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Jury finds Jace Crehan guilty of murder in 2015 vigilante-justice killing

6 years 3 months 1 week ago Thursday, December 14 2017 Dec 14, 2017 December 14, 2017 2:37 PM December 14, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- A jury has found Jace Crehan guilty of second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of Robert Noce, Jr., the man Crehan's lover says sexually abused her as a child.

The decision came down just a little more than an hour and a half after the case was handed over to the jurors, who came to an 11-1 guilty verdict.

The four days of court hearings, which began Monday, contained grisly accounts of the night Noce was beaten and stabbed to death in his home, as well as claims likening the case to a modern-day Romeo & Juliet. One of the accounts that led up to the guilty verdict was that of Brittany Monk, the mother of Crehan's child and the one subjected to Noce's abuse as a teen.

Monk gave her side of the story Tuesday, which included a graphic retelling of the night's events. Wednesday, a detective told the jury that Crehan admitted to the strangling and stabbing of Noce because the criminal justice system had "failed" Monk and he didn't want her to suffer anymore.

Noce was killed inside his Zachary trailer just 13 days after he pleaded "no contest" to sexually molesting Monk when she was a child. Reports say that Noce was put on probation for five years.

Noce was killed and stuffed in a 55-gallon drum by Crehan, according to the hearing. Authorities said that Crehan and Monk broke into Noce's home and grabbed him from his bed.

In Monk's testimony, she told the court that Crehan put Noce in a choke hold as she punched her former abuser. Monk says she then heard Crehan stab Noce five to six times while she was dry-heaving in the bathroom.

Crehan now faces a life sentence. Monk, 20, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year and will be sentenced next month. Authorities say she faces up to 40 years in jail.

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