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Trial for second suspect in BR couple's slaying set for early 2022

2 years 5 months 2 weeks ago Friday, October 08 2021 Oct 8, 2021 October 08, 2021 1:51 PM October 08, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - The second suspect accused in the 2015 kidnapping and murder of a Baton Rouge couple will go to trial on Jan. 31, according to court documents.

A date for Ernesto Alonso's murder trial was established just over a week after the other suspect in the killings, Frank Garcia, took a plea deal. Garcia pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the murders of Dennis and Suzanne Duplantier.

Alonso, a handyman who lived and worked on the Duplantiers' Highland Road property, allegedly coordinated with Garcia to rob the couple's safe and kidnap the pair. The two were later found dead, bound and beaten, inside their car after it was abandoned at a Hammond truck stop. 

Some of the items stolen from their safe were later found at Garcia's home in Florida. 

Prosecutors said it's taken years to get both trials started due to language barriers, revolving venues and other issues. 

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