died to save another

Residents of the small Terrebonne Parish town of Montegut are mourning two women who authorities say died trying to protect a rape victim targeted to keep her from testifying against her attacker.
The accused rapist, Beaux Cormier, 35, of Kaplan has been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder, Terrebonne Sheriff Tim Soignet said at a press conference Monday.
Also arrested on first-degree murder charges were the two men investigators believe Cormier hired to kill the rape victim: Andrew Erskine, 25, of Carencro and Dalvin Wilson, 22, of Rayne.
The homicides happened Jan. 13 at a Montegut Street home in the town of 2,100 people southeast of Houma. The deceased were identified as Brittany Cormier, 35, of that address and a neighbor, Hope Nettleton, 37.
They were two of the five people at the home, including the sexual assault victim, at the time of the killings, Soignet said.
The conspirators are known to have conducted surveillance of the home between July and November, Soignet said. A witness who saw their vehicle in the area provided a license plate number that later helped link the suspects to the crimes.
On Jan. 13, Erskine and Wilson came to the Montegut Street home and wanted to see the sexual assault victim. Brittany Cormier, the sister of suspect Beaux Cormier, falsely identified herself as the victim. Wilson shot and killed her, Soignet said.
Nettleton died in a struggle with the suspects, Soignet said. The sexual assault victim wasn’t injured.
A witness at the home provided a description of at least one of the suspects and their vehicle, Soignet said. The Vermilion, Lafayette and Acadia sheriff’s offices assisted in the investigation along with the Eunice Police Department and City Marshal’s Office.
“Considering what we started with and where we were to finish the case, they did a real good job …,” Soignet said.
“People are very close down there. … This really hit that community hard. So we worked real hard to try to bring peace to the family down there.”
The three men are awaiting return to Terrebonne Parish to face the first-degree murder charges.
In Louisiana, conviction on a first-degree murder charge means either life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
A homicide becomes a capital crime in Louisiana when it involves a certain class of victim — a child under 12 or a police officer on duty, for example — or when it occurs under certain circumstances. Among those circumstances are murder for hire and a killing committed to silence a witness.