An arrest has been made in a Lafayette Parish homicide that left one man dead more than three decades ago.
On December 2, 1994, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the 4200 block of Cameron St. in reference to a stabbing. The victim, John Perry Meche, 47, was transported to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Due to a lack of evidence linking a suspect to the murder as well as the limitations of available technology, the case was stalled for more than 30 years, according to
Late last year, detectives reviewing the cold case worked with the Acadiana Crime Lab to reexamine and retest evidence related to the case, which resulted in a successful DNA match and identified the suspect as Clinton Dronet.
Dronet, 60, was subsequently arrested and charged with Second Degree Murder in connection with the 1994 case. At the time of his arrest for Meche’s murder on April 15, Dronet was already in custody at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on unrelated charges for Domestic Abuse Battery and Violation of Protective Orders.
“To make an arrest in this case after decades without answers reflects the value of attention to detail, sustained commitment and the impact of taking a fresh look at the evidence,” said Sheriff Mark Garber, “Advances in technology also played an important role, allowing investigators to reexamine key pieces of evidence in new ways. That combination ultimately made the difference. I’m proud of the professionalism and persistence of our detectives that led to this outcome and to finally being able to provide closure in this case.”
