BATON ROUGE — The Attorney General's Office is asking the Fifth Circuit to reinstate a death sentence for Todd Wessinger on Monday.

Wessinger, a former employee of the now-closed Calendar's Restaurant on Perkins Road, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of the restaurant's manager, Stephanie Guzzardo, and cook David Breakwell. Wessinger shot his former co-workers during a 1995 robbery before fleeing with about $7,000. 

Wessinger was originally convicted in 1997, receiving the death penalty. However, U.S. District Judge deGravelles vacated his penalty sentencing in 2022 after a federal appeals judge determined Wessinger’s court-appointed attorneys provided ineffective counsel during the sentencing phase of his 1997 trial.

In an order signed on Jun. 20, 2025, deGravelles remanded the case to the 19th Judicial District "for a new penalty phase not inconsistent with this court's Dec. 20, 2022, Ruling and Judgement," referring to the vacation of Wessinger's death penalty ruled in 2022.

On Monday, a three-judge panel will hear oral arguments and consider the State's argument for reinstating the death penalty.

"A jury convicted him and sentenced him to death decades ago," Attorney General Liz Murrill said. "It is long past time for the State of Louisiana to deliver justice."