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Grand jury indicts men accused of kidnapping, 1st degree murder of BR couple

8 years 1 month 3 weeks ago Thursday, February 04 2016 Feb 4, 2016 February 04, 2016 6:48 PM February 04, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ
By: Kevin Dupuy and Brock Sues

BATON ROUGE - A grand jury has chosen to indict two men accused of kidnapping and killing a Baton Rouge couple last year.

42-year-old Ernesto Alonso and 48-year-old Frank Garcia each face two counts of second degree kidnapping and two counts of first degree murder for their reported role in the murders of Denis and Suzanne Duplantier. The couple was taken from their home on Highland Road last October, and their bodies were eventually found inside of a vehicle they owned at a truck stop in Hammond.

Authorities believe the suspects strangled the victims after getting access to a safe in the home, then dumped the bodies in Hammond before fleeing the state.

Alonso worked closely with the Duplantiers as a handyman and lived on the couple's property. 

Investigators say cell phone locations showed Garcia and Alonso in Baton Rouge at the time of the murders, and phone records show contact between the two suspects. Authorities also said license plate readers caught images of Garcia's vehicle following Alonso out of the Baton Rouge area. Investigators also found things stolen from the Duplantiers in Garcia's Florida home. 

Both men were extradited from Florida at the end of 2015. 

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